By Emma Hamilton
Imagine you’ve received a mystery invitation to a party. It sounds interesting so you decide to pop along, bottle of wine in hand, and have a look.
You arrive at a glittering venue but quickly realise you don’t know anyone. In fact, no one even speaks your language. The host’s nowhere to be seen either. You can’t even find a drink. How long would you stick around?
An online community is just the same – a virtual party or social gathering. And – here’s the important bit – if you’re building one, you’re the host. Unsuccessful parties can be a pretty painful experience. So, to make sure your forum or online community is more 'Ambassador' than 'Abigail', here are a few things to keep in mind.
Substance over style
When it comes to a forum or social network the line ‘if you build it they will come’ just isn’t true. As the perpetrators of Big Brother are all too aware – forcing people into a trendy room and ordering them to have fun doesn’t guarantee entertainment.
Mould to fit
Take a look at the thriving groups on Facebook and it’s clear – the best parties are spontaneous, started by people with common interests. So always ask yourself what purpose your community will serve for the people that use it. Mould your forum carefully around your audience and the subjects that already matter to them.
The host with the most
As every good host knows, the trick to a good party is making each guest feel special. New members are strangers. It’s the host’s job to greet them and introduce them to a few people – and to tell them the rules and no-no's, like swinging from the chandeliers.
So send new members a welcome mail telling them the rules of the forum. Suggest some threads they might find interesting and – this is key - don’t just disappear. People take their lead from the host. So visit the site daily to make sure everyone’s happy and answer any queries.
Don’t be a killjoy
Parties can get out of hand but try not to be heavy handed with your users. Too many restrictions can be a big turn-off.
Listen to your users and if someone is saying something you don’t like, resist the temptation to delete their comment or eject them altogether. That can make everyone uneasy and it’s important to build trust.
Let people express themselves and give a measured response if they are being negative. Your users know the rules and often you’ll find they’ll judge each the acceptability of each other’s behaviour themselves. Give them some ownership of their forum and they’ll keep coming back.