Sophie Potter of ReachOut.com and Alison Michalk of Quiip share tips & wisdom for creating safe, welcoming and supportive online communities. Presentation from ConnectingUp 2014.

1. C R E AT I N G S A F E ,
W E L C O M I N G & S U P P O RT I V E
O N L I N E C O M M U N I T I E S

2. (C) Quiip 2013
About me
• Worked with over half a million users in a range of private and public communities -
including Editor & Community Manager, Essential Baby (Fairfax Digital).
• Created the world’s first, annual Community Management conference - swarm.
• Founder and Senior Community Manager of the Australian Community Managers’ FB
group (900+ members)
• Worked with online communities for a decade
• Focus on youth and high-risk/sensitive communities
• Currently work with ReachOut.com, Redkite, State & Federal Govt.
Alison Michalk
CEO of Australia’s leading
community management consultancy, Quiip

3. (C) Quiip 2013
About me
• Worked across the community sector: youth work, domestic violence support, juvenile justice,
disability, women’s health, community development
• Worked for organisations across Australia, South-East Asia and the UK for over 11 years.
•Three years ago I took my knowledge and skills online with ReachOut.com by Inspire Foundation
as the online community manager.
• ReachOut.com was the worlds first online youth mental health service.
• Forums were launched in 2006, and in 2012 I led their redevelopment
• Now, every month, over 10,000 visitors come to our forum community to get help from other
young people
Sophie Potter
Online Community Manager
ReachOut.com

5. T O D AY ’ S P R E S E N TAT I O N :
1. I N T R O
2. K E Y C O N S I D E R AT I O N S I N R I S K Y E N V I R O N M E N T S
C R E AT I N G A S A F E A N D W E L C O M E S PA C E V I A :
3. P O S I T I V E R I S K TA K I N G &
4. U S E R - C E N T R I C C O M M U N I T I E S
5. A N O N / P S E U D O N Y M I T Y V S R E A L N A M E
6. O W N E D E N V I R O N M E N T S

6. W H AT I S C O M M U N I T Y ?
“ A S P E C I F I C G R O U P O F P E O P L E
W H O F O R M R E L AT I O N S H I P S O V E R
T I M E A R O U N D A S T R O N G C O M M O N
I N T E R E S T ” .
1 I N T R O

7. W H AT I S C O M M U N I T Y M A N A G E M E N T ?
T H E D I S C I P L I N E O F E N S U R I N G
P R O D U C T I V E C O M M U N I T I E S .
!
D R AW O N Y O U R O F F L I N E S K I L L S &
E X P E R I E N C E S .
!
N O T A B O U T T O O L S .

8. 2
K E Y C O N S I D E R AT I O N S F O R R I S K Y
E N V I R O N M E N T S & V U L N E R A B L E G R O U P S
!
• Have a strategy
• Understand what type of community
• Community is a discipline - science & art
• Utilise learning, resources, training and support
• Focus on outcomes not platforms

9. WHY?
establishing a
community/
social presence
WHO?
are the members
you want
to attract
WHAT?
do you
want to
achieve
HOW?
are you going to
achieve your
objective and
purpose
WHERE ?
will the
community
be
WHEN?
does the group
need to be
activated
C O M M U N I T Y S T R AT E G Y

10. ReachOut.com
community
forums boost
protective factors,
such as:
• Sense of
belonging
• Adaptive coping
strategies
• Help-seeking
behaviour
• Mental health
literacy

11. Types of community
!
1. Community of Practice.
2. Community of Action.
3. Community of Circumstance.
4. Community of Place.
5. Community of Interest.

12. C O M M O N C H A L L E N G E S / M I S TA K E S
!
• Lack of resources - platform, people, process. Humans.
• Budget commitment
• Time & patience
• Field of dreams (Need to actively build a habit!)
• The big launch. Rapid growth/short-term focus.
• Reactive Community Management role.

13. W H AT I S A P O S I T I V E R I S K TA K I N G A P P R O A C H ?
!
• Rigorous & collaborative risk assessment
• Online Community Guidelines (and site Terms of Use)
• Moderation parameters & flowcharts
• Content Assessment & Escalation Chart / Risk Mitigation
• Response Protocols, Positive Pro-active engagement
• Internal Community/Social Media Management Training and
Support
3

14. # 1 R I S K M I T I G AT I O N
Legal and Brand Risks
!
• Breach of copyright / Intellectual property
• Defamation and Discrimination
• Contempt of court
• Bullying
• False and/or misleading information
• Violation of the Competition & Consumer Act
• Regulatory guidelines
• Crises leading to PR disaster, impact on share value,
loss of revenue etc.
User risks
!
• Negative experience / poor customer services
• Profanity / content
• Disclosure of personal and/or private
information of themselves or others
• Duty of care
• Trolling and/or bullying
• Neglect
• Personal harm / mental health
• Protection of minors
⚠

15. MODERATION CONSIDERATIONS
HOURS OF
COVERAGE
168 P/W!
COMMUNITY
PEAK TIMES
RISK
WINDOW
PROCEDURES
& PROCESS
RESOURCES +
SKILL LEVEL
ESCALATIONS

16. # 2 P R O - A C T I V E , P O S I T I V E E N G A G E M E N T
!
Facilitating, nurturing and increasing engagement and peer interaction.
!
• Crafting compelling content
• Welcome and engaging members
• Encourage peer-to-peer interaction (vital for communities, harder to achieve in social media)
• Surface insights and feedback — drive change, product design, service delivery
• Measuring community sentiment
• Reinforcing and rewarding positive behaviour (“surprise and delight”)
• Highlight high-quality community content
• Showcase users - within the community - but also back to the client/org
• Resolve disputes / issues
• Engage in line with the client’s objectives
• Use engagement to champion use of social, encourage by-in from broader business units
⇆

17. # 3 S T R AT E G I C O V E R S I G H T
!
Understand the broader business objectives and how to align to social/community
!
• Why are you establishing a social media presence and/or community?
• Who do you want to reach/attract?
• What do you want to achieve and how will you achieve your objective and purpose?
• Where will the community be? (Communities can be “cross-platform”)
• When does the community need to be active?
• How will you define success? What are the KPIs for the Community Manager? Does the
broader business understand and support the community development?
!
📊

18. For us, peer mods are vital
…and critical to the success of ReachOut.com by:
• Building community
• Providing peer-to-peer support - empathy through shared
experience
• Proves there is a “light at the end of the tunnel”
• Foster a respectful site culture: focus on the issues rather than
individual problem focused
• Manage risk by non permissible content – removal or escalation
• Strengthen youth participation model, ensuring RO.com is relevant
for all young people
U S E R - C E N T R I C C O M M U N I T I E S4

19. Risk Management
• Youngpeopledesign,
rolemodel&enforce
guidelines:
• Anonymityand
privacy:
• Peer-to-peersupport:
• Clearboundaries&
extentofservice:
• Self-moderation:
• Technicalrisk
mitigation:

20. Self-harm and suicidal content
Tips from MHFA >
< Tips from BeyondBlue.
What if someone seems suicidal?
1. Do they have means, or access to means?
2. Do they have a plan and/or an intended date/time?
If YES to either — treat as an emergency.

21. O N L I N E C O M M U N I T Y G U I D E L I N E S
V I D E O R E A C H O U T. C O M

22. !
R E A L N A M E V S P S E U D O N Y M I T Y 5
The value of anonymity:
- Creates a safe environment for communities of support
- Feels private and confidential
- Members feel free to talk
- Avoid creating unhealthy dependencies
- As the admin you still have contact/IP details to manage risk
!
Challenge:
• Building relationships between anonymous members

23. !
O W N E D E N V I R O N M E N T S6
Why create an “owned” space? Some of the reasons may include:
• Long-term asset for the organisation
• User-generated content & space
• Content & control remains with the company (not subject to continual
changes ie. Facebook)
• Better ability to contact & engage with members, and disseminate
information
• Better archiving & search functionality
• Better moderation & management functionality
• Build member loyalty
• Idea generation / product development

24. “Ineverthoughtthatasillypostaboutmyfeelingson
aninternetforumcouldendupbeingthestarttoanew
change.IhaverealizedthatIcanrecoverfromthisand
Ithankyousomuchforpushingmeintheright
direction. IfeelthatIwillgetthroughthis.”
“Veronica”,19yo,15thMarch2013

25. !
T H A N K Y O U !
!
@ Q U I I P
W W W. Q U I I P. C O M . A U
W W W. S WA R M C O N F E R E N C E . C O M . A U
!
@ S O P H I J AY P
R E A C H O U T. C O M