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It’s time to get your holiday ideas in gear.
Make a list of 10 things you can implement during the holiday season and mobilize the efforts of your online community.
Remember, people love to talk about themselves and show off their handy work.
Ask them to upload pictures of the Thanksgiving Turkey. Start a contest for the most creative Christmas tree.
Oh, speaking of Christmas trees, have you ever seen one made of Mountain Dew cans? A member of my online community uploaded this image gallery today.
So, get your holiday ideas in gear. I’ll be back with my 10 ideas in my next post.
After blogging pretty regularly and sharing my thoughts on everything from online journalism, and social media savvy to the downward spiral of newspapers and the importance of comments on news stories, I finally got around to writing an e-book.
Here it is: 18 Ways to Engage Users Online
I hope you find it useful and share it with your colleagues and peers. I’m planning two more e-books: One for non-profits and another for furniture industry professionals. I’ve spoken to a lot of people in both industries recently and they are eager to jump start their social media strategies.
So, do me the honors of checking out the ebook and tell me what you think.
What do you do when you realize user-submissions are getting low, or your community members seem to be slacking in the photo uploading department? What about when the quality of blogs seems to be tanking and decent conversations are nowhere to be found?
You could complain about it, pour over last months stats and simply hope that things will get better, or drown your sorrows in a series of diet cokes or another beverage of your choice while staring at your monitor. Or, you can ramp up and move into overdrive.
As the community manager it is your job to engage users, so engage. Keep in mind that people love to talk about themselves and share their opinions. They also like to tell what they know, so why not ask them to do all three?
I’ll give you the beginning of several questions and you fill in the blanks based on what’s happening in your community, what people are talking about or anything you find interesting.
What’s your favorite ____________?
What do you think of _________?
Have you seen the new movie, _________?
Do you plan to visit __________?
How much money do you spend on _______?
And if it’s photos your after, be specific. The holiday’s are coming so ask for holiday photos.
Draw out the competitive spirit and ask for pictures of holiday decorations. Put on a contest if you want to get things moving quickly and offer a cool prize.
It can be tough when you depend on others to produce content, but if you make it worth their while and make sure they know how much you value the time they take to do it, things begin to look up fast. I’ve already got several ideas in the works and recently put on a contest called “November madness.” Anyone who picks the winners in the federal and state races will win a prize. People love prizes, so give them what they want.
What you’ll soon find is, it will ultimately get you what you want.
In an effort to illustrate just how daunting the job of an online community manager can be, I’ve started sharing selected snippets of some of the e-mails I receive from members, with the members who send them via my editor’s blog.
There seems to be a real interest and it shows the community just how petty some of their peers can be. Many openly express in the comments areas of my posts that they would never want to do my job. Others have indicated that they would “pray for me and my inbox.”
If you’re up for a good laugh, or cry…read through some of these. Have a bottle of aspirin nearby.
- “Please tell me why when I made a decent comment concerning a very real thing …about putting a hex on something that it gets deleted? I see that this person I referanced this to also had his comment deleted? I did not call names, was not rude.”
- You accept constant trash, and *I* get a nasty gram. Please……..
- Angela - we need the ability to block people off group blogs.
- “The sports section is overrun by crazy people and everytime UNC is mentioned all the fools come out and no one can talk about nothing!!”
- Dang it Angela….. are you gonna get rid of this jerk or not??????
- Ok, Angela here we go again please remove the current cowboy blog this a violation.
- Their are currently 2 blogs with half naked men and lewd suggestive comments being made if there is truly NOT a double standard at ____ these must be flagged NOW and warnings issued. Please follow terms and conditions as set out by ____ or not at all. Allow all viewing of the human body or none at all, both genders.
- I put a comment on the story about the son killing the father in Lee County- there has been some more about this story in the Sanford Herald and the son is being futher investiaged by Sanford Police about another killing that took place a couple of years ago. Please take my comment off.
- I havent disobeyed ANY of the rules so why cant I post anymore?
- I live in Florida and come to the ____ website every day because I am from NC and have family–children, mother, etc. in NC. I used to post comments quite frequently. Since you changed to this ____ nightmare it is so cumbersome it is a huge waste of my time. I can’t figure out how to just plain leave a comment on a story. Please, not all of us want to BLOG or whatever. It is not our life work. Sometimes we just want to make a simple comment.
- “I think your word filter really sucks. I was trying to post a response to the story of the Eagle and I have a pet bird. She is a Cockatiel and as since I used that word twice, the filter would not let the post go through.
Now please tell me what is so offensive about the word “Cockatiel” when it is describing a small Parrot from Australia. I ran a dictionary check on the word “cock” and it was listed 10 times and neither definition was in the least bit offensive.
But I suppose I’ll just get the regular computer response back.” - This morning I was trying to use the word cracker as in I ate crackers this morning and it was blocked. Why? Trying to block this for racial reason???
- I frequently go to your sites and look at feed back ref to your news stories. I am sick of this lady. Her abuse of language, non factual statements are discusting. Please take her completely down. I know that you have fixed it where she can’t do it from the story site but she is still on your link. Here is her link.I feel sorry for both familes and I feel that her ranting and raving is not helping the healing of the familes and the communities.
- I guess I will have to contact ABC 11 and ask them if they would like to investigate the discrimination of the ____ team in regards to allowing negative comments about gay people but not african american people.
- “I didnt realize my actual name was going to show up on a post I had made, it was certainly not a bad post but I’d rather not have my name shown up. I changed my screename however someone responded with my realhame and I was just wondering if you could please edit the thread and remove my full name. Really appreciated it.”
Does your inbox look anything like this? Do tell!
It’s no secret that I believe strongly in taking time to engage your users in numerous ways.
From initiating small talk, to offering simple suggestions or a quick “kudos” and the occasional: “Have a great weekend,” the community looks for your feedback and values it a great deal.
So, in my quest to engage engage engage, I believe I found my personal limit.
It happened last night during the Vice-Presidential debate.
After hosting a successful live blog during the Presidential debate last Friday, I promised another one for the VP debate and promoted it much of the day.
What I didn’t realize is how much other interactivity I would be pulled into and how it would affect me overall.
It turns out that live blogging, text messaging, instant messaging and watching the debate while rubbing my young daughter’s back is a wicked combination, and one that I won’t likely repeat. (Sounds a bit crazy when you read it all doesn’t it?)
At any rate, everything turned out fine and people really enjoyed the blog, but I was a tad bit frazzled by the end and probably missed a great deal of the debate. Even the most skilled multi-taskers can’t catch everything.
So the point here is that we have to realize that we are not super-human and that it doesn’t take three simultaneous messaging platforms to be a good community manager.
What makes us good is the ability to be there for our community and provide experiences they will enjoy and want to experience over and over again.
Community managers are constantly multi-tasking. From creating content, to encouraging more user interaction and stroking a few egos along the way, it often feels like your work is never done.
There’s some truth to that actually, because if your goal is to grow a community, that job will essentially never end. While it is of the utmost importance to keep the community clean and within your guidelines, you decide how you will make that happen. You can do it by force, with kindness and tact, or with some combination of three. It’s all about what works for you and the effect it has on the community overall.
I ran across a blogpost today called: The Challenge of Policing Online Communities, and I must ay that I completely balked at the title.
First of all, I don’t “police” my community. There are certainly days when I feel like a police captain banning problem users and busting up troll compounds. And there are also days when I feel like a rookie who just can’t get a break. But those days are much fewer in number than the days I thoroughly enjoy watching the fruits of my labor.
That is called “managing” the community. When you have a passion for your members and your community, you “manage” it. You cultivate it. You don’t “police” it.
I would never characterize my role that way. It makes it sound like a chore. And isn’t policing anything inherently a challenge?
Our words can be self-fulfilling prophecies. If you consider what you’re doing “policing” then that is what it will always be. You will always be in search of offenders and the good guys will simply pass you by.
If there’s one thing members of your online community want from you, it’s feedback. Positive feedback, or not-so positive feedback, they want to hear from you.
As in most group settings, the squeaky wheels tend to get most of the attention, but if this is where you are focusing your efforts, it’s time to stop. Yes, you have to deal with troublemakers to keep the community in tip-top shape, but you can’t neglect your top posters, continuous content creators and keepers of the community.
If it sounds like a huge task, that’s because it is. It’s an important one too and should be done on a daily basis. It isn’t something you have to spend hours doing, but it’s wise to carve out at least 30 minutes of your day to recognize the members who keep the community afloat, and spend a good portion of their time on your site.
So how can you do this effectively and efficiently? Here are a few suggestions:
- Comment on blogs or forums and be sure to compliment the author publicly. (”This is a great conversation piece. Good topic.”)
- Make a helpful suggestion. This indicates that you value their content. (“Great post. You might want to add a link to your last blog since it’s related.”)
- Make a direct request. (Loved the pictures from your garden. When can we expect to see more?”)
- Ask a question about their content. (That recipe looks awesome, was it passed down to you?”)
- Suggest a blog topic. (I see you’re passionate about drunk driving, you should consider writing a blog.”)
- Ask for their opinion based on what you know about them. ( “I’m heading out your way this weekend, any good barbecue spots in Sanford?”)
- Encourage communication with other community members. (”Johnny23 is looking for tax advice, aren’t you an accountant? Maybe you can help”)
- Make a promise, and keep it. (If you do decide to take more pictures let me know and I’ll highlight them on the home page.”)
- Tell them you miss them. (”Haven’t seen you in a while, I hope everything is okay. We miss your humor.”)
- Send a personal e-mail.. (Hey, you were one of our top posters last week. Just want you to know how much I appreciate your time. Keep it up!”)
Easy enough? Why not get started today? Pick a number between 10 and 20 and decide to issue that many or more compliments to your users on a daily basis. It will show them you care and that you value their time. It will pay off as they become more loyal and you’ll ultimately see the fruits of your labor.
Do you have any helpful hints on connecting with users? Feel free to share.
Let’s be honest.
Many online communities are filled with people who are not who they claim to be. Charlatans, masters of disguise, self-proclaimed trolls and would-be stalkers can hide behind a cloak of anonymity, never to be revealed.
But on the flip side, there are also people who hide nothing. They are comfortable in their skin offline and online. They’re honest, readily share their opinions, enjoy a good debate and make friends along the way. In other words, they’re genuine. They’re real.
Having managed the online community, GOLO since its inception, I have come to know a whole lot of people. They have connected with me as I have with them, eventhough I have no idea “who” they really are.
One member showed up at the station unannounced last December and brought me three Christmas CD’s. Another sent me a box of vegetables from her garden a few months back. I’ve also received cards and lunch invitations and even access to coveted company perks, none of which I’ve accepted, of course. I also get a slew of hate mail, but that’s par for the course.
Most recently, I received a card in the mail adorned with an image of the confederate flag. I heard about it before it ever reached my office. Our in-house mail deliverer informed me last week that he’d seen a piece of mail addressed to me with the name “Old Rebel” on it and that I should be careful.
The woman who brought it to my office gave me an equally concerned look when she handed it to me, and I in turn sat it down on my desk thinking “Not today.”
When I finally decided to open it, fearing the worst, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a thank-you card. The sender had recently received a mousepad from me in the mail, and he wanted to acknowledge it.
I’d recently asked ten users for their home address so I could reward them for being “top posters” on the site and he was one of them.
He simply wanted to say “thank you.”
So what’s the lesson here? The lesson is that I too am learning things about people and that even I can judge their intentions base on my preconceived notions.
The confederate flag is a symbol of the south to him. And I know from his posts and image galleries that he loves the area and will likely live here until he draws his final breath.
As a black woman from the north, it means and has always meant something different to me.
But I can’t help but understand that he was sharing who he really is, and meant me no harm. It’s quite the opposite. His sincerity was apparent.
So what did I do? I went directly to his profile page, posted a hearty thank-you of my own, and told him that he had made my day.
Am I now a fan of this flag? No. But I just may reevaluate its significance to some and do a little research of my own.
I’ve always known on-the-job stress.
As an assignment manager, I worried about missing a big story or crucial interview, sending the news crew to the wrong location and various other scenarios that involved me ending up in the news directors office for singlehandedly destroying the ratings and making us look like losers on the air. It rarely happened, but the stress existed just the same. When Governor Lawton Chiles died on my watch when I worked at WFLA in Tampa, I stressed about getting it on the air first. It was a constant state of wanting to be first, and best. The sense of urgency was constant. No stress there, right?
As a news and special projects producer, I worried that my words weren’t powerful enough, my intro was too weak or I lacked the great video needed to keep the viewers interest. It was stressful to know that the exclusive interview it took two months to land could bail at the last minute leaving little if any time recover.
While managing media partnerships In the newspaper industry, the worries were also constant. Different, but constant: Will our news partners air our content, will we collaborate successfully, and will I ever get these print reporters to understand that multimedia reporting is not an option but a requirement?
Well, now I’m dealing with user-generated content and the game has changed tremendously. I’m managing content from people I cannot control in any capacity. They are nothing more than a screen name and an e-mail address. Some are even less. I don’t know their intentions or whether or not they’re who they say they are. Quite honestly, I’m not certain about much of anything in this particular space.
New stresses consists of relentless trollers intent on wreaking havoc on the community and calling me out in public blogs and making crude references to my ability (or inability, in their anonymous eyes) to do my job by faceless names who really have no real idea what my job entails.
I recently found a kindred spirit in a post by blogger Jeremiah Owyang: Social Punishment: The Bozo Feature .
In the comments area, I found Marc Meyer who wrote that he’d actually received a death threat from a user. There is a level of insanity in that but it is real. Someone took his role as a community manager seriously enough to wish him dead. Sad, but true.
A member of my community indicated in an e-mail to my boss recently that my moderating policies have caused her “undue emotional stress.” Someone else warned that he would continue to bring a flurry of problems through his posts and purposely disrupt and even attempt to ruin the community if I did not completely remove another member from the community. And just yesterday someone commented that I must be “sexually repressed” because their blog posts riddled with sexual innuendo and inappropriate content had been removed.
I am not making this up.
Are these things worthy of stress? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s important to note that this kind of thing can really get to a person. So, if you’re a community manager dealing with any of these issues and wish to start a support group, I’m in!
Let’s face it, everyone likes a good trinket. I’ve made a habit of waiting for the final day of the numerous journalism conventions I attend, to swoop in like a vulture and confiscate every little rubber ball, musical dice, crooked pen and furry pencil I can find. Heck, I sometimes start sooner, depending on the quality of the trinket and the chances that they’ll be gone before the last day.
I’m looking at three purple Yahoo! notepads sitting on my desk right now. Those were high-quality trinkets, so I needed more than one. I picked those up on the first day of an NABJ convention.
Yes, most times they’re donned with TV station call letters or the names of newspapers, but who cares? I’ve always needed a handy-dandy triangle-shaped multi-color highlighter thing, and I wasn’t going to pass it up just because of that. You never know when you might need quality highlighters, and thanks to the Times-Union, I’ll always be prepared.
So what’s this all about? I’m suggesting that you spread some trinket-love to your community members? Just think of a reason. Any reason will do. Identify the top posters of the month or the people with the most pictures in their image galleries and tell them they’ve won a prize.
Just make something up.
It’s easy to get caught up in development or managing and growing the community and then suddenly realize that you haven’t been very engaging, or that your core audience hasn’t heard from you in a while.
This happened to me just yesterday. So, I delved into some stats, identified twenty people who met a certain criteria and sent them e-mails requesting their addresses.
This morning, I sent out 20 GOLO mousepads.
A small chore, but the result will be a grateful group of people who feel valued and know that their participation isn’t taken for granted.
So, if you don’t have any trinkets lying around, get some.
Community managers walk a fine line when it comes to dealing with problem users, and that fine line can often feel like a tightrope.
On one hand, you want to grow the community, and on the other hand, you have to uphold your standards for the community so that others will find it attractive and want to spend time there.
During GOLO’s first year, I was very accomodating. I rarely marked content as abuse and gave second and third chances. It was only the most egregious offenders whom I banned outright and I sometimes worried that if I was too heavy handed, everyone would leave.
Well, what a difference a year makes. Experience is undoubtedly the best teacher and I am now officially over that fear. If you’re still holding on to it, I challenge you to let it go. It’s really quite liberating.
If you’re having problems laying down the gauntlet in certain situations and keeping people in line when it absolutely needs to be done, try these tactics first:
- Reach out to the member via e-mail and inform them of the offense. Make sure your tone is pretty neutral, and let them know you will give them a pass this once.
- If it’s a well-known member who contributes often, remind them how much you value their participation and gently let them know that you were a bit miffed at their recent post, image or other content in question.
If they challenge you in any way, engage. This is often the time when a breakthrough may occur and it also gives you an opportunity to share information about guidelines and why you have them. It starts a dialog that could really turn into a positive. But be careful about how long you let it go on. If they are questioning you just for the sake of ruffling your feathers, shut it down.
Now, if those don’t work or if you come across content that is completely unacceptable and that you could possibly be held accountable for, you have no choice. Those are the times you cannot think twice and you have to act. You can’t get caught up in the fact that this user was your top poster last month or that they are the leader of the most popular clique in the community.
If you do, you will lose control. Some will argue that the goal of the community manager is not to control. I agree to some extent. You do not want to control a community, you want to nurture it.
But keep in mind that boundaries have to be set, and know that certain members will push you until you literally fall off the cliff.
So before you fall off of that cliff, do something. Engage your community, but set the standards and make sure they are respected and upheld. Will you sometimes fall short? Yes. Absolutely yes.
But if you have to choose between falling short from time to time, and falling off a cliff after walking on a tightrope for weeks or even months…I’m pretty sure you’d choose the former.
You’ll feel it in your gut and your heart may even skip a beat.
I know this sounds dramatic but it’s true, and if you manage an online community you know exactly what I’m talking about. .
If you feel as though you are running out of ideas or interesting ways to engage your online community, allow me to offer this: Fall back on the human condition.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past year, since launching and managing GOLO.com is that there are many many ways to connect with others simply based on the fact that we’re all human beings.
We may not share the same hobbies, live in the same neighborhoods or share the same passions, but we are all living and breathing, and most of us want to keep it that way.
So if you’re at a loss for content, hone in on the things that affect us all and center conversations around that. Most members of local online communities have shared interests, therefore water-cooler topics abound and there’s often plenty to work with. Especially if you’re extremely creative.
But those one-size-fits-all issues certainly don’t emerge on a daily basis and even if they do, the interest level ebbs and flows and you can never be too sure how much traction any conversation will pick up.
Ask yourself a few questions and you’ll be sitting on a ton of ideas. What are people angry about? What am I angry about. Who’s upset, and why? The answers to any of those three questions can start one heck of a conversation if asked the right way.
Just last week, I asked my members if they’d notice a drop in gas prices that morning. A simple question, yes…but one that addresses an issue that plagues us all. Trust me, it works.
Give it a try, and do come back and share your results.
It’s no secret that I am passionate about user comments on news stories. I am an advocate for user-generated content and building online communities. I take every opportunity I find to comment on blogs about comments.
I believe I will continue to do that for quite some time. At least five years. Well, maybe two. We’ll just have to see what happens after that. In an ideal world, most news organizations will have realized that they need to embrace comments and hire the staff to manage them by then. If that happens, I will have to find another soap box, but that’s okay. I’m sure I will.
Providing the community with a platform is the ultimate community service, in my opinion, and it’s an important and highly valuable service. It just has to be managed. Set your expectations ans uphold them. Create a community standard! It’s not that hard.
So if you see a post about comments, or you write a post about comments within the next two years, send me the URL so I can add my two-cents. Or, just leave it in the comments area below.
I read a lot of blogs yesterday referencing this story in the Wall Street Journal. The title is: “Why do Online Communities Fail” and it offers reasons why, you guessed it…most online communities fail.
I know it’s true, but I spent a lot of time reading the comments on several blogs and posting my own, and what I learned is that there are a lot of online community managers out there who are extremely committed to their communities and doing what they have to do to make them thrive.
Those comments gave me hope, and also validated my efforts and the hours I pour into GOLO.com even when I should be doing anything but.
Here’s a comment I left on this blog:
I will continue to stress the importance of the community manager’s role. This role should be filled by a committed individual who will reach out to the community, encourage them, value them and make sure they know their presence is appreciated. If there is no one actively engaging with users, and doing so with a purpose…the community will cease to exist.
As I think about this further, it seems that the work that goes into managing an online community and attracting new members has been highly underrated. I don’t think that it is yet common knowledge how much it takes to do this job and do it well.
THAT is a major reason online communities fail. Did I conduct a survey to come to that conclusion, no? Do I have adequate support material to backup this claim? Maybe.
Do I have a gut feeling that this is the truth? Absolutely.
Janet at Beeline Labs asked me in one of the comment forums: “What else do you find makes a great community manager?” My answer: “A thick skin, sense of humor and an iron hand when hard decisions need to be made. Empathy would help, and a willingness to be an advocate for users.”
Well here’s one I failed to mention: A keen sense of knowing when to simply, trust your gut.
When is the last time you made a suggestion to a member in your community? I hope it’s been within in the last day or so. If not, you’re missing out on opportunities that could grow beyond your wildest dreams.
Suggestions come in many forms. They can be direct or indirect. But most importantly, they must be targeted and somewhat flattering.
I read a comment left on a blog by one of my users that was hilarious. I immediately left a comment for him telling him how funny it was and suggesting that he write a blog about it and include the whole story.
That blog was posted in less than 10 minutes.
I told another member that I would love to see pictures of the garden she’s always talking about in the blogs, and voila…an image gallery soon followed. This member is now one of the most active posters, uploading bi-weekly image galleries of her garden. I’ve rewarded her by placing the galleries on the home page, increasing her exposure in the community.
As community managers we often get so caught up in our tasks that we forget we have a very influential position. And from time-to-time, it should be exploited for what it is.
Ask a cyclist to blog about safety while biking. If you see someone discussing books, ask them to create a group for book lovers if your site offers that feature. The clues are all around you, just open your eyes and see them for what they are.
I love it when the members of my community make suggestions. Most of the time. It tells me that they care enough to want to see improvements or a better user experience, and I think that’s a good thing.
Some ideas are good. Some aren’t. Some I definitely consider, and others are simply way off base. BUT, no matter what I think about the suggestions, I acknowledge them, thank the member for caring enough to make a suggestion and let them know that it has been “duly noted” or “added to my list.” Depending on the topic, I may even divulge that it’s been under discussion and we’re considering it.
How’s that for non-committal?
But seriously, what I’ve found is that most members just want to be heard. They want to know that you value their input and that when push comes to shove, they matter.
Do your community members matter? If you don’t know the answer to that, neither do they.
Take some time to let them know, and see what a difference it can make.
It’s Never Too Late to Start Moderating Comments
August 7, 2008 in Community Building, comments, media, user generated content | Tags: comments, online communities, twitter | No comments
While catching up on my twitter reading tonight, I came across this comment from Patrick Thornton aka jiconoclast:
I have to disagree with that. Now, I’m the first person to rag on newspapers for moving at a snails pace, requiring that even the most minor decisions are made by committee and for blatantly ignoring the obvious for years through institutionalized denial and arrogance.
But, I’m not sure that many news organizations were aware of, or expected the kind of drama that comments connected to news stories would bring. Yes, it’s ugly and it will only get worse before it gets better. But it can be done. I know this for a fact.
We moderate comments on news stories at WRAL.com and as the Managing Editor of User-Generated Content, I am largely responsible for the policies that come along with it. Comments weren’t always moderated, but we took control of the content associated with our brand, made the change, and we’re still going strong. Do we get complaints? Yes, but not nearly as many as you would think and most importantly, people also know that they can come to us and engage in civil conversations about the issues that affect them and the community they live in.
So, is it too late? No! I think all news organizations should moderate comments, and the sooner the better. Would it have been ideal to start from the beginning? Possibly. But, you may even score points for changing the situation for the better.