June 18, 2007 72 Comments

Activated Communities

It’s one thing to have a community of friends and an audience for your blog, podcast, or videoblog. It’s another thing altogether to have an activated community of people who will take action and bring about actual change at your request. I need your help in thinking more about this, but I feel there’s something here.

What’s An Activated Community?

It’s one thing to lean back and consume content. You watch TV, but rarely do you see something that motivates you to take a next step. You read the newspaper and use it as something to talk about at work. This is what most people do, and it’s partly why these things are here: to consume. For instance, listening to an album of music doesn’t usually have a “call to action” prescribed at the end- it’s just there for you to enjoy.

An activated community is when one’s audience becomes something with strength behind it, guided towards some kind of cause or end. It could be for a social effort, a marketplace request, a simple awareness effort. But in my definition (until you help me change it), an activated community is one that can be rallied to take some kind of action upon request whenever reasonable.

Examples of Activated Communities

Recently public radio host Ira Glass from This American Life reached out to his audience to say that the streaming bill for the Internet part of his show was excessive, and that the makers of the show couldn’t afford to pay for it any longer. He reached out to his audience and asked for support, and they were able to help. In fact, they were very generous, and the show will certainly go on. This is an easy example of a community taking an obvious action.

Another community action? Virtual Hot Wings put on by Matthew Ebel with help from Christopher S. Penn and Michelle Wolverton (and I don’t know who else). This was an effort to sell a virtual CD of all kinds of special bonus music content from one of podcasting’s musical shining lights, Matthew Ebel. The effort so far has done well for Matthew, and if you haven’t picked up your download of HOURS of music, consider dropping $20 US to show that an artist doesn’t need the US recording industry’s machine to get work done.

Reasons to Activate

It doesn’t have to be about money. Sometimes, on Twitter, I just reach out to the community at large to ask a question, something to raise thoughts and awareness. Why? Because I like giving people something to think about that isn’t just idle chit-chat. No reason beyond that. Sometimes, it’s about raising community thoughts and awareness.

Another way to use an activated community is for advice and information. I like asking questions about who uses which products. I much prefer recommendations from friends than I do magazines. I know that sometimes I’ll miss some professional opinions, but I trust the source of my friends more than I trust someone who might be jaded, might be looking to please a lower denominator than I classify myself, etc.

Tools for an Activated Community

Here’s where I need your help the most, I believe. I’m thinking about what tools we need to be a REALLY useful and active community. And by “useful,” beyond money, there’s a lot of what we can do that is just awareness-driving. The most frustrating thing I heard over and over again about PodCamp was that people didn’t know it happened. Meanwhile, Chris Penn and myself and all the organizers sent what felt like tens of thousands of emails. And yet, people weren’t aware.

Here’s a partial toolkit for awarenes:

A Digg account. – Use this for promoting stories and blog posts and podcasts that want higher attention.
A LinkedIN account. – Build your own network, link it to mine, and then we both expand our awareness and our reach. Because if I’m seeking out someone in your network, I can now ask you to help me connect to them. This builds connectivity to people you might need to reach very quickly.
A Twitter account. – To get the word out quickly. Re-twittering helps tons.
A Facebook account. – I think groups on Facebook are a quick way to get mail out to people easily. It’s also a good opt-in / opt-out mechanism.
A Flickr account. – What if some of our activation requires visuals? I guess you could add a YouTube account for the same purpose, just in case we want to shoot video.
A PayPal account. Sometimes it’s just about a donation to a cause. When a friend says their servers are down because of bandwidth bills, it’s nice to be able to drop a few bucks in the till to help them over a hump. (Sometimes it *is* just about money).
And what else?

Returns to an Activated Community

For someone to be driving such an active community, I believe there should be a return on effort to the community at large. I suppose people don’t mind if you ask them to Digg the occasional article. But should you be requesting something more, such as donating money, there should be some kind of return on the effort. What that becomes is up to you. It’s up to you and your community to determine the value of these actions, and why one would keep doing it, etc. But give them SOMETHING for their efforts. Otherwise, it’ll feel like a take, take, take thing.

What Did I Miss?

The best thing MY community offers me is their wisdom and intelligence. I’ve made all several hundred of you my advisory board. I trust you to steer me straight, to point me towards the good stuff, etc. What did I miss? What tools did I miss? What ideas are missing from this? Help me flesh this out. I think there’s something there. I welcome your thoughts.

Subscribe for FREE in your preferred reader

Maintaining Community Spirit In Larger Communities

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Genesis Framework

The Genesis Framework empowers you to quickly and easily build incredible websites with WordPress. Whether you're a novice or advanced developer, Genesis provides you with the secure and search-engine-optimized foundation that takes WordPress to places you never thought it could go.

With automatic theme updates and world-class support included, Genesis is the smart choice for your WordPress website or blog.

Find out more about the framework features
Check out the Genesis demo and the wide variety of child themes
See example designs in the Genesis design showcase

Become a StudioPress Affiliate

http://jetsetshow.com Zadi

Hey Chris, here’s my response to your post:
http://jetsetshow.com Zadi

Hey Chris, here’s my response to your post:
http://jetsetshow.com Zadi

Ooops. didn’t post:
http://zadidiaz.com/blog/2007/06/activated_communities_response.html
http://jetsetshow.com Zadi

Ooops. didn’t post:
http://zadidiaz.com/blog/2007/06/activated_communities_response.html
http://www.chrishambly.com Chris Hambly

One thing that has not been mentioned is newsletters. I’m just adding that tool, as it is a huge one for me.

And should not be overlooked.

Some may say newsletters are old school, but I tell you they still work, people still do like getting regular content they signed up for. (they want the drip feed, they signed up for the course, the tips, the info, some people are lazy, give it me, I want it….)

Social media and the interaction rocks, but some users, many many, like a massive % of them seem to lurk still, and those lurkers will act if you tell them, which can be as simple as “click this link” because I said so.

Another thing, putting out a newsletter to 10s of thousands of people is also more efficient than engaging with all of them, which is immpossible.

How could a political candidate possibly engage with every voter, she can’t, but she can reach them in a channel which is personal to them, even if the content may be slightly generic.
http://www.chrishambly.com Chris Hambly

One thing that has not been mentioned is newsletters. I’m just adding that tool, as it is a huge one for me.

And should not be overlooked.

Some may say newsletters are old school, but I tell you they still work, people still do like getting regular content they signed up for. (they want the drip feed, they signed up for the course, the tips, the info, some people are lazy, give it me, I want it….)

Social media and the interaction rocks, but some users, many many, like a massive % of them seem to lurk still, and those lurkers will act if you tell them, which can be as simple as “click this link” because I said so.

Another thing, putting out a newsletter to 10s of thousands of people is also more efficient than engaging with all of them, which is immpossible.

How could a political candidate possibly engage with every voter, she can’t, but she can reach them in a channel which is personal to them, even if the content may be slightly generic.
http://www.chrishambly.com Chris Hambly

One thing that has not been mentioned is newsletters. I’m just adding that tool, as it is a huge one for me.

And should not be overlooked.

Some may say newsletters are old school, but I tell you they still work, people still do like getting regular content they signed up for. (they want the drip feed, they signed up for the course, the tips, the info, some people are lazy, give it me, I want it….)

Social media and the interaction rocks, but some users, many many, like a massive % of them seem to lurk still, and those lurkers will act if you tell them, which can be as simple as “click this link” because I said so.

Another thing, putting out a newsletter to 10s of thousands of people is also more efficient than engaging with all of them, which is immpossible.

How could a political candidate possibly engage with every voter, she can’t, but she can reach them in a channel which is personal to them, even if the content may be slightly generic.
http://infomaniaworld.com/modules/wordpress Infomaniac/Ellen

One tool missing in your list, taking Podcamp for example, is having those who attended in the past to write about how they benefited from attending and have reminder posts or a button on their blog about upcoming Podcamps. Because if those people did indeed benefit it means that their community has grown and they are reaching more people than they did before attending. That’s the ripple in the pond growing larger and larger.

Another tool again goes to the people who have attended a Podcamp is to comment on blog posts that deal with issues that were resolved for them at Podcamp. When another reader comes across that comment that gives a hopeful solution to the writer’s dilemna what do other readers do? They click on that person’s name to be taken to their website or blog.

Blogs are the grassroots campaigns of the past. Where we used to sit around in someone’s living room and discuss issues we now can do it on blogs What starts out as a single post spreads throughout the community and beyond by others commenting on a post or blogging about their take on someone else’s post.

Look at how people rallied around, discussed, vented, came up with a “blogger’s code of conduct” and such because Kathy Sierra wrote about the death threats made against her on her blog. It was amazing.
http://infomaniaworld.com/modules/wordpress Infomaniac/Ellen

One tool missing in your list, taking Podcamp for example, is having those who attended in the past to write about how they benefited from attending and have reminder posts or a button on their blog about upcoming Podcamps. Because if those people did indeed benefit it means that their community has grown and they are reaching more people than they did before attending. That’s the ripple in the pond growing larger and larger.

Another tool again goes to the people who have attended a Podcamp is to comment on blog posts that deal with issues that were resolved for them at Podcamp. When another reader comes across that comment that gives a hopeful solution to the writer’s dilemna what do other readers do? They click on that person’s name to be taken to their website or blog.

Blogs are the grassroots campaigns of the past. Where we used to sit around in someone’s living room and discuss issues we now can do it on blogs What starts out as a single post spreads throughout the community and beyond by others commenting on a post or blogging about their take on someone else’s post.

Look at how people rallied around, discussed, vented, came up with a “blogger’s code of conduct” and such because Kathy Sierra wrote about the death threats made against her on her blog. It was amazing.
http://infomaniaworld.com/modules/wordpress Infomaniac/Ellen

One tool missing in your list, taking Podcamp for example, is having those who attended in the past to write about how they benefited from attending and have reminder posts or a button on their blog about upcoming Podcamps. Because if those people did indeed benefit it means that their community has grown and they are reaching more people than they did before attending. That’s the ripple in the pond growing larger and larger.

Another tool again goes to the people who have attended a Podcamp is to comment on blog posts that deal with issues that were resolved for them at Podcamp. When another reader comes across that comment that gives a hopeful solution to the writer’s dilemna what do other readers do? They click on that person’s name to be taken to their website or blog.

Blogs are the grassroots campaigns of the past. Where we used to sit around in someone’s living room and discuss issues we now can do it on blogs What starts out as a single post spreads throughout the community and beyond by others commenting on a post or blogging about their take on someone else’s post.

Look at how people rallied around, discussed, vented, came up with a “blogger’s code of conduct” and such because Kathy Sierra wrote about the death threats made against her on her blog. It was amazing.
http://chelpixie.wordpress.com Michelle Wolverton / Chel Pixi

Because there are dedicated fans that believe in Matthew’s work, Virtual Hot Wings is a great way to bring awareness of what fans can do for the artists that they love.

But Whitney’s question is what has been poking at me for days. Now that we have the awareness what do we want to do with it?

Helping Matthew was my primary and still is my primary focus, because I believe in what he does. Keeping the momentum going has been work, but with Virtual Hot Wings, you’re getting more than just some CD pasted together and there is more to come for that $20 investment of a great musician.

That said, there is so much more that can be achieved with the concept of VHW, there are approx. 10,000 bands/artists on PMN. I am motivated to do something bigger, to give exposure to all of those artists or at least a good majority of them. I am only one person which is where community comes in.

The question of rewards to the community has come up for me in relation to gaining support and participation of the fan video concept on http://www.matthewebel.net. People love rewards, people need motivation to do something good, even if it is something fun and worth doing. So it’s a valid question, one I am attempting to answer today as we gear up for making deadlines for the fan video.
http://chelpixie.wordpress.com Michelle Wolverton / Chel Pixi

Because there are dedicated fans that believe in Matthew’s work, Virtual Hot Wings is a great way to bring awareness of what fans can do for the artists that they love.

But Whitney’s question is what has been poking at me for days. Now that we have the awareness what do we want to do with it?

Helping Matthew was my primary and still is my primary focus, because I believe in what he does. Keeping the momentum going has been work, but with Virtual Hot Wings, you’re getting more than just some CD pasted together and there is more to come for that $20 investment of a great musician.

That said, there is so much more that can be achieved with the concept of VHW, there are approx. 10,000 bands/artists on PMN. I am motivated to do something bigger, to give exposure to all of those artists or at least a good majority of them. I am only one person which is where community comes in.

The question of rewards to the community has come up for me in relation to gaining support and participation of the fan video concept on http://www.matthewebel.net. People love rewards, people need motivation to do something good, even if it is something fun and worth doing. So it’s a valid question, one I am attempting to answer today as we gear up for making deadlines for the fan video.
http://chelpixie.wordpress.com Michelle Wolverton / Chel Pixie

Because there are dedicated fans that believe in Matthew’s work, Virtual Hot Wings is a great way to bring awareness of what fans can do for the artists that they love.

But Whitney’s question is what has been poking at me for days. Now that we have the awareness what do we want to do with it?

Helping Matthew was my primary and still is my primary focus, because I believe in what he does. Keeping the momentum going has been work, but with Virtual Hot Wings, you’re getting more than just some CD pasted together and there is more to come for that $20 investment of a great musician.

That said, there is so much more that can be achieved with the concept of VHW, there are approx. 10,000 bands/artists on PMN. I am motivated to do something bigger, to give exposure to all of those artists or at least a good majority of them. I am only one person which is where community comes in.

The question of rewards to the community has come up for me in relation to gaining support and participation of the fan video concept on http://www.matthewebel.net. People love rewards, people need motivation to do something good, even if it is something fun and worth doing. So it’s a valid question, one I am attempting to answer today as we gear up for making deadlines for the fan video.
Pingback: Tools and Leadership and Power
Ed M

One tool you missed Chris is one you have on your blog, that is your list of upcoming events using upcoming.org. I have used this tool to find events of interest to me.

One problem with this blog sidebar tool is that I rarely focus on peoples sidebars unless I am new to there site. And then I use them to become familar with that person and then focus more on the ever changing main content. The idea that there is mix of static and changing information is an important one and how to best present the differnet information so that is read by the viewer could be a whole other discussion.
Ed M

One tool you missed Chris is one you have on your blog, that is your list of upcoming events using upcoming.org. I have used this tool to find events of interest to me.

One problem with this blog sidebar tool is that I rarely focus on peoples sidebars unless I am new to there site. And then I use them to become familar with that person and then focus more on the ever changing main content. The idea that there is mix of static and changing information is an important one and how to best present the differnet information so that is read by the viewer could be a whole other discussion.
http://kiwiscanfly.wordpress.com Daryl Milne (kiwiscanfly)

Wis.dm is a tool I’m messing around with in an attempt to create two way communication in my social SOA (service orientated architecture). When I post an article to my blog that raises a question; first I publish the blog posting and create the question in wis.dm with a link to the article. I then post the question to del.icio.us, which is read by twitterfeed and then posted to twitter automagically.
http://kiwiscanfly.wordpress.com Daryl Milne (kiwiscanfly)

Wis.dm is a tool I’m messing around with in an attempt to create two way communication in my social SOA (service orientated architecture). When I post an article to my blog that raises a question; first I publish the blog posting and create the question in wis.dm with a link to the article. I then post the question to del.icio.us, which is read by twitterfeed and then posted to twitter automagically.
http://bxfciztgor.com bxfciztgor

Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! tblsjykfqtndr
http://bxfciztgor.com bxfciztgor

Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! tblsjykfqtndr
http://bxfciztgor.com bxfciztgor

Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! tblsjykfqtndr
Pingback: Developing energetic and active communities in the workplace | Managing Leadership

Activated Communities

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Genesis Framework

Supporters

About

Subscribe