A guide to building a habit forming community based on fun, tangible progress, and respect. How to gently guide your community members down the path toward mutual cooperation

1. ADDICTED
TO
COMMUNITY
Jeff Atwood
discourse.org
stackexchange.com
codinghorror.com

7. Not discussion
No chit-chat
Q&A

14. 1. Learning is fun… right?
2. Games are learning aids.
3. Games help people work together
toward a common goal.

16. … the Q&A game

17. All questions start with the premise
of the “problem”, which can (at
least in theory) be solved.
All answers must work towards
solving the problem.

18. Helping your fellow programmers is
the most effective way to "win" the
Q&A game and advance the craft of
software development together.
The best way to learn is to teach.

19. I build massively
multiplayer text-based
games

20. … the discussion game

21. March
2009

22. February
2012

23. Works on
children
between the
age of 1 and
100.

24. 46 Reasons My 3 Year Old Might be Freaking Out
• His sock is on wrong.
• His lip tastes salty.
• His shirt has a tag on it.
• The car seat is weird.
• He’s hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”
• Someone touched his knee.
• He’s not allowed in the oven.
• I picked out the wrong pants.
• His brother looked at him.
• His brother didn’t look at him.
• His hair is heavy.

25. It’s not about
problem
solving.
It’s about
empathy.

28. stop trying to fix it!

31. The forum “game” is
more reliable, more
long term fun than the
actual videogames.

33. I realized that no
serious discussion can
happen unless people
are having fun.

36. The serious discussions are a
side-effect of the fun, and the
solid core gameplay. But
without fun, you'll have
nobody to talk to, so it's
irrelevant!

38. Imagine a negative
experience.
What’s more helpful:
- talking about it?
- writing about it?

39. Writing encourages
the creation of a story.
A structure that helps
people make sense of
what happened to
them.

47. 1. Empathy
2. Fun
3. Storytelling

48. 1. Civility
2. Utility
3. Practical problems

49. 450 participants
- Recall 10 books you
read in high school.
- Recall the 10
commandments.

52. - Posting some, but no profile picture?
- Replying to the same person... a lot?
- Replying to the same topic… a lot?
- Posting a link someone else already posted?
- You’re replying with a single word?

54. … placing healthy
foods in a school
cafeteria at eye level,
while putting less
healthy junk food in
harder to reach
places

55. The power of a gentle nudge, delivered at
exactly the right time.

56. Remove friction from reading

57. Reward listening instead of talking

63. Live
notifications
and updates

65. Make sharing links easy and automatic

66. Reward community members who return

67. Reward ❤ content

68. Q&A is a competition; answers compete

69. Discussion is a collaboration; reciprocate ❤

70. 1. Q&A and Discussion have opposing goals,
but may be compatible – in one direction.
2. Building habits (with nudges!) that lead to
positive collaborative, not competitive
community behaviors

71. 3. Communities are interactive, multiplayer
text adventures. Let’s play, move fast, and
have fun together.

72. THANKS!
Jeff Atwood
discourse.org
stackexchange.com
codinghorror.com