Archive for March, 2008

Real communities are already out there

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

It’s high season for community building. People are asking “Build me a community” like they would ask “Draw me a lamb” or “Cook me a tuna casserole”. But communities are not things that you can build away from people and then give away like a mass media or a chocolate bar. Communities are not things, […]

Only communities will survive

Monday, March 10th, 2008

The always brilliant Mark Pesce just published That Business Conversation, the text of his latest speech. The conclusion should be on the screen of every business leader. The balance of power has shifted decisively into the hands of the networked public. … unless you embrace conversation as the essential business practice of the 21st century, […]

Moderation is the soul of communities

Friday, March 7th, 2008

Chris Wilson gives in Slate a good introduction to the importance of moderation in online communities: The Wisdom of the Chaperones: Digg, Wikipedia, and the myth of Web 2.0 democracy. His title is a reference to the famous James Surowiecki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds. And yes, communities don’t work by magic: they are created, […]

How to use social networks for your community

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

Social networks allows every organization or business to start up the participation of their community at very low cost, as the Brooklyn Museum does it so well. On its Network page the Museum invites visitors to contribute through facebook, flickr, MySpace, blip.tv and twitter. Moreover if they write about the Museum in their blog, they […]