If you look at discussions about communities, you will usually see a discussion rooted in technology. What platform is best? What features should a platform contain? How will Facebook’s new feature affect communities? These are the wrong questions. Technology has a limited impact upon the success of a community. If you want a thriving community, it’s not technology you need to master – it’s social sciences. If you can master social sciences, you can manipulate basic principles to build any number of successful communities. You can use proven sociological, psychological, and, sometimes, anthropological triggers to influence members to join, participate, and do almost anything you want in a community. This talk will explain how you can do that. It will break down a few proven principles from social sciences and showcase how we (and others) have applied them to build thriving communities.

1. How to use social sciences to
manipulate communities
Richard Millington
www.feverbee.com
richard@feverbee.com
@RichMillington

2. The big migration

3. Technology is not the only tool in the
community professional’s toolkit

5. The blueprint

6. Emotional
connection
Fulfilment
of needs
InfluenceMembership
Sense of community

7. Membership

8. Raise the boundary to being an
accepted member
Encourage more personal investments
Rituals/traditions
Use common symbols throughout the
community
Action Points

11. Influence

13. Provide opportunities for members to
have influence
Amplify the influence members do have
Action Points

18. Satisfying Needs

19. Emotional connection

20. Initiate and highlight the most
‘hardcore’ discussions
Encourage self-disclosure discussions
Allow non-essential/off-topic
discussions
Action Points

25. www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/talk:Star_Trek_Into_Darkness

30. People join a community for one reason,
but they participate for another

31. Information Needs

36. Social Needs
Ego
Validation
Efficacy
Self-esteem
Making Friends

37. Shift the balance towards
self-disclosure discussions

39. When people join your community,
socialise them

40. Social Identity Theory
People participate more in
groups that appear successful

43. www.course.feverbee.com.au
Sign up for our community management
course in Australia with Quiip

44. Questions?