It can be a big challenge to redesign an online community. Our members visit on a regular basis, and they become accustomed to how things look and where they’re located. To the point where they can become resistant to change.

Chris Bowyer has managed MovieForums.com for almost 16 years. After using the same design for more than a decade, they launched a comprehensive redesign that the community embraced. On this episode, we walk through the steps he took to achieve a successful launch and the unique experiences you gain when you manage a community for so long, plus:

• Could you see yourself managing the same community for 30 years?
• The right way to do self-moderation
• Community culture and how quickly it forms

Continue reading “Planning a Community Redesign (After Having the Same Design for More Than a Decade)”

Abusive lawsuits and legal maneuvers threaten our communities and our members by silencing them under the weight of excessive litigation and costly attorney’s fees.

If a member of your community criticizes a company, and that company doesn’t like it, they can sue you or your member. Even if you are completely in the right, your finances can be drained as you work to defend yourself. For this reason, many community professionals simply opt to fold to demands and remove the content, even if it would otherwise be acceptable.

Our guest is Eric Goldman, a professor of law at the Santa Clara University School of Law. His focus is internet law and he is part of a group working to pass federal legislation that will make it harder for these speech-chilling lawsuits to be successful. Plus:

• How companies are contractually supressing consumer reviews
• The most crucial piece of legislation for U.S.-based community professionals
• Understanding the difference between your terms of service and your community guidelines

Continue reading “Abusive Lawsuits Can Silence Your Community (Even if You’ve Done Nothing Wrong)”

The Washington Post received 12 million comments last year. They believe in community, in engaging with readers where they are – and in moderation. They have collaborated with the New York Times and Mozilla to create the Coral Project, an effort aimed at developing open source tools and resources that help publishers build better communities.

Greg Barber is a 13 year veteran of the Post, currently the director of digital news projects, where he focuses on interactivity, personalization and alternative storytelling. This episode focuses on community at the Post, plus:

• Using community data and history to identify great contributors – and harmful ones
• The limits of self-moderation
• Why news organizations look “like a repair person who only uses a hammer,” in how they approach online discussions

Continue reading “How the Washington Post Builds Community”

Last week, the European Commission announced that Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft had agreed to take a stronger stance on illegal hate speech. These platforms have their work cut out for them and at least part of that work has been created by their own actions previously.

Moderation veteran Alison Michalk, CEO and founder of community management agency Quipp, joins me on this episode to talk about Facebook’s approach to moderation. Plus:

• Convincing executives to run companies like communities
• The legal climate for community builders in Australia
• How the music industry’s street team promotion model translated to the internet

Continue reading “Facebook Doesn’t Have the Moderation Tools of Forums in 2000”

WordPress powers more than 25% of the web. It’s open source software, driven by community contributions. But it’s also big business, with many companies generating millions of dollars in revenue by offering products and services that cater to people and organizations who use it.

How is building a business around an open source product, with a strong community, different from a more traditional kind of business? What expectations does the community have? WebDevStudios is a 34-person agency that does nothing but WordPress. Brad Williams, their CEO and co-founder, is the guest on this episode. Plus:

• What good developer relations look like for WordPress
• Why every WebDevStudios employee dedicates at least 2 paid hours every week giving back to WordPress
• How the community benefits directly from WebDevStudios client work

Continue reading “Building a Business in an Open Source Community”

Twenty years ago, this month, Ultimate Bulletin Board was released. You may not know the name, but this early community software introduced or popularized numerous conventions that we now simply take for granted.

UBB wasn’t just on the market before practically any community platform available today, they were among the very first web-based community platforms available, following the days of BBS and the closed network of AOL. Rosemary O’Neill co-founded Social Strata and, once upon a time, they developed UBB. We get into the history of the project, plus:

• How UBB might have invented emojis
• The evolution of community software
• Why people are returning to more focused, niche communities

Continue reading “20 Years Since This Community Software Was Released”

Treating community as a product is really about the technology that powers the community. Improving it, adjusting settings, releasing updates and communicating those changes. This shows everyone involved that you are regularly progressing the user experience.

While community professionals have been improving their software and announcing those changes forever, thinking of community as a product can help you to better communicate and execute your platform strategy. Julie Hamel, senior manager of community and social media at Alteryx, joins me on this episode. Plus:

• Being effective as a remote professional, when most of your company is in an office
• Why Alteryx merged support with community
• How B2B companies should recognize the experts in their communities

Continue reading “Community as a Product”

Jenna Woodul was the first chief community officer. She and Peter Friedman co-founded LiveWorld, a company offering what are now known as community management services, more than 20 years ago.

Her professional backstory is a fascinating look at the history of our profession, including early BBS days at Apple, the transition to the World Wide Web and the evolution of community for business. Plus:

• The opportunity of real-time messaging
• Apple’s place as a pioneer in using digital community tools for business
• Should community professionals aspire to the CCO title?

Continue reading “The First Chief Community Officer”

Caravan Studios builds apps that empower local communities to tackle big problems, like finding shelter for domestic abuse survivors and ensuring that kids don’t go hungry.

With more than 16 years of experience, Susan Tenby heads up community efforts for the organization, bringing app developers and non-profits together to serve communities in need. She is also the founder of #OCTRIBE, the biggest online community meetup in San Francisco, which turns 10 years old this month. Plus:

• How Caravan Studios determines which issues to dedicate resources to
• The history of #OCTRIBE
• Mentoring in community management

Continue reading “Serving Communities in Need”

Allison Leahy, Fitbit’s director of community, is the architect of the company’s 80+ member community team. After building a large private community that required login to view, she led an effort to make that community publicly viewable by all.

This type of move presents a series of challenges. How will current members react? What are the legal ramifications? Will it lead to an increase in disruptive members? On this episode, we discuss how Fitbit navigated these issues, resulting in a 300% increase in traffic and a 175% increase in content. Plus:

• The struggle to unify customer service data
• Allison’s favorite KPIs
• Why Fitbit tries not to answer community questions for at least 24 hours

Continue reading “When Fitbit Took Their Private Community Public”