Notes from MacWorld Panel on Online Communities, January, 1999

Notes for a short talk by Gail Ann Williams
Executive Director, The WELL

  • What is The WELL?

    • A system of considerable tenure -- since 1985
    • Of considerable influence -- winner of Webby, EFF Pioneer Award, etc.
    • Distinct culture -- a folk-song about the software, etc.
    • Asynchronous text environment -- immersive experience possible with good writing
    • (More about WELL history at the About the WELL or WELL-Tales pages)
      •

  • What Is Virtual Community And How Did It Become A Buzzword?

    • Virtual Community is be a misnomer, since the community can become real.
    • The "place" is virtual. An online community is a real community in a virtual "space" where the illusion of place is filled in mentally as in a radio drama, or with visual backdrops. It is not real estate.
    • Cliff Figallo, former Director of the WELL, defines community as "a complex network of human interactions over time."
    • Community is burdened with expectations:
      • Desire for ubiquity -- to be godlike at our keyboards.
      • Desire for love and recognition -- a place to be like the character "Norm" in the TV show Cheers who was greeted by the whole bar whenever he arrived. This can't be faked or it seems mocking.
    • Community must be built for and by each participant.
    • Since the advent of the book Net Gain, online community is the subject of serious venture-capital chasing. See the VirComm site, for insight into the commercial aspirations and applications currently being explored.

  • Community Management: Tools & Rules

    • All communities grapple with implied cultural/social contracts.
    • Commerical online communities also tend to have a contractual constitution, terms of service or agreement.
    • Communities also embed social code in the software code, such as "don't interrupt others." Hence, the social code is in the code.
    • Attention is the virtual currency, but not a bulk commodity. Many tools and rules will deal with control of wanted and unwanted online attention.
    • Keeping "rule enforcement" within the context of the online scene is aesthetically desirable, but sometimes a phone call sorts out conflict more effectively.
    • A strong sense of place creates civic expectations. Naming a manager a "Mayor" or a "Community Organizer" may create impossible desires for democracy or pre-fab networks of relationship.
    • Real communities see real community organizers emerge, and these motivated leaders may coordinate filibuster, sabotage or a departure if not well-served.


  • Software Tools and the Community Provider Role

    • A community provider must offer stability balanced with innovation and services to a changing community.
    • Migrating communities to new platforms is significantly disruptive. Bitter refugee mailing lists are one oft-seen result.
    • If you build it before they come, it will be bare and empty. This is one reason why asynchronous communities can sometimes be easier to set up than chats. But either way, you need the first folks at the party to be intriguing.
    • The best set of forum software reviews is maintained by David Wooley. There is also considerable discussion of tools and community building in the WELL's Virtual Communities Conference .
    • At this time, Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-lee), DNEWS, Facilitate.com, FirstClass, Interaction, Netforms, Top Class, Post-on-the-fly, Webcrossing, Web Forum, Web Thread are available to run on a Mac Server, from Wooley's commercial list. There are several free applications as well, and then there are the UNIX based services which may be available from your ISP or as a Service Bureau.
    • Roll-your-own has a great appeal, but there are many costs to ongoing evolution in conjunction with a changing community, including training and documentation, which can be much more formidible than a creative manager might think.

-Gail Williams

Thanks to Ilene Hoffman for inviting me to be on this panel. Here are her panel pages.