Managing an online community you accept the responsibility of communicating with the members. The worst thing to do is ignore others.
What is the Responsibility of Online Community?
I was chatting with my friend D. Scott Smith the other day. The self-described “motivational listener” recounted a story that was, well, disturbing at best.
A local religious station started a Facebook Page. This isn’t out of the ordinary. They posted a question asking people how they’re doing. One of the members who struggles with depression answered. Weeks later, no one responded to her.
Is that okay? No. It’s not.
So? What happened to that lady? We don’t know. What’s appalling is that the brand felt no obligation to check on their notifications.
If you start a community, you are responsible to those members.
What kind of responsibility does an online community carry?
Online community requires hospitality, protection, and response. The goal of starting the community should be growth and interconnectedness. With any other motives, the community will fail. It will fail your brand and it will fail its members.
Why do we fail our online community members?
I have a few theories one of which is set it and forget it. The danger of scheduling is if the community manager doesn’t check for notifications. You should do this once a day at minimum. The larger your community, the more often it should be moderated.
Secondly, lack of staff. We fail our online communities when we don’t allocate enough resources to staff the community. It takes time and skill to grow a community. Conversations take time.
What was your vision? Why did you start your PeepSo online community? Was it to share recipes for your InstaPot? How about gardening tips for annuals? Maybe it’s a church or nonprofit.
Behind every post in your online community is a real person. We’ve forgotten that. It’s good to remember our reasons.
How will you show you care?
With PeepSo, you have all the tools you need to engage your community and allow it to prosper. Your community, your way. How will you foster those relationships? Remember that with great community comes great responsibility.
