photo credit: lisahumes

There are some who believe that the feedback that is offered on online communities, about their product, isn’t worth their attention because it’s only a small percentage of their customer base that may or may not be reflective of a larger majority.

The continuation of this belief is that business decisions shouldn’t be made based upon what is said in an online community or on the feedback being offered because these people are talking to themselves and simply participating an en echo chamber. (This ignores that online communities, and the people within them, can have a lot of influence beyond just their own community, but I’m going to skip past that as it’s not the point of this post).

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photo credit: Justin Sternberg

I have grown to become very careful about my usage of the word “friend,” when I am talking about other people. A lot of people have really diluted this term to the point where, for some, it means “person that I once had a pleasant conversation with” or “someone I paid to do something for me” or “person who helped me that time.”

Though I do slip up once in a while, when I call someone my friend, believe me when I say that. There are differing levels of friendship and I have friends who I am closer to than others and who I trust with more than others, but if I call someone my friend, I’ve established some form of a meaningful relationship with them, in public and/or in private.

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photo credit: dalvenjah

I am one of the co-hosts on the SitePoint Podcast and we’re preparing to host a live show at WordCamp Raleigh, a WordPress-focused conference that will run from May 21-22. I will be speaking at the event, as well, leading a session titled “Comment Moderation 201.” So, if you’re in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, please give it a look as I’d love to meet you.

Back on topic, I was looking for a guest or two to invite to our live show, outside of conference speakers and attendees. Basically, I was looking for some forward thinking individuals that have made a name for themselves thanks to their business and/or social media acumen. I noticed that Epic Games, the company behind the popular Gears of War series and Unreal game engine, was based in Cary, not too far from Raleigh. So, I was thinking, maybe someone from the company would be a good fit.

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photo credit: freddie boy

Stop. Just apologize. When you come to my community and you post something that references your company, website or client in any way, even if it is related to the thread you are posting on in some way, it is not appropriate. And that’s on you. It’s your fault for assuming too much, for not reading the guidelines and for not asking first.

When a member of my staff, or me, contact you to let you know that the post is advertising, there is nothing for you to justify. Whatever reason you had in your mind, about why your post was OK, it was wrong, and for you to try to play the victim on that, is not a good situation.

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Earlier today, the new music video for “Play Your Part” by Wale featuring Rick Ross, Meek Mill and D.A. Wallach of Chester French premiered on MTV.com. I really like this record and like the music video just as much – you can pick up a free download of the mixtape that the song is from at Ross’ website.

At last year’s Blog World Expo, I developed a panel featuring D.A. alongside rapper Asher Roth, my friend Wayne Sutton and myself. D.A. is a really cool guy – very nice, talented and smart - who has a great understanding of building community.

Anyway, in the new video, which I have embedded below, D.A. sings, “you think you’re using me, like this game’s new to me, but you ain’t confusing me … we’ll be cool as long as you just play your part.” So, today, I want to talk about how important it is that all members of your community play their respective parts.

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photo credit: reegmo

In just the last couple of months, I have run across three new or relatively new community platforms that have really let me down. Not in their feature set or technology, but in how they talk (read: market) and how they are choosing to spread the word about their products.

I’ve been managing online communities for nearly 11 years and this is my passion and my profession. I want to meet people who are new to this space and also want to help them however I can. But, there is a flip side to that. There is a personal requirement that I have. The flip is that if you are going to be a professional in this space, I expect you to act like it, to treat it with respect and to know how to engage respectfully.

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photo credit: onnola

Generally speaking, if I do my job as a forum administrator, my members don’t have to see much of what I do behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. That is for me to worry about – not something for them to be concerned with.

I tend to believe that this is how most people approach the role: I have work to do and I’m doing it. I don’t care if people know about it or if people know how hard I work or if I get credit for it.

Consequentially, only a small percentage of people know even half of the responsibilities that someone has, when they run a structured online community. Sometimes, though, it’d be helpful if they did. If they knew what it took to run that community that they love, that they derive some benefit from.

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photo credit: Markusram

Sometimes, things seem a lot more difficult than they are. This is often the case when a company wants to engage in an online community that they don’t own. For example, a martial arts gear manufacturer that wants to start posting on KarateForums.com.

Online communities can be scary because each one is like it’s own civilization with it’s own social norms, laws and belief system. What if you don’t fit in? What if they get mad at you and never want to buy your product again? It’s a legitimate concern, but if you hold yourself to a few personal standards, chances are that you’ll do fine.

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photo credit:
US Embassy New Zealand

In the United States, today is Thanksgiving, a holiday where, among other things, we give thanks for the great people, things and opportunities that we have in our lives. In line with that, I’d like to share a few things that I am thankful for on my communities. This isn’t an all-inclusive list by any means, just a few things that came to mind.

Attention to Detail from My Staff

When you are on my staff, I want you to be detail oriented. I want you to care about getting a situation right and to be willing to put in the time to make sure that all situations are handled appropriately.

From how you remove content, to how you document it, to how you speak to members and participate in public. Details matter and while perfection may be unattainable, that does not mean that you give up the pursuit.

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Have you heard about the Cooks Source copyright scandal? If you haven’t check out the write up at PlagiarismToday. In short, a small, free print magazine took an article from the internet, put it in their magazine and never asked for permission.

The author of the piece contacted the publication and asked for an apology in the magazine and on their Facebook page and a $130 donation to the Columbia School of Journalism. And that’s where it got interesting. The response from the editor of the magazine included this gem:

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