There are, broadly speaking, five different types of communities.
- Interest. Communities of people who share the same interest or passion.
- Action. Communities of people trying to bring about change.
- Place. Communities of people brought together by geographic boundaries.
- Practice. Communities of people in the same profession or undertake the same activities.
- Circumstance. Communities of people brought together by external events/situations.
About 90% of community projects, especially branded communities, try to develop a community of interest. But a community of interest competes without our mental leisure time. Communities of interest are the hardest type of community to develop.
Why not consider exploring the other four types of community. It might set you apart from the competition and broaden your audience considerably.
The brilliance in this post is in it's simplicity - thanks for sharing! :)
Looking at this list, an action or circumstance based community would fit a company's goal much better than interest.
Posted by: Bas Helderman | Tuesday, 23 November 2010 at 09:50
Nice one, thanks Richard. Can you give examples of the different communities? Cheers /Isaac
Posted by: Isaac Griberg | Tuesday, 23 November 2010 at 11:53
#3 ain't no picnic, either, let me tell you. Trying to build a community of people who have nothing more in common than they happen to live in the same area is one of the hardest things I've ever done. Wish I could say I've succeeded but I'm still struggling.
Michelle
Posted by: Michelle | Tuesday, 23 November 2010 at 19:52