How to Get an Active Community

As I explored in my post on Encouraging a Community with the carrot and stick method, I was having difficulty getting members to be active users.

My analysis found that the community I’d fostered wanted to hear stories, but didn’t want to give them. My next step was to encourage people to talk. I created an area where aspiring journalists could just talk, announcing their presence on the site. The idea is that if they’re friends, they’ll be more inclined to help each other. That might not work, but it’s had a better success rate that my previous efforts! The next step is to approach communities that want to tell their stories and enable them to meet the community of Journalists who’ve now started interacting on the site.

Here’s what I’ve learnt so far:

Don’t assume users will grow organically –make a community

The individuals are out there, but it takes effort to bring them together. Sometimes it just takes a few people conversing to give others’ the confidence to join the conversation.

Use personal relationships to ask people to become members

I asked people I was already in conversation with to help me out by starting the conversation. The people I asked were already aspiring Journalists, so I targeted people I thought would have a genuine interest in posting on the site, but knowing me already and being asked by me personally meant they were more willing to do something for me.

Build personal relationships with members

Managing this community doesn’t mean you can’t learn from them. Accept that you know no more than each member of your community. Be human. Thank them for their advice and opinions. A good community manager won’t need to force this, because we’re passionate about the people in our community.

Foster a core group of ambassadors

When Nick Lockey told me this is how Flickr started, the penny dropped! The more I’ve put it into practice, the more I’ve realized how crucial it is. I wish I’d done it sooner! The first members will set the tone for everyone else. Start by asking people you already know in that community to do something specific. For me, this was asking them to post something about themselves and what area they were looking for stories in. You could ask them to

• do a poll
• give advice or
• give their opinion.

It must specific though! People are more inclined to do something they can do in a few minutes.

So the lesson I learnt:

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. A conversation can grow organically, but a good community manager starts the conversation – even if it’s manufactured.

Have you learnt from a community you’re managing? Have you got any ideas on how I can find a community of people who have stories to tell, and how to join them with my community of Journalists? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments box below.

Bringing community management, social media and journalism together

It’s important to remember how community management can help us in journalism…after all journalism is our bread and butter and the more active our community the better our journalism can be.

Any news organisation and any business for that matter tries to build relationships with their audience, clients or users. Community management is key. Bad community management equals bad relationships – simples!

When we finally get jobs in the media (however bleak the outlook at the moment!), we will undoubtedly be using social media to encourage our audience to comment on our journalistic output. However, this useful tool should be used with caution.

Matthew Eltringham asks in his blog:

As journalists pile into social media is a consistent idea of good practice emerging on how to deal with user comments? And does it matter?

Matthew concludes that it does and I agree.

As a journalist producing articles you need to be on your best behaviour…and you need to make sure those who comment on your articles are too. The BBC has clear guidelines about the rules of engagement when it comes to comments on their articles; comments can and have been deleted. The Economist’s policy states only ‘commercial or offensive posts will be removed’.

But things get tricky when it comes to social media…

Social media, such as Facebook, is more revealing, and the rules of engagement are different. Some comments are more acceptable on Facebook than they are in the comments section at the bottom of your article. For example on my DinnerPartyDilemma facebook group I felt the comment below was appropriate for facebook, but if it had been in response to an article I had written I would have removed it.

Remember Facebook is permanent and ultimately your audience’s community.

Don’t be afraid of social media though -  it’s a valuable tool for journalists.

A few tips when it comes to your member’s comments:

Be transparent:

Your audience needs to know what you’re doing and why to prevent problems occurring as a result of your article.

Be interested in your audience’s comments:

BBC London acknowledges their audience’s contributions which some say gives them editorial advantage over its rivals. Tom Edwards, for example, who writes the blog Mind The Gap for BBC London replies to the comments he receives as you can see below.

Being transparent and interested in your members will bring your audience in and keep your community active.

For information on content moderation visit eModeration.

Let us know how you use social media with your community members…