Social networking and community engagement technology made easy

Mashable.com contributing writer, Leah Betancourt, always has great blog posts. She understands what it takes to build an online community. In her post, she talks about 8 things to avoid when building a community. I want to share the ideas and then direct you to her post to read it.

It takes much more than just having a community online. It takes being INVOLVED. Here are her points to avoid:

1. The Gaping Hole Perception: Leah talks about the importance of your community knowing that they’re not just talking to some black hole. It’s important for you to encourage your users to engage with one another. She suggests getting some friends and supporters to comment on your blog. Get the conversation stated. Engagement is so important here.

2. No Community Cohesion: Comments may be posted in the comments section, but are they just random posts by people? Leah points out that it is the communities that respond to each other and communicate with one another that will have people coming back. When your community starts interacting with one another rather than just reacting to a particular post, that’s when you know cohesion is being built.

3. Don’t Downplay the Audience: We all have lots of good ideas. If I am participating in a blog conversation and have a good idea or thought, I would prefer it to not just be dismissed.  Most of your readers would probably feel the same way. If they are continually ignored, the will go someplace else where they feel valued. If someone in your community is contributing, it’s important to acknowledge that contribution.

4. Don’t Betray the Community: As well all know, it takes time to build trust and mere seconds to take it away. Leah talks about being consistent and keeping people in the loop. Having an online community means having responsibilities to the people in that community. Be real and if there is something not quite right, make it right.

5. Don’t Try to be Everywhere: There are so many different social media platforms out there.  Leah says, “Organizations should use well the social media platforms they’re already on rather than spreading themselves thin for the sake of being everywhere online.” I couldn’t agree more. Utilise your social media platform well, and pick just a couple of others to help spread the word.

6. No Internal Support for the Community Manager: One of the most important things to have when building a community is support from all aspects. The point brought in this is that “community managers should be allowed to immerse themselves in the community and talk to people because the relationships have to be able to develop.” Creating relationships takes commitment, energy, and time. It’s best to get support from everyone involved to truly make a social media platform work for everyone.

7. Don’t be a Dictator: When you have a community, it’s best to let them be and empower them. It’s easy to want to call the shots, but that will only cause them to want to go somewhere else.

8. Avoid Social Media Staffing Bottlenecks: Leah’s point here is that it’s best to spread the responsibility of social media rather than only having one person participating on your platform. When organisations have social media platforms, there are many aspects to it. If you are able to educate more of your staff in utilising the social space, more voices will be heard and more ground will be covered.

What are your thoughts about this list? You can read Leah’s entire article here. She brings some great points to the table. Have you noticed your organisation doing any of these things? What are some things you can change in the next couple of months to avoid some of these pitfalls when it comes to your social media platform and strategy?

posted by Piers Hogarth-Scott in the category Social Media
Tags: leah betancourt, mashable