Goodbye '09

I'm hoping to squeeze my last blog of '09 in, just in time... a quick summary of what's been a great year for me on the professional front.

We kicked off the Australian Community Managers' Facebook Group which has grown to 80 members and represents a diverse mix of talented individuals from companies, orgs and agencies alike. Two roundtables were hosted, the first in Feb 09 by the wonderful Venessa Paech at the Lonely Planet offices in Melbourne. The second was hosted by myself at the FD offices in June 09. If all goes to plan expect the 3rd in Canberra in Feb/Mar 2010 once we can work out how one can actually communicate via the web with public servants. (And this is pre clean feed!)

The current community I 'manage' grew from around 140,000 (*scratches head*) to 175,000 which was reflected in participation and new member engagement. As I blogged about, community growth is a challenge and whilst senior managment might chase metrics - at the coalface there's always more a community manager could do to manage rapid growth which should be viewed as a potential threat to the ecosystem, and planned for accordingly. It's a wonderful community and I feel very proud to be part of it.

In August we hosted the first FD Moderators Meet and flew in 25 of our volunteer Mods. The event was a real success. It was great to put faces to names, chat about the community IRL and give our Mods a sense of the larger framework that a 'small' biz unit like EB works in at a media org like FD.

I really enjoyed participating in the largely UK-based [e-mint] newsgroup founded by Rebecca Newton. I was fortunate to chat to her recently about her predictions for the growth of Behavioral Management Software as discussed in a great post by Holly Seddon about 2010 community management predictions.

I participated quite a bit in the LinkedIn Online Community Manager discussions, and also Connie Bensen & Jermiah Owyang's Community Manager/Evangelist facebook group and can strongly recommend them as a starting point for any community managers out there.

Rich Millington's blog Feverbee, as always deserves a round of applause, so thanks again for churning out such brilliant posts throughout 2009. If you only read one blog about community building/management, this should be it. (/end gush)

Other community management highlights of note for '09 - I attended an Advanced Online Communities workshop with community guru Nancy White, whilst she was visiting Australia. I certainly could have spent more than a few hours picking her brain! Thanks to Matt Moore at Innotecture for making that happen.

On a personal front I'm pregnant with my second child and will be taking some time "off" from April 2009. Needless to say I have a few things planned for 2010 (other than producing said offspring), so stay tuned!

Have a great New Year's Eve. See you in 2010.

Online community moderators: managing volunteers

As a Community Manager I am often asked ‘why do people volunteer to moderate?’

I imagine if you are volunteer for a charity you are less likely to be asked as it’s assumed to be purely altruistic despite myriad motivations one might have.

This post aims to look at the reasons people volunteer to moderate, with the hope it will improve your skills as a Community Manager in managing and nurturing these vital positions. Managing volunteers comes with an additional set of challenges due to the lack of renumeration.

According to Peter Kollock (The Economies of Online Cooperation) there are three major reasons why members contribute to communities. (He also cites further reasons which have merit.) Hat tip to Ayett Noff’s blog (an old post but very relevant).

Three major reasons member contribute to communities

1. Anticipated Reciprocity – A user is motivated to contribute to the community in the expectation that he will receive useful help and information in return. Indeed we have seen such active users receiving more help than lurkers.
2. Increased recognition – individuals want recognition for their contributions. the desire for prestige is one of the key motivations for individuals’ contributions in an online community. Contributions will likely increase if they are visible to the whole community and are credited to the contributor. … the powerful effects of seemingly trivial markers of recognition (e.g. stars, ranking) are overwhelming.
3. Sense of efficacy – Individuals may contribute because the act results in a sense that they have had some effect on the community.

I’ve applied these reasons when exploring the motivations of Volunteer Moderators. (I should note all motivations have their merit!)

Why people volunteer to moderate online communities

1. Requited reciprocity
This is the above model come full circle. Members have received said good will, and are motivated to return it.

The majority of volunteers I’ve worked with over the years cite their primary motivation as ‘wanting to give back to the community’, relating interactions and personal experiences that have helped them.

In my experience this plays a part for most volunteers, but those who are motivated purely by this notion are in the minority.

These volunteers tend to be the easiest to manage as their desires are fulfilled by the community. They are not particularly interested in being rewarded (financially or other), nor are seeking recognition (this is not to suggest they shouldn’t be given any!). You can’t convert vols to fall into this category – it occurs naturally – but it is nice to single these mods out an acknowledge their contribution to the community. I suggest privately. These Mods often slip through the cracks as they stay out of limelight and do their thing - so be sure to keep in touch with them. They can offer valuable suggestions and are usually a pulse of the 'goodness' within the community.

2. Increased Recognition/Social capital
Increased recognition – widely referred to as ‘social capital’ – status. I see this playing a much larger role as a motivator. Over time regular contributors to online communities rise through the ranks, and recognition forms an important part of their online persona. This can be attested to by the importance given to post count or join date. Some members get to a 'used-by' state or saturation point, where the community has fulfilled their needs. They are looking for something more, rather than exiting the community, and this may motivate them to seek promotion to moderator.

In one community I worked with I noticed that all the members with the highest post counts (most active by one metric) were either volunteer Moderators or well-known ‘stirrers’. Not necessarily trouble makers but popular and well-known for being outspoken. (So perhaps not Moderator material).

These volunteers respond well to both rewards and recognition. Visible status such as a Moderator tag/avatar/icon will be valued, along with public or peer recognition. They are more likely to want to be involved in community decisions and may in fact feel left out if they’re not. They’re likely to be more vocal opponents about community issues – and this can be harnessed as they can provide great feedback (encourage them to offer practical solutions to any complaints they have). If you do implement a rewards program you may care to read Rich Millington’s post 'Never reward your volunteers'.

3. Sense of efficacy
I see this behaviour apparent in moderators with a penchant for helping enforce rules, answer technical questions, reply to administration questions. In my experience they are often Mums who had a professional career (pre-children) and are aware they have skills to offer the community.

These volunteers are easy to manage but they’re most likely to respond to financial rewards. They tend to play more of a staff type role and often fulfill task-orientated duties that could well fall into staff member’s responsibilities. These volunteers respond well to recognition but it should be on a peer-to-peer level – avoid delivering it a way that may be condescending (head patting). Acknowledge their very practical contribution to the community. Ask if any processes can be improved or streamlined (eg. Are they answering queries that could be added to a FAQ, could we put up a sticky post explaining x, does a rule need changing?)

Do you manage moderators? What do you think? I’d love your feedback and am always willing to answer any questions you may have.

Huge warm thanks to the wonderful Moderators I work with, and the valuable contribution each & every one of them bring to the community.

Disclaimer: I’ve never studied psychology so these are just my personal observations from working with volunteers in both an online and offline capacity.