You don’t have to use your imagination, you
can see what has happened to other organizations.
The extremes are not hard to find.
Communities have been the cause of many tragic events.
Online bullying has led to suicides.
Members have killed other members over petty disputes. Crimes have been planned and committed. Members
have slandered celebrities and the community has been sued. Communities have
been conduits for everything from sharing of copyright/obscene material to
organized crime.
These are the extremes. Any one of these
can spell the death of a community.
Then there are the more common problems. An
organized revolt or protest by community members against the organization. Employees might publicly explode (or implode) in the community. Disgruntled
former employees may publicly releasing private information through the community.
I’d suggest you spend a few hours putting
together a list of both the worst things and most likely things that could happen. Plan now for how you would respond and handle each. Being preventative is good, but something will slip through, so have a plan.
