Comments on: Why community kinda doesn’t matter

By: John Haydon

John Haydon — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:41:45 +0000

Nezua – I appreciate your comment, but I think you misread the post. I am not talking about “offline communities” here, which is what I think you're talking about. I'm as white as they come and love the community to which I belong (Waltham, MA).

By: nezua

nezua — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:09:15 +0000

People of Color understand why there is and needs to be focus on community. Maybe if one is white they do not feel this sense of communal belonging. In the US, at least, this would make sense. Don't know. Personally, I find the assertion in this post sad. Definitely wrong.

By: johnhaydon

johnhaydon — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:41:45 +0000

By: nezua

nezua — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:09:15 +0000

By: Name

Name — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:34:34 +0000

Yes, the proverbial audience of “one”. Some interesting but hardly profound points.
Effective marketing…and that's of course what any of this is, regardless of “social media” are selected…is about understanding as much as possible about the interest/connection which is shared by the otherwise individual/unique members who you're speaking with.
It's a combination of “segmentation”…what's different between/among a large otherwise generalized group…and “aggregation”…what's shared or common among which members of the group.
Starting from that dynamic approach, you can develop communication appropriate to that group using the various channels that your research tells you will most effectively reach those individuals. Of course, I'm also assuming that leads to the personal “voice” required.

By: Rolando Peralta

Rolando Peralta — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:19:46 +0000

I'm a little bit disagree with this article. As most people's opinions, I don't think the example is about a community at all, because that's customer service. If we care about our customers so much as treat them as a community, that's another topic. But if we talk about a “Community” we have to understand Community Objectives and attend request in function of that. After all, if we are part of a community (even if we've built it), we'll be learning that we'll receive feedback and we'll also understand wich approach works the best to attend that feedback.
We've been building communities for a couple of years (more than 300 communities if my calculations are correct), and if there's something I've learned from the very beginning is that if you empower enough you community sharing information, you'll soon be supported by them in several cases.
Cheers,

By: chrisquick

chrisquick — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:12:45 +0000

I've heard it said that in public speaking one should make a point to connect with one individual in the room, rather than addressing the group generally. By making eye contact and reaching out to this one person you make everyone feel as if you are connecting to them one-on-one. Seems counterintuitive, but it works!

By: Jeremy Meyers

Jeremy Meyers — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:08:18 +0000

in a One-To-Many communications medium, every individual user is representative of some percentage of the overall community. When Disqus resolves a customer service issue with one particular user in public forum like twitter or facebook or whatever, there are a certain % of users similarly affected that will have their questions answered.

Just because you're only talking to one person doesn't mean you're not being heard by the group.

I think your initial point is correct, though i will say that some companies lend themselves to groupthink tribes more than others (see: Cult of Mac). There's a difference in customer-with-company interaction between companies that can attach to someone as part of their identity (see: Apple, Pepsi, Obama) vs companies that don't necessarily create that bond.

By: Clippernolan

Clippernolan — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:06:50 +0000

Interesting discussion, and an interesting post too.

In my view, there is a fuzzy line when it comes to individuals and community, at least where social media and creating web content is concerned. But, overall I think having a vision of who it is you're talking to is a vital component in building community. There is a 'we', in my opinion. But, talking to the 'you' is a more effective way of communicating to the 'we'. The trick is knowing who that person is, and why they may be drawn, or repelled, to the content you're creating.

Thanks for the post!

By: frank barry

frank barry — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:39:09 +0000

Yea, Blogging let's us connect with many people for sure. Writing in a way that personalizes it helps it to feel, well, personalized. All that helps with the one on one connection, but I feel a tighter connection if the blogger responds to my comment or chat's with me on Twitter. That's the one on one connection that really helps build relationships.

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