I just returned from a PSFK Good Ideas Salon at YouTube where the topic was managing online communities. It's funny because I went to another gathering this week that focused on community as well though it seemed more about leveraging community for tech support and customer service. While the community managers on the panel were from sites geared more towards adults (and some young adults), i.e. Etsy, Digg and Flickr, some of what they learned could be applicable to youth community managers.

Listen to (and address) your most vocal/passionate members but… don't forget "the silent majority." Most community managers inevitably end up spending the bulk of their time and energy addressing the concerns and complaints from their most vocal members. While you can't ignore them, and if possible, should engage them (on advisory councils, as moderators or in other ways that might transform some of their angst into a force for good), it's important to remember that they don't represent all of your users and sometimes a decision that angers the vocal "few" might be good for the silent "many." This topic tends to come up when new features are rolled out or sites get redesigned and a vocal minority of people complain loudly. The advice given by the panel was give it 48 hours before you begin to respond and see how much is just natural resistance to change vs. legitimate issues. I would add that polls/surveys might be another way to gauge the success of something new vs. just looking at feedback from people who post or email.

When it makes sense, adding real world community or events is key. Obviously we don't encourage tweens arranging offline meetups on their own, but I think Allykatzz.com's big tween girl rally in October is an example of a real world event that compliments an online community. Digg throws big quarterly events for its users, Etsy has a craft space in Brooklyn and hopes to expand this concept across the country, and Flickr created user submitted photo books it passed out at its international launch events (connecting online and off). All of these sites have user organized interest-based meetups as well. For the community managers, these events offer an opportunity to hear some positive feedback about their sites as well, since complaints and tech issues tend to dominate on forums and through email (and people tend to be nicer face-to-face than anonymously online). I love the Flickr example of producing something tangible like a real photo book that was created by the community. Definitely applicable to youth communities full of poets, artists/designers, musicians, etc.

Brands attempting to create communities need to think beyond their product. This point came from the Q&A when someone from Method asked (I'm paraphrasing), "How do we keep users engaged around our soaps?" Just as with some Facebook apps developed by brands or microsites that are very product focused, it seems a little silly to me to expect community to happen around soap or credit cards or snack foods in the same way that it does around people's passion for taking photos, making crafts or Digging news stories. Think beyond your product to broader issues. If Method is all about being environmentally friendly – then work with environmental groups to create engaging content and programming around issues Method users care about. Sponsor existing environmental communities, etc.

Before "social media" became a buzzword, forums or message boards on sites, i.e. communities, were (and still are) social media. Now they just have new tools: Digg, bookmark, tweet, add friends….Just apply the tried and true basic community management principals to your "social media efforts": Being as transparent as you can be within corporate limitations, expecting lots of criticism, admitting when you're wrong, setting clear community guidelines around what's tolerated and empowering your passionate users/influencers with a sense of ownership/leadership roles.

P.S. This panel made me think we should do a similar panel with community managers from tween/teen/college sites at our next Ypulse Youth Marketing Mashup event to address more youth specific issues (bullies, red flags, etc.)

Categorized under: Web

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If you are a Facebook user, comment using your Facebook account.