Fostering Online Communities

Lessons from Open Source and Grassroots Development

Tara Hunt & Chris MessinaCitizen Agency

the agenda

who are we?

1. what is community?

2. fostering a sense of community

3. the process

questions?

who are we?

Chris Messinafactoryjoe.com

Tara Hunthorsepigcow.com

~1~

What is community?

community

Community can include the dimensions of geographic location, psychological ties and/or people working together

toward a common goal.

virtual community

A virtual space supported by computer-based information technology, centered upon

communication and interaction of participants to generate member-driven content, resulting

in relationships being built up.— Lee & Vogel, 2003

characteristics of a virtual community

• personal homepage/profile (ie. url.com/people/missrogue)

• personal content creation

• ability to interact with others’ content

• ability to ‘friend’ and share content

succession

communitymember customervisitor

benefits of community

• heightened customer loyalty

• self-policing

• amplified word of mouth

• better feedback

• stronger & more personal filters on content

~2~

Fostering a Sense of Community

motivation"What keeps them logging in as a regular part of their routine? Because there is a benefit to the person that makes a real difference in their lives....if it helps you

find your next job, or connects you with a new friend, or fulfills that need to have

good conversation with a bunch of bright people, then it becomes a real bargain."

— John Coate, “Cyberspace Innkeeping: Building Online Community, 1993”

sense of community

1. Feelings of membership

2. Feelings of influence

3. Integration and fulfillment of needs

4. Shared emotional connection

— McMillan and Chavis, 1986

feelings of membership

• arise from the creation of community boundaries

• perception of emotional safety

• sense of belonging to and identification with

• use of common symbols, language, etc.

feelings of membership

• includes: personal profile pages, 'friending', defining groups within the larger group (groups), invitations to groups

• allow for lots of personal & group expression

• greet new members and introduce them to others with similar interests

feelings of influence• being able to influence group (voice

heard)

• being able to be influenced by group (learning)

• feedback responsiveness

• rule enforcement and creation by members

• maintenance of norms within the group

feelings of influence

• includes: forums, chat, comments, blogging, personalized mail, groups

• create many ways in which members can connect and platforms for expression

Flickr Groups

Facebook Groups

integration and fulfillment of needs

• feeling of being supported by others

• rewards of being a member, such as status, expertise

• shared values

• feeling of competence within group

integration and fulfillment of needs

• includes: status rewards, featuring members, vips, karma points, etc.

• 'in crowd' knowledge - acorns, tricks, traditions & rituals

Spread Firefox

Last.fm

plazes

karma

hot list

3%!

shared emotional connection

• relationships, shared history & experience

• high quality, frequent interaction

• discrete/shared events/history and crisis

• personal investment of time and resources

• the effect of honor and humiliation

• spiritual bonds

shared emotional connection

• can't be created, but shared experiences with members can help (continual, deep interaction with community)

• offline meetups, celebrations and developer days help

Ma.gnolia Thanks

~3~

The Process

the process

• identifying your passion

• getting into the trenches

• infrastructure for dialogue (offsite)

• infrastructure for dialogue (onsite)

• communications

• content

• partnerships & co-opetition

• INreach

identifying your passion

• asking yourself: why am I doing this?

• am I solving a need? an issue? do I understand this itch?

• why would people (seriously) give a darn?

getting into the trenches

• exploring the environment

• documenting current tools, existing behaviors, etc.

• becoming part of the communities

• finding out who is doing things in this area (experts, blogs)

• learning from passionate people

infrastructure (offsite)

• offsite communications tools are even more important than onsite

• Flickr groups

• Tags

• Google groups

• irc/Campfire, etc.

infrastructure (onsite)

• Blog/blogroll

• member-to-member mail

• group chats

• forums

• comments

• favorites

• wikis

• feeds

• invitations

• notifications

• avatars

• customization

• contact/help

communications• have a publicity policy

• transparency

• blog like you mean it

• using a human voice for site language

• get involved in the conversations

• party host

product• transmogrification

• defensive design

• vision

• knowing when to listen to feedback and when to say, “thanks but no thanks”

• KISS

partnerships & co-opetition

• affiliations to benefit users

• microchunking

• apis

• mirroring/supporting competitive apis

• open standards

INreach

• rewarding your members

• vip programs

• promotions

• events

questions?Tara Hunt

tara@citizenagency.com415.694.1951

skype: tarahunt747

Chris Messinachris@citizenagency.com

412.225.1051skype: factoryjoe

www.citizenagency.com