This link has been bookmarked by 37 people . It was first bookmarked on 26 Jun 2007, by Shawn Callahan.
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Chris HeuerDeeper post from John Hagel on challenges of online community.
community management commmgrpreso blog community2.0 enterprise2.0 onlinecommunity web2.0
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Bertrand DuperrinChallenges in building virtual communities
In reflecting on the experiences accumulated to date by companies seeking to build virtual communities, I’d like to focus on four challenges:communities virtualcommunities language skills integration organization organizationalbarriers ROI returnonattention returnoninformation ROS returnonskills socialsoftware collaboration metrics benefits
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First Challenge – Language.
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Second challenge – Integrating diverse skill sets
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Third challenge – Shifting mindsets.
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Fourth challenge – Organizational barriers
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Scott DrummondA great post that discusses the basics and more of virtual community from the author of 'Net Gain'.
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The key elements of virtual community, therefore, are shared discussions, shared relationships and shared identity.
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Michel Bauwensbusiness opportunities with virtual communities, revisiting netgain 10 yrs after
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04 Jun 07
Howard RheingoldWhat are we talking about when we use the term "virtual community"?
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hallenges in building virtual communities
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- establishing connections on electronic networksamong people with common needs
- so that they can engage in shared discussions
- that persist and accumulate over time
- leading to complex webs of personal relationships and an increasing sense of identification with the overall community
First Challenge – Language. What are we talking about when we use the term "virtual community"? During the last big wave of investment in virtual communities, the term was used so loosely that it lost all meaning. Let me offer my own definition of virtual community so that you will at least know what I mean by the term. For me, virtual community involves:
The key elements of virtual community, therefore, are shared discussions, shared relationships and shared identity.
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- Content – effectively integrating published content with contributed content, making it easily accessible
- Social interactions – catalyzing and sustaining rewarding interactions among participants in ways that promote the creation of enduring relationships
- Economic business models – establishing rewarding and sustainable economics to support the growth of virtual communities
Second challenge – Integrating diverse skill sets. Three distinct skill sets (and cultures) must come together to create a successful virtual community:
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- Participant focus vs. vendor/sponsor focus – most companies spend a lot of time on what they want to accomplish with virtual communities but much less time focusing on what participants might want to accomplish
- Long-term value creation focus vs. short-term “get rich quick” focus – of course, commercial viability is essential for businesses, but the time frames are critical – with a short-term time frame, commerce becomes corrosive of community, but with a longer term time frame, commerce and community powerfully reinforce each other
- Bottom up emergent organization vs. top down imposed organization – executives fear loss of control but fail to understand the potential to shape and influence
Third challenge – Shifting mindsets. This is especially a problem for large companies seeking to organize virtual communities. They must navigate through three major mindset shifts:
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- Structure – who’s accountable? Do they have the status and influence required to mobilize appropriate resources? Are they too narrowly focused in terms of interests (e.g., marketing vs. customer support vs. product development)?
- Systems – what is measured/rewarded? How will a company define success? What are relevant operational metrics? Are there systematic reviews to enhance performance?
- Skills – who has relevant experience? This is challenging – the most critical skills sets such as discussion moderation and discussion archiving are in very short supply. Mindsets and measurement systems often don’t even reveal the need for specific skill sets
Fourth challenge – Organizational barriers. These occur at three levels:
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- Connection – communities are not just helpful in finding people with relevant interests or capabilities, but help to foster broader and deeper trust-based relationships among these people.
- Conversation – by providing rich discussion environments for the sharing of common interests, virtual communities accelerate the building shared meaning
- Construction/creation – virtual communities can provide platforms, governance structures and tools for building jointly developed work products, as the open source software arena confirms.
Across the business landscape, we are moving to more collaborative forms of commerce: collaboration marketing, creation nets and global process networks. Virtual communities will become a powerful foundation for collaborative commerce on three levels:
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