Online Communities

Hello! My name is Bart.

This is my daughter Merel.

I’m passionate about coﬀee.

I live and work in Ghent.I’m passionate about coffee.

@netlash

http://slideshare.net/netlash

Online communitiesSanoma Mediaparade, 21/6/2012

‣ What is an online community?

DeﬁnitionOnline community=A virtual place where people with similarcharacteristics meet on a regular basis.

Online vs. oﬄineYou can’t create an online community.(Those days are over.)Communities already exist.Create a platform to uncover communities of interest,and to facilitate them. An online community mightemerge.

Mark Zuckerberg:Elegant Organisation Communities already exist and the question you should ask is how you can help them to do what they want to do. Zuckerbergs prescription is "elegant organisation".

Third placeSocial surroundings separate from the two usualenvironments of home and work.

Third placeSocial surroundings separate from the two usualenvironments of home and work.“sense of place”

Third placeGathered around common interests.Internet... not bound by location.

Create an online communityBy ﬁnding common interests that were previouslynot connected because of physical limitations.

2 main classes‣ proﬁle based‣ object based(often a mix)

Proﬁle based‣ Facebook‣ LinkedIn‣ Netlog‣ Path‣ ...

Object based‣ YouTube (video)‣ Instagram (photo)‣ Pinterest (visual)‣ Quora (question)‣ ...

‣ Why?

Why?‣ strengthen your brand (connection)‣ CRM‣ SEO‣ ads‣ because it’s hip...

‣ Success?

Success of an online communitysuccess=number of membersxcontent (interaction)

Funnels‣ visit & read‣ register‣ react‣ contribute‣ share

‣ visit

Show up in search results‣ SEO‣ technical‣ structure‣ content‣ use SEA if needed (boost)

Show up in search results‣ pains‣ solutions‣ questions‣ products‣ high in buying cycle‣ site structure!

Show up in social streams‣ facilitate sharing‣ built-in triggers‣ assign status‣ “frictionless sharing” ?

Show up in the inbox‣ most people organise their online behaviour around their mailbox‣ revisit‣ invitations (status)‣ don’t spam - add value

Hacks‣ hack e-mail (“invite your mailbox”)‣ hack e-mail (“you’ve been tagged”)‣ hack social (“invite your friends”)‣ hack social (“pay with a tweet”)‣ don’t spam - add value

‣ register

Conversion‣ benchmark ( 5 % )‣ measure‣ A/B testing‣ usability

Register‣ MVP‣ use FaceBook‣ “what’s in it for me”

Metcalfe’s LawThe value of a network is proportional to the squareof the number of users connected.

Metcalfe’s LawUse these network eﬀects.‣ ICQ‣ FaceBook‣ Dropbox‣ Delicious‣ ...

Why build your own site?Facebook’s already built...

Why build your own site?Play on someone else’s terrain, play by their rules.

‣ react & contribute

Small steps.

Gradual engagement‣ use micro-interactions‣ “consistency”

Piramid1 Creators10 Reactors & sharers100 Lurkers1000 Strangers

Piramid(Actually: 80% - 15% - 5%)

PiramidCreators: numbers!Reactors: acknowledgementSharers: aggregation toolsLurkers: activating contentStrangers: search & social

Build in engagement‣ people like to help -> questions‣ people like to share -> facilitate sharing‣ people like to belong -> discovery of likeminded‣ people like to be acknowledged -> status

Use micro-interactions to evokegradual engagement.

Micro-interactions‣ simple‣ easy to understand the implications (feedback loop)‣ safe‣ revokable

Gamiﬁcation

Gamiﬁcation‣ reward wanted behaviour‣ sharing, contributing, commenting‣ micro-interactions‣ leaderboards

Persuasion techniques‣ reciprocity‣ consistency‣ social validation‣ authority‣ scarcity

‘addiction’ techniques‣ discovery (search & serendipity)‣ random rewards‣ short feedback loops‣ social pressure

Shared history & rituals‣ meme‣ jargon‣ choose an enemy

‣ best practices

Launch in beta‣ involve inﬂuencers‣ get user feedback early‣ prime with content

Empty bar syndrome

First months are crucial‣ set the tone of voice‣ acknowledge wanted behaviour‣ root out unwanted behaviour‣ deﬁne rituals‣ create a shared history

Ben Silbermann PinterestSilbermann said he personally wrote to the sites ﬁrst 5,000users oﬀering his personal phone number and even meeting with some of its users.

Caterina Fake FlickrCaterina Fake said the success of Flickr depended on thepremise that “you have to greet the ﬁrst 10,000 userspersonally”.

Maintain‣ ‘safe & sure’: guidelines and policies‣ own content‣ provoke‣ ask questions‣ promote leaders

Watch out!‣ “build it and they will come”‣ pre-moderation & censorship‣ hardcore vs. newbies‣ bad usability & complexity‣ neglect

‣ metrics

Deﬁne the right metrics‣ quantity, quality, eﬃciëncy‣ conversion choke points‣ inactive members‣ content & engagement‣ business metrics

Deﬁne the right metrics‣ visits to registration ratio‣ returning login ratio‣ login to post/comment ratio‣ creation to reaction ratio‣ sharing ratio

Business metrics‣ sales‣ leads‣ brand awareness‣ sentiment‣ sharing

Building & maintaining a communityrequires hard work. Measure thebusiness metrics.

Hard work‣ automate where possible‣ empower the community where possible‣ human management is necessary

The Soylent Green moment.

The web is people

Communities are populated by people.

Real people, not ‘users’.

People with children.

People with passions.

So, treat them as people.

Conversation

Questions?

Bart De Waele@netlash+32 9 335 22 80bart@wijs.be

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Online Communities

by Bart De Waele on Jun 21, 2012

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Online Communities Presentation Transcript