Online Communities

Celeste M. Combs, PresidentThe Experience Group

www.theexperiencegroup.com

Online Communities

What is online community? Why do we need it?

Or, do we need it? What drives it? What shapes it? Why do we have them?

Online Communities

A group of people who interact in a virtual environment (Preece, 2000)

Forms: listserve, bulletin board, chat, instant messaging, blogs

Growth parallel with internet use and technology

Managing a Community

Rules Setup Design Integration Growing Community

Example of tool: Celeste’s Online Community

Online Community Showcase

Personal Use Celeste’s Online Community

Affinity Groups Arstechnica Foodfit.com Elder Care

Business Use Support: Infopop Corporation

Sales: Directon.com

Online Community Showcase

Web Strategy Wine Spectator

Weather.com

Home and Garden Television

Entertainment HBO: Sopranos

Tonos.com

Tom Petty & Heartbreakers

Do you Yahoo?

Many channels: Chat Community Discussions Personal Communities

Do you Blog?

Quickly growing community tool

Discuss some ideas

www.theexperiencegroup.com