Online health communities - why do some succeed and others fail? This is one topic explored by Rich and I in the webinar and tweetchat on Jan 23, 2013. You can listen to the webinar and read the transcript here: http://ow.ly/heA6E

1. Community Management That Works
Richard Millington
@RichMillington
Colleen Young
@colleen_young
To follow chat on Twitter, use
#hcsmca

2. Welcome
Follow #hcsmca on Twitter
Alaina Cyr moderating
@AlainaBCyr
@hcsmca

3. Colleen Young
• Colleen Young
• @colleen_young
• www.colleenyoung.com
• @hcsmca
• www.virtualhospice.ca

4. Rich Millington
• @RichMillington
• @FeverBee
• www.FeverBee.com
• course.feverbee.com

5. What is an online community?
A group of people who share a
strong common interest, form
relationships and interact online.

6. Peer-to-peer health care
“PewInternet Project data shows that if
you can enable an environment in which
people can share, they will and the
benefits will entice others to join.”
~ Susannah Fox, Pew Internet &
American Life Project
Excerpt from Susannah Fox’s Medicine 2.0, 2011 Keynote address

7. Why some succeed and others fail
To succeed:
• Establish and understand your domain
• Develop a strategy, according to the
community’s lifecycle stage
• Build a sense of community
Wenger E. et al., 2002
Iriberri A. and Leroy G., 2008.
Blanchard and Markus, 2004

8. Sense of community
• Membership: a feeling of belonging
• Identity: goals of members match those of the
membership as a whole.
• Influence: members feel they can influence and
be influenced by the community
• Attachment: members share an emotional
connection.
McMillan and Chavis, 1986
Blanchard and Markus, 2004

9. Community life cycle
Millington R. FeverBee.com, 2012.

10. Inception
• Focus on growth
• Develop relationships with potential
members
• Nurture an active core group
• Foster tone and style
The community reaches critical mass when > 50%
of growth and activity is generated by members.
Millington R. FeverBee.com, 2012.

11. Establishment
• Focus on activity
• Deepen sense of community
• Broaden outreach
• Create content for and about the
community
50 to 90% of growth and activity is generated by
members.
Millington R. FeverBee.com, 2012.

12. Maturity
• Focus on scaling the community
• Maintain sense of community
• Assess and optimize processes
• Co-create content and develop
collective value
More than 90% of growth and activity is generated
by members.
Millington R. FeverBee.com, 2012.

13. Mitosis
• Focus on division and expansion
• Monitor for subcommunity
developments
• Consult community
• Conceive and establish new community
Repeat life cycle process for each new community.
Millington R. FeverBee.com, 2012.

14. Measure for success
Measure:
• Growth
• Activity
• Sense of community
In order to:
• Grow
• Improve
• Report value

15. What is community management?
Community Management
≠
Moderation
(it’s far more)

16. Thank you!
Richard Millington
FeverBee.com
course.feverbee.com
@RichMillington
Colleen Young
colleenyoung.com (#hcsmca)
Virtualhospice.ca
@Colleen_Young

17. Health Care Social Media Canada
• 28 months
• 6,234 participants
• 112 chats
Wednesdays at 1 pm ET
Last Wednesday of the month at 9 pm ET