The document discusses community management in online journalism. It provides tips on how to engage online audiences and build buzz through tactics like employing a community editor. Future Publishing successfully used a community editor to engage craft enthusiasts ahead of launching Mollie Makes magazine, which then became Future's fastest growing title. The document also discusses how to match community goals, provide feedback, focus on individuals, ensure diversity and capacity, and make content visible across multiple platforms to activate an online community.

1. 4: Community
management
JOM845 Online Journalism
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2. Monday, 12 November 12

3. “Future employed a Community Editor to
engage with the online craft audience
and build a buzz in the months leading
up to the launch of Mollie Makes” ...
http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/kb/articles/media_pioneer_mollie_makes.aspx
Monday, 12 November 12

4. “Future employed a Community Editor to
engage with the online craft audience
and build a buzz in the months leading
up to the launch of Mollie Makes” ... “It
was Future’s fastest growing title in
the last decade”
http://www.inpublishing.co.uk/news/articles/future_to_launch_the_simple_things.aspx
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5. The what.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobanblack/3762525969/
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6. The POST process - recap
• People - networks
• Objectives
• Strategy - content
• Technology - platforms
See http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2010/01/19/technology-is-not-a-strategy-its-a-tool/
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7. Why are you
publishing?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobanblack/3762525969/
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8. E.g. “Get to stories before our
competitors”
• Monitor UGC on other sites
• Monitor mentions of keywords such as
‘earthquake’, etc.
• Become part of and contribute to online
UGC communities
• Provide live feeds pulling content from
UGC sites*
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9. E.g. “Users spend longer on
site”
• Give users something to do around
content, e.g. comments, vote, etc.
• Find out what users want to do with
UGC and allow them to do that on-site
• Acknowledge and respond to UGC
• Showcase UGC on other platforms, e.g.
print, broadcast
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10. e.g. Improve the editorial quality
of our work
• Provide UGC space for users to
highlight errors, contribute updates
• Ensure that we attract the right
contributors in terms of skills, expertise,
contacts, etc.
• Involve users from the earliest stages of
production
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11. Match with the community/ies
• Utility-driven? (Self-improvement)
• Socially-driven? (Identity, support)
• Change-driven?
• Emotionally-driven? (Fun)
from Jono Bacon, The Art of Community
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12. The how.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobanblack/3762525969/
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13. “81% of [financial and business journalist
respondents] are engaging on a regular
basis with their digital readers, thus
fostering online communities”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/jul/21/digital-media-
marketingandpr
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14. Monday, 12 November 12

15. “‘You have to activate your community. It
is difficult, so you have to be really
involved with it.’ That’s why the
community managers are expected to
spend half of their time reaching out
to citizens (mostly through social
media) and being out and about in their
cities.”
http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/06/in-the-netherlands-a-patch-like-hyperlocal-
network-is-making-money-and-nearing-profit/
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16. link
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17. Help Me Investigate:
a case study
17
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18. 13
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21. Monday, 12 November 12

22. The 1%.
Focus on individuals, not audiences
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23. Feedback.
Keep up momentum, small things mean a lot
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24. Modularity.
Give specific tasks to people, but after you’ve started. Don’t dominate.
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25. Diversity and
capacity.
Seek a range of skills in the group, bring in new members
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26. Visibility.
Publish across a range of platforms and places, regularly
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27. The scaling problem - and the 4
T solutions
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28. http://www.feverbee.com/2012/01/introducing-the-map-a-proven-process-for-developing-successful-online-communities.html
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29. “We have a way to prevent gangs of humans
from acting like savage packs of animals. In
fact, we've developed entire disciplines
based around this goal over thousands of
years. We just ignore most of the lessons that
have been learned when we create our
communities online. But, by simply learning
from disciplines like urban planning, zoning
regulations, crowd control, effective and
humane policing, and the simple practices it
takes to stage an effective public event, we
can come up with a set of principles to
prevent the overwhelming majority of the
worst behaviors on the Internet.” http://bit.ly/cityoj04
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30. Tasks
Parkinson’s Law of Triviality
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31. Teams
(with ability to communicate across those)
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32. Tools
Clarity and functionality
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33. T&Cs
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/3/19/
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34. Key points:
Community skills are in demand - build
them.
It takes time, persistence and focus -
don’t lose heart; do be humble.
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35. Further reading.
Delicious.com/paulb/cityOJ04
Delicious.com/paulb/CM
Delicious.com/paulb/UGC
Jono Bacon: The Art of Community
Richard Millington: The Proven Path
and Buzzing Communities
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