Published by Angus on 16 Nov 2009
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We are sharing some of our standard advice for designing an effective online group. We believe the key to any effective group is simplicity. Relatively few key topline messages, a lack of clutter, and relatively little functionality. Do you have any ideas to share? › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 13 Oct 2009
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Building a vibrant online community is hard work. It’s so easy these days to start online groups – for example, a few clicks and you can a working group on WiserEarth. So what do you do if you start to think your community-building effort is going nowhere fast? You have lots of options – so don’t be antisocial and leave a ‘zombie’ group out there. › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 06 Oct 2009
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Maybe you should be making better use of web services like YouTube, Slideshare, and Flickr. Here we share what makes these services so valuable as a complement to your own web publishing efforts, be they a website or a blog, and how they will enhance your social media efforts. › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 21 Sep 2009
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The folks over at The Monitor Institute have been working with The Packard Foundation to explore this question. Their conclusion? Don’t worry so much about the social media tools and instead realize that you are building a social network. To do that you need a ‘networked mindset’ characterized by ‘openness, transparency, decentralized decision-making, and distributed action’. We encourage you to read the full paper ‘Working Wikily 2.0′ but here is a summary of the more important points for people working in the social sector. › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 15 Sep 2009
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We are always on the look-out for good advice on how to build stronger online communities. Recently, we read ‘18 Rules of Community Engagement’ by Angela Connor. In less than 90 pages she shares plenty of hard won tips and advice. Angela is the Managing Editor of User Generated Content at WRAL.com. In the 18 months after launching their online community, GOLO, she grew it to over 11,000 members. It’s well worth the short read, especially if you manage a community – online or offline. › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 09 Sep 2009
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We’ve written before about how you can view your community as a network. Here we use the ‘network lense’ to show how communities typically evolve and what specific actions you might want to take to get to the next stage. › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 08 Sep 2009
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All communities can be summed up as people who know each other and do things together. As a general rule, know more people in their community, both they and their communities are more productive. So how do we go about increasing those connections between people? Increasingly, community leaders are turning to ‘Network Weavers’. › Continue reading… |
Published by Angus on 03 Sep 2009
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In many online communities, it’s just too difficult to figure out how to contribute – there are too many options and no clear hierarchy of choices. Community managers need to light a single path to show the way. › Continue reading… |
