photo credit:
HikingArtist.com

Sometimes I feel like forums don’t get the respect they deserve, in the grand scheme of social media. Sometimes people want to put forums in a box, separate them from the social media “movement,” as if they are separate or as if they aren’t just as important to the whole thing as Facebook or Twitter or the buzz platform du jour.

This is disregarding that, in large part, social media is forums, or threaded text-based conversation. Forums are everywhere – it doesn’t have to be called a forum to be one or to have similar functionality.

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.

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.

photo credit: Silly Little Man

There is always a lot of heavy, meaningful stuff going on in the world. Death, destruction and tragedy and what can be done to help.

Your community might be about something on this level – dealing with illness or struggle in some way, for example. But, chances are, your community isn’t really as important as these concerns in the grand scheme of things. I know mine aren’t: phpBB, Photoshop, community management and the martial arts.

photo credit: downatthezoo

My good friend Stephan Segraves turned me on to a “story” about the United States Department of the Interior offering a salary of up to $115,000 to “run a Facebook page.” A Google search will give you a taste of what is being said.

Chris Moody of the Daily Caller appears to have been been the kicking off point for most of the subsequent articles and coverage of this story. His article, “Uncle Sam shelling out big bucks for government jobs, GOP says time to cut,” includes the following excerpts:

The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs needs someone to run the Facebook page for the Dept. of the Interior and they’ll pay up to $115,000 a year. …

Republican policymakers looking for more ways to slash government spending think Uncle Sam is being mighty too loose when it comes to how he doles out the cash to his employees, and if the GOP has its way, the $115,000 taxpayer-funded Twitter gurus at the Dept. of the Interior could become a thing of the past. …

The parties are currently negotiating exactly what will be left in the final bill when it reaches the president’s desk, but in this era of budget cuts, it could become increasingly difficult for federal agencies to justify six-figure salaries for Facebook posts.

It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how kind you are, how much common sense that you have, as a manager (community manager or otherwise), if the people that you have on the front line are ignorant, poorly trained and unable to communicate clearly and respectfully.

If these people mess up a relationship with a fan, client or customer, the damage will have been done and, by the time that person reaches you and your level of authority (if they reach it at all), they will already be angered or disappointed.

Today marks the third anniversary of the publication date of “Managing Online Forums.”

Last week, the book received it’s 50th five star review on Amazon.com. Overall, the book has received 53 reviews on Amazon.com and 61 across all Amazon sites, 57 of which are five stars. To say that this is cool to me and that this means something to me, is an understatement.

When you put something out there, you never really know how it’s going to be received. Writing a book that you truly invest of yourself into is like putting yourself out there to be judged. “Managing Online Forums” is my experience and my passion for online community and that it has been so well received is an incredible, wonderful thing to me.

TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld has an interview with myYearbook CEO Geoff Cook. myYearbook is a social network that launched live video chat in November. With some mileage behind the feature, Cook is ready to share some data and results.

At the time the feature launched, 1 of every 10 streams on Chatroulette was “obscene,” he says. Since then, however, Chatroulette has made progress. Recently, myYearbook reviewed 1,500 Chatroulette streams and found that there was an abuse rate of 1.9% (or around 1 in 50). Cook claims a rate of “less than 1 in 1000” for myYearbook, which serves up 750,000 video chat conversations a day.

You haven’t heard of WindowsLaunchpad.com, have you?

No, not the site that is on that domain name now. The Microsoft Windows enthusiast site that existed on it back in the early to mid-2000s.

You’ll have to forgive me, as I don’t know when it launched. I just know that it recently turned 10. I wasn’t an active member, though I did make some posts. So, why am I mentioning it?

Because WindowsLaunchpad.com is a memory and because it means something to me.

To delve into why is to get into community at it’s true essence, which is the connections we make with other people.

photo credit: joelogon

Last month, I wrote about the 10th anniversary celebration over at phpBBHacks.com, a site that I launched on April 6, 2001. In brief summary, this is what we did to celebrate:

• Launched a special, dedicated section of our website, with an RSS feed and added a special section to our forums (for a limited time).
• Celebrated over a 10 day period, in honor of it being the 10th anniversary.
• I wrote a series of 34 text articles, 3 of which including substantial writing from other people and more than half of which included interviews that I conducted with people.

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