Blog Posts About: community

In the Central District of Seattle (my old neighborhood), there is a piece of property set aside as small, wooded, urban park called "Nora's Wood". Nora Wood, MD bought the land and created the park before she died in the early 1990's. Neighborhood volunteers now maintain the property.

On the corner where the park begins, neighbors erected a sign that means a lot to me, for a number of reasons. A while back I wrote down what is written on the sign to share with an online community I managed.

I ran across it recently and thought it would be a good thing to post here. I hope you'll think about (and share) these things in terms of your own community and the community we share online.

How to Build a Community:

• Turn off the TV
• Know your neighbor
• Look up when you are walking
• Greet people
• Sit on the stoop
• Plant flowers
• Use your library
• Play together
• Buy from local merchants
• Share what you have
• Help a lost dog
• Take children to the park
• Garden together
• Support neighborhood schools
• Fix it even if you didn't break it
• Have block parties
• Honor your elders
• Pick up litter
• Read stories aloud
• Dance in the street
• Talk to the mail carrier
• Listen to the birds
• Put up a swing
• Help carry something heavy
• Barter for goods
• Start a tradition
• Ask a question
• Hire young people for odd jobs
• Have a pot-luck
• Bake extra and share
• Ask for help when you need it
• Open your shades
• Sing together
• Share your skills
• Take back the night
• Turn up the music
• Turn down the music
• Listen before you react to anger
• Seek to understand
• Listen from new and uncomfortable angles
• Know that no one is silent, but many are not heard

-Author unknown

I've heard through the grapevine that this originated from a similar sign somewhere in California and was copied for the sign in Seattle. If anyone known the origin, I'd love to know about it...

How to Manage Your Corporate Reputation Online

Online discussion forums�??commonly referred to as consumer generated media (CGM)�??are increasingly being used by consumers to ratify or criticize products and brands. Because consumers use these online discussion forums to check out other consumers’ opinions and experiences�??for pre- or post-shopping advice�??they are shaping the perspectives of millions of consumers globally.

Good perspectives, and the author provides good advice for companies to be aware of the power of these online discussions in shaping the market. But what about reacting to them? What can a company do to preserve an online reputation?

What is missing is the value of being *involved* in the online discussions. Being aware is only part of the picture- the real issue is being able influence the online discussions and provide resources that enable the company to have a real voice that shapes opinions.

Companies who are concerned about their online reputation need to look for ways to participate in the discussions with a personal and honest voice.

Involvement may mean creating an online community of customers or starting a weblog. Only by being a part of the discussion can a company truly stick up for itself when it's being trashed online.

You can't respond to a weblogger with a press release.

Link Via: Reach Customers Online's RSS Feed

I've found David Weinberger's recent posts from the Politics Online Conference really interesting. All day today he's been feverishly blogging the various goings on, including presentations from Ken Mehlman of the Bush campaign, Joe Trippi and lots of others. I think it provides an interesting snapshot of how the world of poilitics views the Web, weblogs, online communities and all. David's snarky comments are funny too.

For what it's worth, RSS is the *only* reason I can keep up with things like this.

Pew Internet & American Life Project: Content Creation Online

It took me a while to figure out what "content" means in the context of a web site. Now I think of it like a glass jar of nuts and bolts- what you put into it makes up its contents. Like a glass jar, what you put into a web site makes up its content. Without content, web sites are useless.

Traditionally, there were a relatively small group of people (programmers, web masters, geeks) who could open the jar and add contents on a regular basis. What we saw online was often limited by who had the expertise to post it to the web.

This is changing very quickly- nowadays Joe and Jane internet user can add content to the web just as effectively- programming is no longer required. Weblogs are a specific example of a tool that is enabling this change.

Now that content has become so easy to add, I believe we're about to see major changes in the way we use and understand the web. The average person will become more in tune with the online world because the technical barriers are being lifted.

This report is significant to me because it sets a baseline. It allows us to get a snapshot of participation today so that we can fully understand the changes tomorrow.

Here are some stats and links:

Weblog section

In this survey, we found that a mere 2% of Internet users in this survey reported writing a weblog or online diary. Earlier surveys and a follow up check in early 2004 indicate that between 2% and 7% of Internet users publish a ‘blog. Within this tiny group, only about 10% report updating their blog daily. Most weblog writers update their blogs once a week or less often.

From Summary:

• 21% of Internet users say they have posted photographs to Web sites.
• 20% say they have allowed others to download music or video files from their computers.
• 17% have posted written material on Web sites.
• 13% maintain their own Web sites.
• 10% have posted comments to an online newsgroup. A small fraction of them have posted files to a newsgroup such as video, audio, or photo files.
• 8% have contributed material to Web sites run by their businesses.
• 7% have contributed material to Web sites run by organizations to which they belong such as church or professional groups.
• 7% have Web cams running on their computers that allow other Internet users to see live pictures of them and their surroundings.
• 6% have posted artwork on Web sites.
• 5% have contributed audio files to Web sites.
• 4% have contributed material to Web sites created for their families.
• 3% have contributed video files to Web sites.
• 2% maintain Web diaries or Web blogs, according to respondents to this phone survey.

Graph of Daily Internet Activities

Graph of Overall Internet Activities

This article on News.com describes how and why Google may be testing the waters with a new Social Networking site:Orkut.com

"Orkut is an online trusted community Web site designed for friends. The main goal of our service is to make the social life of yourself and your friends more active and stimulating," according to the Web site, which states that the service is "in affiliation with Google."

Via: Ryze Blogs and Bloggers

PS- Invitation is required for membership- if you're a member- invite me!

ModeratorsNet recently interviewed a great friend, business associate and fellow Seattleite- Nancy White.

Back in 1999, when I was just getting started in online communities, Nancy was one of the first online community "professionals" I met. Since that time, she has been a constant source of advice, connections, chocolate and good cheer.

I'll steal a great quote from the interview and a chapter Nancy authored in an upcoming book:

The bottom line is that neither “online community�? nor online interaction is the goal. It is one means for helping groups achieve their goals. It is not necessarily about online community but about the conditions and process needed to enable communities to use the online environment. Now networks, groups and Communities of Practice (CoPs) are realizing the promise of the late 90s. … online interaction offers a way to support a distributed communities, widening their depth and potentially enriching their learning."