Questions to Ask When Building an Online Community

Questions to ask when building and maintaining an

online community

Scott MooreOnline Community Consultant

[email protected]

twitter.com/scottmoore

Printable Edition

This is intended for solo viewing, the live-action version will be much more exciting.

There are NOTES to add supporting details to the main point. So if you aren’t seeing notes, you are missing information.

Answering foundational questions early in the process will:

Set you on the right path.

Help you sift through technology decisions, especially giant feature lists.

Support you if a crisis arises.

If you don’t answer these questions sooner,

you will ask them later.

An answer is better than no answer

It’s about process, research, analysis, discussion, alignment.

Be flexible.

Who? Where?

Why? What?

How?

When?

People

Who?Clients?

Donors?Advocates?

Activists?Volunteers?

People

Who are they in terms of age, gender, profession, social technographics?

Where are they online? Where are they offline?

People

Who will the community not serve?- Age- Country

It’s about setting expectations

You can still welcome those outside direct service (diversity is good)

Objectives

Why are we doing this?

What is our mission, vision, purpose, focus, goals

Objectives

What values do we hold?

Objectives

What are the needs of our organization, our community members?

What is the value of our community members building relationships with each other?

Objectives

What are your areas of distrust?

Objectives

What does success look like?

Strategy

How does change happen?

Strategy

How is our organization limited?

Budget

Time

Development resources

IT support

Strategy

How involved do we want/need to be in the community?

Content

Behavior

Light HeavyAttitudes

Values

Strategy

Who controls when and how things change?

How much control does the community get?

Strategy

How will we sustain the community?

Will we manage or mediate conflict?

Pre- or Post hoc moderation?

What kind of moderation?- Content

- Behavior

- Attitude

How will we support diversity/dissent?

Strategy

When do we expect results?

When should we expect results?

Strategy

When do we want to launch/change?

When do we want it to end?

Wrap up!

It’s about people and processes.

Hit as many of the big questions as you can.

Reflect back on your answers while reviewing technology options.

Be flexible – experimentation is okay!

Review your questions and answers and update if necessary.

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