Online Community Matters

Online Community Matters

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  Online Community MattersShellyD. Farnham, Ph.D.March 5, 2009Panel -- IABC
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  Research and Developmentmeetingsocial goals
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  Why InteractOnline?anyone, anytime,anyplace, all togetherInformationConnectionSupport
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  Teen PanelOur questions
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  How do teensuse technology in their day-to-day lives?
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  Questionnaire (18 students)
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  PowerPoint “Diary” (5presentations)
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  Over one week,document social and collaborative activities
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  Screenshots, pictures fromcell phone camera
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  Focus on typicaluse and how usage might be different than other age groupsTechnology Usage for Social Life
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  Socializing and PlanningSocialEvent PlanningI am able to create groups to invite people to new events. I have created a Salsa in Seattle group for teens to learn and dance salsa. I use: Facebook and Yahoo email as my means to setting up social eventsI can add membersWrite messages for all members
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  Why Host aCommunity?Reason #1:Social media is about dialogueNot enough time to engage in 1:1 dialogueYour community members will carry the conversation for you
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  Why Host aCommunity?Reason #2:PersonJoins HostedCommunity DevelopsAttachment toCommunity DevelopsAttachment and Loyalty to Host
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  Pathable:Social Networking andCommunity Development for Events
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  Figure 9. Life cycle of Pathable activity before, during and after eventPathable User Behavior Over Time
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  Pathable BarCamp SeattleStudyQuestions: how important is social networking and community development at events?can Pathable help?BarCamp Seattle is a free, two-day conference held for Web 2.0 community280 people registered for the event using Pathable78 people total (76% male and 24% female) completed the questionnaire, 18 at the event and 60 afterwards online
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  Figure 6. Peoplecame to BarCamp Seattle primarily to meet others.Primary Goal in Coming to Event
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  Attachment and Loyaltyto the Event
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  Figure 7. The more peopel use Pathable, the more people they consider professional friends or colleagues.Impact on Professional Network
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  Impact on Attachmentand Sense of CommunityFigure 8. The more people used pathable, the greater their sense of attachment on the identity factor, and the more their sense of community.
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  Strands CoCollage: Place-based Networking and Community DevelopmentGoal: facilitate networking and community in a “third place”
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  Prototype: Communitycollage display with online photo sharing
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  Deployment study: Questionnaire at Time 1 and Time 2 (~six weeks apart)At Time 1: sense of community and attachment to coffee shop strongly correlatedImpact on Place Attachment
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  Impact on Neighboring
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  On Hosting aCommunityHow to host a community: Create an environment where a group people may talk to each otherFacebook groups, mailing lists, messaged boards, NingTips for nurturing:Set clear expectations for appropriate behaviorSeed the community with desired types of people/ behaviorInvite lots of peopleBe a part of the conversationUse moderation toolsMeasuring success:Count 1:20:80 – for every 1 person talking, usually 20 members and 80 lurkersReturn rate