Connecting the Community
We live in different online communities. What do these communities look like? What is our place in each of them and what role do we play in them?
The diagram below depicts the real online community (on-line community, OLC). Each node in the diagram represents a person. And the line between the two nodes means that there is a definite connection between the two people in the community. Such a structure in sociology is called a social network .
Most online communities are three social rings: a tightly bound core in the center, loosely connected fragments of the second ring, and unlinked nodes of the outer ring, also called lurkers . In communities you can be present at different levels: each such level is represented by one of the rings. You can enter the core of one community and at the same time be a lurker in another.
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In the above diagram, we see three different types of participation in this community, indicated by us blue, green and red nodes. We found these three rings in all online communities that we studied. Moreover, the proportion in which points are distributed between the rings is the same for most communities: the number of unrelated nodes ( isolates , lurks) is several times higher than the number of strongly connected nodes.
The outer orbit consists of blue nodes. They were involved in the OLC, but not yet involved in it. Blue nodes represent both new participants who so far simply have not had time to join, and passive participants who see no reason to join at all. This passive group tends to either leave OLC, or remain only content consumers. Lurkers in online communities often make up â…” of all its participants!
Green nodes have a small number of connections - usually with their old acquaintances. They form small local groups that do not have a tendency to bond into larger associations. They have no sense of belonging with a larger whole, although they can identify with it. These small friendly clusters maintain their connections with other means — they do not need this OLC to survive. They also tend to leave the community or become passive observers, which they usually do in unison with their small circle of friends.
The inner core of the community consists of red nodes (see the approximate image below). They take an active part in community life and form a connected cluster of intersecting individual networks. OLC leaders belong to this root cluster. The members of this core support and develop the community. Unfortunately, they are in the minority. In most communities, they make up less than 10%, or even 1% of the total OLC. However, despite the fact that the core of the community is small, it has a large force of attraction. Core members are committed to the community and will try to make their community prosper. And they understand what the common benefit is: the best connectedness helps both the individual and the whole group at the same time.
Online communities and social networks are often thought and created by businesses and companies with one goal: “How can we use the online community to benefit us ?” Such a focus only on the utilitarian use of communities leads most companies to fail to build these communities! Their communities fail because companies do not think about what needs to be done so that their target audience is guaranteed to receive positive experience and gain practical benefits from participating in the community. It's amazing how many companies are trying to build a social network, completely ignoring the needs of the people they want to attract and that they want to influence. Therefore, it is not surprising when a huge part of their target audience leaves them, attracted by “another fashionable thing”: SixDegrees → Friendster → Orkut → MySpace → Facebook → Who is next? To build a living and growing OLC, it is necessary to take into account the natural human behavior, and not work against it. You need to think sociologically , not just technologically .
Connections are the key to online social networking: people are loyal to what they are connected to and what benefits them. People tend to trust the connections they have. Interaction with those whom we know and trust, gives us a feeling of warmth and a sense of belonging to those virtual communities that we visit through the screens of our computers. Yes, we are ready to meet new people, but only if we are acquainted with them by those whom we already trust. A community in which connections between people are strong not only makes its current members happy, but also attracts their friends with a magnet: everyone wants to join and become part of a prosperous community that benefits all its members, both new and old.
The red core should be of most interest to those who want to create and develop online communities:
SNA specialists do not focus solely on the properties of individuals. First of all, they look at relationships and exchanges between people, as well as how these relationships affect their decision making. They explore how social networks affect the behavior of individuals: how people influence social structures and vice versa, how these very social structures affect people included in them.
Community development is not just connecting new members. Development requires both an increase in the number of people and their relationships with each other: both an increase in the number of nodes and connections between them. The number of nodes is important in social networks, but it is the connections between nodes that create characteristic trends within networks. The community thrives because of its relationship, not its increments ( A community thrives by its connections, not by its collections! ) . Relationships and expectations of future relationships are what motivates participants to remain active and excite them.
The diagram below depicts the real online community (on-line community, OLC). Each node in the diagram represents a person. And the line between the two nodes means that there is a definite connection between the two people in the community. Such a structure in sociology is called a social network .
Most online communities are three social rings: a tightly bound core in the center, loosely connected fragments of the second ring, and unlinked nodes of the outer ring, also called lurkers . In communities you can be present at different levels: each such level is represented by one of the rings. You can enter the core of one community and at the same time be a lurker in another.
')
In the above diagram, we see three different types of participation in this community, indicated by us blue, green and red nodes. We found these three rings in all online communities that we studied. Moreover, the proportion in which points are distributed between the rings is the same for most communities: the number of unrelated nodes ( isolates , lurks) is several times higher than the number of strongly connected nodes.
The outer orbit consists of blue nodes. They were involved in the OLC, but not yet involved in it. Blue nodes represent both new participants who so far simply have not had time to join, and passive participants who see no reason to join at all. This passive group tends to either leave OLC, or remain only content consumers. Lurkers in online communities often make up â…” of all its participants!
Green nodes have a small number of connections - usually with their old acquaintances. They form small local groups that do not have a tendency to bond into larger associations. They have no sense of belonging with a larger whole, although they can identify with it. These small friendly clusters maintain their connections with other means — they do not need this OLC to survive. They also tend to leave the community or become passive observers, which they usually do in unison with their small circle of friends.
The inner core of the community consists of red nodes (see the approximate image below). They take an active part in community life and form a connected cluster of intersecting individual networks. OLC leaders belong to this root cluster. The members of this core support and develop the community. Unfortunately, they are in the minority. In most communities, they make up less than 10%, or even 1% of the total OLC. However, despite the fact that the core of the community is small, it has a large force of attraction. Core members are committed to the community and will try to make their community prosper. And they understand what the common benefit is: the best connectedness helps both the individual and the whole group at the same time.
Online communities and social networks are often thought and created by businesses and companies with one goal: “How can we use the online community to benefit us ?” Such a focus only on the utilitarian use of communities leads most companies to fail to build these communities! Their communities fail because companies do not think about what needs to be done so that their target audience is guaranteed to receive positive experience and gain practical benefits from participating in the community. It's amazing how many companies are trying to build a social network, completely ignoring the needs of the people they want to attract and that they want to influence. Therefore, it is not surprising when a huge part of their target audience leaves them, attracted by “another fashionable thing”: SixDegrees → Friendster → Orkut → MySpace → Facebook → Who is next? To build a living and growing OLC, it is necessary to take into account the natural human behavior, and not work against it. You need to think sociologically , not just technologically .
Connections are the key to online social networking: people are loyal to what they are connected to and what benefits them. People tend to trust the connections they have. Interaction with those whom we know and trust, gives us a feeling of warmth and a sense of belonging to those virtual communities that we visit through the screens of our computers. Yes, we are ready to meet new people, but only if we are acquainted with them by those whom we already trust. A community in which connections between people are strong not only makes its current members happy, but also attracts their friends with a magnet: everyone wants to join and become part of a prosperous community that benefits all its members, both new and old.
The red core should be of most interest to those who want to create and develop online communities:
- This core is made up of adherents of the community interested in the development of the community in both directions: in its size and its connectedness.
- The core is analyzed and recognizable: it can be measured, mapped, describe the form.
SNA specialists do not focus solely on the properties of individuals. First of all, they look at relationships and exchanges between people, as well as how these relationships affect their decision making. They explore how social networks affect the behavior of individuals: how people influence social structures and vice versa, how these very social structures affect people included in them.
Community development is not just connecting new members. Development requires both an increase in the number of people and their relationships with each other: both an increase in the number of nodes and connections between them. The number of nodes is important in social networks, but it is the connections between nodes that create characteristic trends within networks. The community thrives because of its relationship, not its increments ( A community thrives by its connections, not by its collections! ) . Relationships and expectations of future relationships are what motivates participants to remain active and excite them.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/125684/
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