Shades of Online Community

The topic of online community has come up a lot on a recent project. I’ve heard some powerful stories about Yelp, Gay.com, Craigslist, Tripadvisor, Citysearch, Amazon… and more. It occurred to me that there is more than one way to engage with users and foster a sense of community online. Here are some ideas on the shades of community.

1.The Inner Circle
Two common characteristics this type of online community seems to share are 1) the presence of a strong point of view and 2) clear values that people can align with and use to identify themselves in the world. Unlike strong corporate brands, the values of this type of community are created by and evolve with the ebb and flow of the community. Credibility is created through users contributing relevant content that aligns with the values. It seems to be less about numbers and more about relevance. Users here have editorial control of the content. This is where the zealot-like participation happens – as it should since users here own and shepherd the brand.

2. Word on the Street
From rating an experience with a product to seeking retribution for bad restaurant service, folks love these online mechanisms that surface user opinion. Not really sure if this constitutes community since it’s more about people taking ownership of their experiences and using those experiences for self expression than providing the mechanisms for a dialogue. Users get the “real story from regular people like me” here. The power and credibility comes from the timeliness of the information. This is where numbers start to matter.

3. Co-existence
This flavor of community is where user feedback co-exists with an editorial position – Citysearch and Amazon are good examples. Users enjoy a good degree of anonymity – it’s less about ‘who’ is contributing and more about numbers. A funny thing starts to happen with opinion here; variance is good if not required for credibility. A review that is “too positive” could have been bought or the negative reviews were edited out.

4. Brands that Resonate
This is the “I am the brands I buy” – where people appropriate brands to express themselves in the world. This is a top-down kinda place where it’s less about expressing your own unique perspective and voice and more about aligning with the brand values that have been determined by somebody else. Credibility is created by the brand having strong characteristics that resonate with people. Here is where brand shepherding and management at the corporate level is important.

Make sense? Off the mark?

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Originally from Adaptive Path by Rachel Hinman
reBlogged by michael on Jan 26, 2007, 9:18PM