Why Your Online Community Design Matters
I recently read a research paper about how the design of online communities can dictate how members identify and interact with one another. Common Identity Theory says that people tend to feel more attached to their group because they share the same interests or beliefs versus feeling more attached to an individual. Common Bond Theory says that people generally feel more attached to individuals as part of the larger group. Those who share a common interest tend to stick around and participate as long as the group dynamic is still in sync with their interests. Once their interests change,they will find another community that meets their needs even if people they have bonded to stay. Those who share a common bond and connect with people tend to walk away when those who they’ve bonded with walk away, regardless of whether the community still meets their needs. Basically, they go where their friends go.
You might think to yourself that this may not be hugely important because, after all, online communities are meant to bring people together around a common interest. As long as they’re able to talk with one another and connect with what they need, it may not make a difference whether or not either of these theories feeds into your community design. But it does and you have to be clear about what it is you want your online community to do before you venture into designing it.
“Marjorie, this is not new or groundbreaking news.”
It’s not but hear me out. In an age where digital transformations are driving the future of organizations and associations, research has told us that online communities are in a position to play an integral role in those transformations. Associations are shifting their attention to online spaces to help create a community ecosystem versus siloed member experiences and are hiring online community managers to help drive these efforts. As community professionals, we need to be clear on the purpose of the community within the association, what the member experience is meant to be and how that translates into shared value (again, not new news). How we design online communities within these organizations will determine how well your community meets the needs of the members and the organization.
As I read about these two theories, I began to feel that that there is no black and white when it comes to common bond and common identity. I believe that you can lean strongly one way or the other when you design your online community; however, I don’t necessarily believe that they are mutually exclusive, but that they can actually be a hybrid of one another, especially as you look at the definition behind them both and how they’re meant to drive connections. I also believe that, if your community is designed right, people will not only feel connected to your organization’s cause/purpose, but they will form bonds within the online space that will carry into the physical spaces. Let’s unpack that for a moment.
Online communities are gathering places just as a live event or a chapter meeting is a gathering place. When it comes to online communities in professional associations, those who are dedicated to participating will speak about their work to one another, talk about changes in the industry landscape, bring forth challenges that they’re facing, and strive to help each other overcome them. If you have people who are always willing to help or who seem to regularly take the time to answer questions, contribute content, or regularly engage other members in conversation, your community members will naturally begin to feel a shared connection with one another in the digital space. Zoom out 5,000 feet and now those same people who were connecting online are meeting for coffee at your annual conference or their local chapter meeting because they’ve formed those relationships online. This was all able to happen because of the design of the online community.
The thing that we must remember when designing online communities in associations is that associations are communities. There is not one component of a professional association that is specifically designed to ONLY connect people to one another or to ONLY bring others together around a shared interest. This includes the online community. It all goes back to working in silos, right? In many conversations that I have had with association peers, the biggest complaint I’ve heard time and time again is that we can’ t seem to get out of our self-imposed silos. The thing to remember is that everyone who works in a professional association is there to meet the needs of the members. How do you do that? By connecting them to content, experiences,products, etc., that are going to provide them value and help the organization be seen as the place to go for success. Define what connection means for your association/members and then design your online community with that definition in mind and you will set your organization and your members up for continued growth and success.
How did you go about designing your association’s onlinecommunity? Where do you still have challenges? What has success looked like foryou? Tell us in the comments below!
Research paper mentioned at the beginning of this week’s post can be found here:
http://students.washington.edu/emilygre/pubs/ren_etal_applyingcommonidentity.pdf