todd m. sweet

Technology versus Community: Ride the Wave, Not the Board - alumni futures

Don’t worry so much about picking the “right” technology or the “best” tool.

Instead, pay attention to what kind of interaction the tools enable or magnify.

Pay attention to human behavior.

Some great advice in this blog entry. I’m a firm believer that the tools we obsess over will be replaced by something else eventually. Focus on the community first.

HOW TO: Manage a Sustainable Online Community

Understanding the life cycle is key to building a comprehensive community strategy, specifically when it comes to moderation and management. A few of the components impacted include: Content creation, group formation, engagement tactics, expert discovery efforts, knowledge sharing practices, and employee participation. Once the strategy is clearly defined, goals and objectives can be identified, clear measurements for success (return on investment) are marked, and the community life cycle becomes the map or playbook for understanding how to reach those goals and objectives.

The three cardinal sins can be avoided if you understand the life cycle of your community, and thus where and how to apply resources and strategy to running it.