This document discusses online communities and provides guidance on developing and managing successful online communities. It defines what an online community is and explains how to develop one by focusing on users' interests and needs. It also outlines the community lifecycle and different types of online communities. Additionally, it provides 10 strategies for building an online community, such as letting members know why they should join and designating moderators. The document concludes by discussing netiquette, safety, privacy issues like harassment, and relevant Philippine laws.

1. Service Management
(Online Community)
Presented by:
Rafael Y. Paragas
Dr. Sonia Dela Cruz
Professorial Lecturer

2. Online Community

3. Online Community
 Developing an Online Community
 Strategy for Building Online Community
 Community Life Cycle
 Types of Online Community
 Domains of Online Community
 Rules in Making an Online Community
 Netiquette
 Safety and Privacy

4. What is an Online
Community
An online community is a virtual
community whose members interact with
each other primarily via the Internet. Those
who wish to be a part of an online
community usually have to become a
member via a specific site. An online
community can also act as an information
system where members can post, comment
on discussions, give advice or collaborate.

5. Developing an Online
Community
When developing an online
community, it is important to have the
technologies necessary to keep members
interested, manage assets, and uphold
community relations. Developers take into
consideration whether all the online
community members are good at using
technology. If an online community is not
workable for some users, they may be
discouraged.

6. Developing an Online
Community
Online communities are developed to
encourage individuals to come together to
teach and learn from one another. They
encourage self learners to discuss and
learn about real-world problems/situations
as well as focus on things such as
teamwork, collaborative thinking, personal
experiences.

7. Developing an Online
Community
A developer's main focus is to
create a technology that adheres to
the interests, as well as the social
and basic needs, of the community. An
online community's main goal is to
serve as a common ground for people
who share the same interests.

8. Strategy for Building
Online Community

9. 1 - Let Your Members
Know Why
• Let the potential members of the
community know why you are
providing an online community, and
how being an active member of a
community would benefit them.

10. Tactic 2 - Showcase Your
Community
2- Use every opportunity to
showcase your online community
a) Introduce it to your members in an
initial introductory email, and then in
periodic follow up emails.
b) In regular newsletter, mention or
welcome new groups that have been
formed.

11. 2- Showcase Your Community cont…
c) Put into the community library all
documents and files that your
organization would like to make
available to your members.
d) Set up occasional forums on topical
events to keep refreshing the content.

12. 3 - Seed the Community
• Seed the community with groups, forum
postings, blogs, etc., so that early
adopters aren’t faced with an “empty”
community.
Invite selected members prior to public
launch to participate and to help seed
the community with comment and other
content.

13. 4 - Make it Easy
• Make it as easy as possible for
people to sign up and to use the
community tools.
If your community is closed to non-members,
be sure to add accessible
descriptions of the community in
your list of membership benefits to
entice non-members to become
members.

14. 5 - Designate a Facilitator or
Moderator
• Designate a staff person to be the
facilitator or moderator of the
community, checking periodically to make
sure that members are using the forums
and other tools as intended, encouraging
members to “speak up”, enforcing the
rules if necessary and making sure that
comments questions about the
organization are acknowledged and
answered, as appropriate.

15. 6 - Acknowledge Community
Members
• Acknowledge those members who use
the community frequently.
This acknowledgment can be made
within the community site itself, in
the organization’s newsletters, or
the organization’s main website.

16. 7 - Seek and Use
Members’ Input
Seek input from the members on your
organization’s agenda and other organizational
issues.
Consider polling members within the
community on a regular basis. Take what you
learn from the community and put it into
practice in the organization.
Give credit to the community for their
input. Once members discover that their
participation in the community can actually have
an impact on the organization itself, interest in
the community will be that much stronger.

17. 8 – Use Forum for
Announcements
Use forum or an avenue to publish
ongoing lists of group events, and have
members participate by adding other
events that they consider relevant to
other members.
Encourage users to use forum by
seeking their input directly into
organizational planning (e.g., by putting
drafts of tributes, awards, mission
statements, and then seeking input from
members).

18. 9 - Announce News First in
Community
Announce new initiatives and
other important organizational news in
the community first. This will help
establish the community as a living,
informative part of your online
presence.

19. 10 - Keep the Community
Fresh
• Keep the community fresh.
Pay attention to what elements of
the community are being used heavily,
and which are not.
If you find a lot of discussion on a
particular topic, consider creating a
forum and/or group especially for that
topic. Consider archiving outdated library
items.

20. On-Board: This is the starting
p o i n t o f a n y c o m m u n i t y ,
characterized by people (seekers)
looking for value (content), most of
whi c h i s c r e a t e d b y t h e
community’s founders.

21. Established: The community is
becoming self-sustaining, with the
members (influencers, originators,
etc.) creating and maintaining value
within the community, although some
reliance on the founders is still
necessary.

22. Mature: Users are organized into
clear types (influencers, seekers,
moderators, originators, etc.) and
ta k e f u l l o w n e r s h i p a n d
responsibility for content. Little to
no supervision is required by the
founders, who become no more than
credible participants.

23. Types of Online
Communities

24. Gender based Virtual
Communities
• Online communication is more equal,
that women are able to participate
and complete thoughts, in effect
softening social barriers. (Shapiro
1999)
• Online interaction is merely a
reflection of real world conversation
where men dominate.

25. Cyber Activism
• Use communication technologies for
faster communications by citizen
movements and deliver a message to a
large audience.
• Internet technologies used for cause-r
e l a t e d f u n d r a i s i n g , l obby i n g ,
volunteering, community building, and
organizing.

26. Cyber Activism-Criticisms
• Marginalizing minorities and elderly
citizens due to lack of access to or
confidence in emerging technologies
• Make public feel involved rather than
to advance actual participation.
• Impression of being part of a much
larger network than is necessarily the
case.

27. Marketing through
Online Communities
• C ommuni t y m a r k e t i n g c r e a t e s
communities around products.
• Able to engage your customer base in a
natural setting.
• Can strengthen bond between company
and consumer - create loyalty through
personal investment.
• Can be used to reinforce, or manipulate
brand image.

28. Implications on Traditional
Communities?
• Many claim off line interpersonal relationships
are affected-No longer know how to
communicate in face to face situations.
• More people looking for partners online rather
than in bars or cafes or through off line
friends.
• Claims that marriages are destroyed due to
online affairs through communities
• Claims that virtual communities are an escape
from real world problems.
• More people stay at home rather than to go
out and socialize - Meetup.com tries to fix
that!

29. Four Domains Of Online
Community

30. Four Domains Of
Online Community
a. Social
– Social interaction
– Solidarity
– Individual Institutional relations

31. Pol. Sci Family Online
Community

32. Four Domains Of
Online Community
b. Political
– Collective formation of goals
– Implementation of policy
– online voting
– online campaigning

33. Four Domains Of
c. Economic
Online Community
– Production, distribution consumption
of goods and services
– company blogs (promote branding,
image)
– online stores
– netizens sell things online (community:
a small word-of-mouth-built fanbase)
– price comparisons

34. Four Domains Of
d. Cultural
Online Community
– Examines shared values symbol
systems
– gathering of people based on common
themes, lifestyles
– religious communities, art communities,
music communities
• Different Cultures, Different
Channels

35. Rules For Making Online
Communities Work
1. Define the purpose of the
community.
2. Create member profiles that
evolve over time.
3. Promote effective leadership.

36. Rules For Making Online
Communities Work
4. Define a clear, yet flexible, code
of conduct.
5. Organize and promote cyclic
events.
6. Provide range of roles that couple
power with responsibility.

37. Netiquette
The 10
Commandments of
how to behave on
the Internet

38. Netiquette
Rule 1: Remember the Human
Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of
behavior online that you follow in real
life.
Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace
Rule 4: Respect other people’s time.
Rule 5: Make yourself look good online.

39. Netiquette
Rule 6: Share expert knowledge
Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under
control.
Rule 8: Respect other people’s
privacy.
Rule 9: Don’t abuse your power.
Rule 10: Be forgiving of other
people’s mistakes.

40. Safety and Privacy
Issues
Online Harassment
a. Flaming- According to a study
conducted by Peter J. Moor, flaming is
defined as displaying hostility by insulting,
swearing or using otherwise offensive
language.
Flaming can be done in either a group
style format (the comments section on
YouTube) or in a one-on-one format
(private messaging on Facebook).

41. Safety and Privacy
Issues
Republic Act no. 10175
AN ACT DEFINING CYBERCRIME, PROVIDING
FOR THE PREVENTION, INVESTIGATION,
SUPPRESSION AND THE IMPOSITION OF
PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES.
This Act shall be known as the
“Cybercrime Prevention Act of
2012″.

43. Safety and Privacy
Issues
b. Cyber bullying is also prominent
online. Cyber bullying is defined as
willful and repeated harm inflicted
towards another. Cyber bullying
victimization has ascended to the
forefront of the public agenda after
a number of news stories came out on
the topic.

44. Safety and Privacy
Issues
Republic Act no. 10627
AN ACT REQUIRING ALL ELEMENTARY AND
SECONDARY SCHOOLS TO ADOPT POLICIES
TO PREVENT AND ADDRESS THE ACTS OF
BULLYING IN THEIR INSTITUTIONS
This Act shall be known as the
“Anti-Bullying Act of 2013”.

49. Reference
s
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/
cyberstalking.htm
http://www.gov.ph/2012/09/12/republic-act-no-
10175/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_activism