Nightstand 4: Recap of The Changing Face of Online Communities
Last night Headstand Media hosted Nightstand 4. Thank you to all who came out and participated in our discussion on online communities. We had a great time of networking, discussion and learning.
Steve Tanner, Director of Web Operations for Kidology.org, was the guest presenter for Nightstand 4. Steve’s presentation was entitled: The Changing Face of Online Communities. View the summary of his presentation below, as well as the full PPT version of the presentation ready for download.
Summary: Our conversation explored the shift from place-centric communities (message boards, chat rooms) to people-centric communities (blogs, social networks, buddy lists, mobile phone), and what that means for today’s online projects, from commercial to non-profit. We looked at the underlying principles that apply to all online communities, independent of type, technology, and purpose.
Talking points on Online Community
- What is an online community?
- Why do people participate in online communities?
- Trends: Place-centric vs. People-centric
- So what? Why should I care about online community?
- 10 Guidelines to ponder before jumping into online community
The Changing Face of Online Communities (PPT 3 MB)
Thanks again to all who attended. Please leave comments, questions and suggestions off of this post. Feel free to pass our Headstand blog and Nightstand information to anyone else in your network who you feel would enjoy and profit from coming to a future Nightstand event.
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February 29th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Thanks everyone who came out last night for the discussion on online community.
I thought it was interesting when the conversation diverged to the idea that there may be more than just place/interest-centric and people-centric communities. (I think something like event-centric was mentioned.) It got me thinking on the way home about that. For those who threw that point out there, care to share any examples of communities/networks that might not fall so easily into those two buckets?
February 29th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
One that comes to mind is outside.in. It seems geographically centered, but not dedicated to any one place. See their FAQ for how the site’s creators think about it.
(One of the founders is the awesome writer Steven Johnson, who does a lot of interesting things with networking, social mapping, etc.)