Community Building on the Web
Nov 10th, 2007 by William Jones
I was going through some old books this weekend and came across a copy of community building on the web by Amy Jo Kim. The book was published in 2000 and may be somewhat dated, but her strategies and principles can still apply to more recent online communities. She describes her book as a strategic handbook for online community builders and offers them nine design strategies and three design principles.
9 Design Strategies:
- Define and articulate your PURPOSE
- Build flexible, extensible gathering PLACES
- Create meaningful and evolving member PROFILES
- Design for a range of ROLES
- Develop a strong LEADERSHIP program
- Encourage appropriate ETIQUETTE
- Promote cyclic EVENTS
- Integrate the RITUALS of community life
- Facilitate member-run SUBGROUPS
3 Design Principles:
- Design for growth and change
- Create and maintain feedback loops
- Empower your members over time
