What is Community Building?
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I recently spent some time in Arizona for Podcamp. I was down there to talk specifically about ‘community’, and to facilitate discussion about communities. Both of my discussions went very well. One of the people I met there was Lon, who is working on writing a book. He’s asked me several questions that I will answer in a private interview. But I thought I would answer them in a general way for all of you, my community.
- What is ‘community building’, exactly? – I would define it as the act of creating some kind of rally point on the Internet. You then feed it not only people, but with various tools to allow people to collaborate together. It’s much like planting a garden. You have rows of different fruits and vegetables. Each of those rows has its own flavor, but people can visit your garden and partake in the fruits of your labor. A community is much the same concept. Each row is a differrent type of experience. You have various and sundry things a user can do. Community building is much the same as gardening… you feed, you water, you nurture.
- Why is community building important? – Using the garden example again – you can’t just throw seeds at the ground and expect they will grow. Community building is important. Without the experience of fostering the development, you have basically nothing. You have to have drive and passion to really make it work. I’m seriously grateful to everyone who helps me to keep my communities running and growing. Of course, there’s Kat, my #1 gal who keeps me in line… and everyone else! There are so many others who are a part of both Lockergnome and Geeks that I couldn’t run things without. The Geeks Moderators… the IRC channel moderators… and the Lockergnome admins: You guys are awesome. Thank you for everything you do.
- How did you use community building to build your community? – For me, each time I build something new, I start from scratch. No two communities can or should be alike. Some days, I participate more than on other days. I take the approach of seeing what all of you are all about. I really wanted to find out more about everyone who has been a part of my live community. I wanted to see if we could come together, and get to know each other on another level. Therefore, I created Geeks.
- How would you recommend someone get started in building their own community? – It starts not just with a passion you might have. It starts with what you’re good at. What are you good at? Are you good at writing… sitting in front of a camera or mic… or taking pictures? What media do you excel at (or love) the most? Have a passion, choose a medium you are good at… and just go. Also remember to involve your audience (community members) as much as possible. That is the key element to making your garden grow.
- What would be the most important things someone should – and shouldn’t – do when building a community? – You remember the novel “Of Mice and Men”? You know when he loved the puppy so much he squeezed it too hard, and it died? That’s what you don’t want to do. Don’t be too overbearing. Don’t strangle your community by trying to squeeze it so tightly. Don’t limit and constrict it. Guide and shape your community, and let it grow on its own. Let the people dictate how it grows.
- Can you think of any business success stories you can share that deal with building communities? – That’s a difficult community, because everyone has a different business model. Each business and owner has a different idea as to what their community should be, and why. I’m going to use Microsoft as a prime example. I don’t know of another company that has been prolific in blogging, and encourages their employees to blog, as well. They’re so free with that information, that it creates a compelling experience.
People ask me ‘where does community exist?’. The answer to that is – community exists within you.
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4 Comments
The Frugal Geek
November 28th, 2008
at 10:04pm
Chris Pirillo Black Friday Deals! PC Micro Store Black Friday Sale How to Double the Life of Your iPhone 3G Battery How to Create Text ArtWhat is Community Building?
Professional Online Publishing: New Media Trends, Communication Skills, Online Marketing
November 28th, 2008
at 8:22am
Chris.Pirillo.comWhat is Community Building?I recently spent some time in Arizona for Podcamp. I was down there to talk specifically about “community” and to facilitate discussion about communities. Both of my discussions went very well. One of the people I met there was Lon, who is …
Dave
November 27th, 2008
at 8:22pm
> People ask me ‘where does community exist?’. The answer to that is – community exists within you.
I heard another guy put it very similarly: “The kingdom of God is within you”, only some say it “… is among you,” which is kind of a “plural you” version of “within you.”
Regardless of the fact that it comes from a particular religious tradition, it is true. The kingdom of God, or the community of Geeks is among you.
Actually, I sometimes say “in the amongness of you” — the Kingdom of God or the Community of Geeks is both within each member and in their interconnectedness.
Flimmeren
November 28th, 2008
at 2:59am
You do of course have many good points here. I have participated in a number of community startups myself over the years either on a personal level or for clients.
However, I would like redefine how you describe your approach here (which may sound odd since the community hosted on the pirillo.com domains are clearly among the most successfull on the web);
A communitys lifecycles is pretty much the same as any products lifecycles; you create it, you puts it on the market, it grows in popularity, it hits the peak in popularity, it starts to decline – *unless* you revitalize the product/community – with new options, new admins, new possibilities.
How to create a successfull community is in many ways very simply – at least in theory;
- make people aware of the community
- bring in “lighttowers”, people who attract other people – and keeep newcomers in the community
Communities can be so many different things – it could be forum based (the most common ones), it could be netvideo based (very uncommon), it could be based on visual interaction (3D worlds or flash based chat). And there exists numerous subgroups within these definitions as well (clans in Counterstrike may be considered a good example of such a subgroup).
Another thing is what kind of demographics the community is targetet towards – which can be rather difficult to control. These things tends to live their own lifes. Try creating a community centered on anime and you’ll get everyone from preteengirls to fat, forty and finnished males joining in. Of course, creating a community about NASDAC car races will *mostly* bring in the male population, but these are not really things you can control very well. It is often the community itself that decides what direction it is going to take. A community is a living organism after all.
Unlike what you write in this blog, I do not regard personal interest in the communitys focusarea matters at all. You just need to find the right kind of people to function as lighttowers.
But a couple of other point that I believe is often overlooked, are these:
- get good software to serve as the foundation for the community
- offer stability by having as little downtime as possible
Nothing kills a budding – or existing – community as having downtime. It takes a long time to build up a community, but a very short time to tear everything down again. One should at least have a backupplan based on newsletters if the core platform should go down.
A lot more could be said about communities when it comes to how to attract the right kind of people, communication in general, establishing connections with other similar or complementary communities, setting up for future mergers, turning the community into a potential source of income, establishing policies and getting people to follow these ups etc. But then it would be me writing that book, and not your new friend Lon.
Mouse
November 28th, 2008
at 9:02pm
Wow Chris, some helpful thoughts on there. maybe someday i can build a community myself and be as successful as this one. I enjoy every minute of being part of this great place.
Kissa
November 28th, 2008
at 9:04pm
I think that Geeks has become a great community.
There is such a friendly atmosphere and something else that I can’t figure out how to explain it…
I have gotten to know so many new people with several from out side the USA. 6 months ago I would have never dreamed that I would regularly chat with someone form Australia and Belgium!
I like to stay at home so this gives me the social interaction that I want, when I want it. :)