by: Matt Rhodes
The video is worth watching and it’s great to see the discussion that people have when they try to define the role of community manager.
Three points from the discussion really struck a chord with our experiences of managing communities and our theories of what makes good community management:
- The community manager has an important connector role – sourcing information from people who use the product and bringing it to the brand so that they can improve it. This is not just the role of online research communities, but a real benefit you can get from all communities.
- You need to advocate the community within the organisation, and also advocate the organisation within the community. You translate what goes on in the community and make it relevant for the organisation and different people within it – you can explain to a CEO why the community is important and show the value they can personally get.
- You need to be a trusted and transparent source within the community. I see too many communities where the community manager is face-less, has a generic name and never really interacts with members. Honesty and transparency are really important online and your community manager should be a member of the community like any other.
Community from Ben Grubb on Vimeo.
Some more reading
- Social Networks vs. Online Communities vs. Panels
- When physical and virtual worlds collide
- Another example of good use of video in online communities
Original Post: http://blog.freshnetworks.com/2009/01/defining-community-management-a-starting-point/
