We Need To Know Much More About Communities

What began as a blog post became something much longer. One post just wouldn't do it justice, now it's become a manifesto.

So please download my Online Community Building Manifesto.

Also, please, share it around if you can.

This is my one post I would love as many people as possible to read.

Comments

Nice manifesto, Richard. I agree with you on much of it. I'm a French communities manager about to launch my own blog about managing communities. I'm pretty sure we'll speak & share useful tips, ideas and thoughts very soon.

[Richard Millington]

Hey there,

Thanks for your thoughts.

Let me know when you launch your blog. I can't wait to see it.

[Rebecca]

Just read it and loved it. I like how you frame it from a human perspective. Since forever and a half ago, I've been wanting to build communities and connect people. The skills to do that are invaluable.

Thanks for sharing!

[Brian Hsi]

From one community guy to another -- great manifesto. Related, I posted some thoughts and other resources that you might find interesting

[Richard Millington]

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for that. The inner-workings of people are so important to building communities for us to ignore. We need to get clued up, quickly.

Brian: I left a comment on your blog. Great post, and I'm going to buy a few of those books this week.

[le]

hello matey - thanks for this - down loaded and off to read - you really are such a giver ... not so common now days - my best to you for the hols - le

[Pirjo]

I agree with concerning more people and less technology. These ideas are not that new - but still taking place far too slowly.. I guess you are familiar with Jenny Preece and her book about Online Communities (and how to design them). As it was written already 2000 the examples are quite different from the web today, but the design principles are pretty much the same, I'd say.

[Ilan Bouchard]

Richard, great manifesto, I've passed it along to a few people I know who are working on community-based projects.

[Marisa Ponti]

Hello Richard,

I like your manifesto and it is indeed a very good idea to remind people, from time to time, that on online community is not just about technology. Just one thing: I have no doubt that we can draw some good lessons from psychology but I do not think it is enough to know what individuals think and how they feel. It is also important to know more about what they do and why they do it. In other words, it is also important to know more about their practices and the contexts in which they occur.

[Christian]

Interesting stuff. Are you looking for feedback / comments? I think it deserves a look in-depth.

[Doug - Velocity, B2B Marketing Agency]

Nice one Richard.
Your Manifesto reads a bit like a rant against poorly-conceived online communities.

But there are lots of great online communities out there that do everything they should do: really connect people who have a shared interest.

I'm interested in psychology, too, but I'm not sure psychological issues are front and centre when I think about creating an online community (as we're doing with two clients now).

I just think about WHY? What's in it for the members? What can they do here that they can't do anywhere else? If the value is high enough, the community ought to work.

Having said that, I'm always nervous about the life of the community before it reaches critical mass. So much of the value depends on network effects -- until these start to blossom, it's no-man's land.

Doug

Have you read 'Information Rules' by Varian and Shapiro?
It's pre-eBay but great stuff.

http://tinyurl.com/69s4gw

[Dan Thornton]

I finally had enough time to sit down and digest the manifesto, and it's top work!

I do think there are a few people who look more at the human interaction than the technology - obviously Seth Godin's Triiibes, and books like The Tipping Point are the oft-quoted ones, and Mark Earls is also very worthwhile...

The temptation is to read some Godin and Gladwell, and think it's enough, rather than a starting point...

Expect an overdue blog post shortly!