Designing and Enabling Communities
Christina Wodtke
PublicSquare |http://www.publicsquarehq.com
Me?
YouWhat do you want?
Jargon Check
• Social Media• Social Software• The Social Web• The Social Graph• Communities• Web 2.0• UGC
• Twitter• Facebook• LinkedIn• MySpace• Flickr
Whatis community, really?
Social XXX
• Usenet• Forums• Email• Mailing lists• Groupware• Social Networks
Services• Social Software• Social Media
Social Software can be loosely defined as software which supports, extends, or derives added value from, human social behavior - message-boards, musical taste-sharing, photo-sharing, instant messaging, mailing lists, social networking.
Credit Tim O’Reilly
David Armano: graphic Tim O’Reilly quote and list
Virtual CommunityA virtual space supported by computer-based information technology, centered upon communication and interaction of participants to generate member-driven content, resulting in relationships being built up. (Lee & Vogel, 2003)
Webb/Butterfield/Smith Model
Based on Matt Webb, Stewart Butterfield’s and Gene Smith’s writings
The Social Webis a digital space where data about human interactions is as important as other data types for providing value
Communityis when those humans care about each other.
Whereis all this happening?
Where does community happen?
• Blogs– LiveJournal, Blogger, Typepad, WordPress
• Wikis– JotSpot (Google), Wikispaces
• Social Networks– Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
• Social Media– Ohmynews, Newsvine, Flickr
But not so much in• Tagging & Social Bookmarks
– del.ico.us• Social Filtering
– Digg, Reddit, StumbledUpon
Whendo I have to do something about all this?
When?
Are you waiting for Web 4.0?
Credits: Tim O’Reilly’s The Facebook Application Platform and compete, a a site for web metrics
• MySpace: 170 million unique users
• Blogger: 18.5 million unique users
• Classmates: 12.9 million unique users
• YouTube: 12.5 million unique users (65.000 uploads a day)
• MSN Groups: 10.6 million unique users
• 55% of US teenagers use social networking sites
NowNo time like the present
Why?
Trebor Scholz http://collectivate.net
8 days after a video was posted showing how to pick the lock in 30 seconds using a pen Kryptonite recalled 380,000 locks
Your users have something to tell you. If you don’t give them a way to communicate, they will find one.
Trebor Scholz http://collectivate.net
“I could go on with the benefits of building relationships rather than SEO campaigns, such as:– Longevity and customer
retention, not to mention repeat customers
– Bug tracking and community policing (ie. Flickr’s ‘Flag this photo as “may offend”?’)
– Amplified word of mouth – Built in market research – Buying ads is bloody expensive”
Tara Hunt
Joshua
Porter
“HOLD ON A SEC...are social features economically viable?
1. Direct contact with people who make you successful
2. Amplify customer opinion
3. Data, data, and more data
4. Reduce support costs
5. Engender Trust to form lasting relationships”
How?
Psychology
Reference: bokardo.com
The Social Web is built here, from love and esteem
O’Reilly Report on Facebook
The Facebook Application Platform
Motivation for hours(and hours and hours)of work
Motivations
• Social connectedness
• Psychological well-being
• Gratification
• Material gain
Kollock’s 4 Motivations for Contributing
1. Reciprocity
2. Reputation
3. Increased sense of efficacy
4. Attachment to and need of a group
Reciprocity
What's the motivation of behind these people actually interacting and
participating? … people want to share with the community what they believe to be important …. and they want to see their name in lights. They want to see their little icon on the front page, their username on the front page, so other people can see it.
Reputation
Increased sense of efficacy
Attachment to and need of a group
The New Third Place?
“All great societies provide informal meeting places, like the Forum in ancient Rome or a contemporary English pub. But since World War II, America has ceased doing so. The neighborhood tavern hasn't followed the middle class out to the suburbs...” -- Ray Oldenburg
Pro VS Con• Pleasure of creation• New friendships,
romance• Share their life
experience• Archive their memories• Effective job hunting
(weak ties research)• Contribute to the greater
good• Social enjoyment• Maximum convenience
• Intrusion into the Personal
• Market research, Ads, content swindled away
• Commodification of intimacy (dating sites)
• Spam• Collective intelligence
reinforces mob behavior• It’s good to go outside• Ease of contact on SNs
may erode social skills
Marketing Sneaks In
"The debate keeps getting framed as if the only true alternative were to opt out of media altogether and live in the woods, eating acorns and lizards and reading only books published on recycled paper by small alternative presses" Convergence Culture, Henry Jenkins
Tim O’Reilly’s Hippies.
Strategizea communityexercise
Presence
Conversations
Sharing
Relationships
Groups
Reputation
Identity
“Strategy is knowing what not to do”Michael Porter
Break...please be back at2:45 pm...
Webb/Butterfield/Smith Model
Based on Matt Webb, Stewart Butterfield’s and Gene Smith’s writings
1.) If you were going to build a piece of social software to
support large and long-lived groups, what would you design for? The first thing you would design for is handles the user
can invest in.
Clay Shirky, A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy
http://shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
Identity Identity• Avatar• Profile• Activity• Collections
Identity is Context Based
Facebook- Personal LinkedIN - Professional
Presence
Presence Presence
• Status• History• Statistics• Signs of Life• Company
Presence Presence
• Status• History• Statistics• Signs of Life• Company
2.) Second, you have to design a way for there to
be members in good standing. Have to design some way in which good
works get recognized. The minimal way is, posts appear with
identity. You can do more sophisticated
things like having formal karma or "member
since."
Reputation
Relationships
3.) Three, you need barriers to participation. This is one of the things that killed Usenet.
You have to have some cost to either join or participate, if not at the lowest level, then at higher levels. …
anyone can read Slashdot, anonymous cowards can post, non-anonymous cowards can post with a higher rating. But to moderate, you really have to have been around for a while.
Missing block?
Groups
Groups• Norms
- Vilification - Veneration - Rules
• Jargon & In-Jokes• Collective Choices
NormsMissing block?
Vilification
Veneration
Conversations
4.) And, finally, you have to find a way to spare the group from
scale. Scale alone kills conversations, because conversations require
dense two-way conversations.
[Dunbar] found that the MAXIMUM number of people that a person could
keep up with socially at any given time, gossip maintenance, was 150. This doesn't mean that people don't have
150 people in their social network, but that they only keep tabs on 150 people
max at any given point.
Sharing
Presence
Conversations
Sharing
Relationships
Groups
Reputation
Identity
Self
Community
Activity
Rules & Repercussions
Purpose/Passion?
Co-Creation?
Planning?
Caretakers?CollectivelyRate?
Publish?
Rules & Repercussions
Purpose/Passion?
Co-Creation?
Planning?
Caretakers?
CollectivelyRate?
Publish?
Designa communityexercise Presence
Conversations
Sharing
Relationships
Groups
Reputation
Identity
Simple (hard) Steps• Have a compelling idea• Seed• Someone must live on the site
– Community manager or you• Make the rules clear (and short)
– Write a good TOS• Punish swiftly and nicely• Reward contributions• Spread the work out• Adapt to Community Norms• Apologize publicly, swiftly and frequently• Simple good software that grows with group
Does Software Matter?
Robin Miller, Cofounder of Slahdot
Joel Spolsky, Joel on Software
Probably not
Your take?
Christina Wodtke
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke
http://www.publicquarehq.com
Where I store my acorns (of knowledge, ‘cause I’m squirrelly)
http://www.slideshare.net/cwodtke
http://del.icio.us/cwodtke/SocialMedia
http://www.eleganthack.com/blog
http://www.boxesandarrows.com/person/9-cwodtke
PatternsSelf• Identity
– Avatar– Profile– Activity– Recommendations
• Presence– Status– History– Statistics– Signs of Life– Keep Company
• Reputation– Rules– Ratings
Community• Relationships
– Add/remove friends– Define relationship– Initiate relationship
• Groups– Norms
• Vilification• Veneration• Interaction
– Jargon– Collective Choices– Rules
Actions• Conversations
– Public– Private– Caretakers
• Sharing– Things– Activities– Progress– Secrets
http://social.itp.nyu.edu/shirky/wiki/?n=Main.PatternLanguage
http://barcamp.org/BarCampBlockSocialMediaDesignPatterns