Building, Growing, and Maintaining Community Online
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Across the globe, people are using tools that may be new to them in order to connect with the people and ideas that they care about. It’s essential that we do so as we have less face to face interaction and are challenged to find new ways to maintain our relationships, gather information and promote creativity and innovation.
Sarah Schonberg, who currently leads Facebook's education and training for community leaders and has incredible experience building community with organizations such as the Schusterman Family Foundation, BBYO, and the Peace Corps, spent time with us during our first virtual Shalon to share tips on creating and managing successful online communities. We can all use her advice whether we’re sheltering in place or returning to our routines as we focus on the long term value of bringing groups of people together no matter where they are in the world.
Initiating Community Online
Ask prospective members what they want from the community.
Invite people to community join from where they are
Everyone is more likely to engage when they feel comfortable. Understanding the platform or technology that people are already using is helpful in cultivating a presence that doesn’t make members feel anxious about how to interact with others or stay involved.
Create a safe space
People are often afraid to share opinions and questions for fear of being judged, criticized or bullied - especially in an online space where there is opportunity for people to hide behind the anonymity of screens and pseudonyms. Establish guidelines that ensure your community is respectful, welcoming and open to ideas.
These may include reminding people to have the mindset of “best intentions”, to avoid interruption and to carefully consider their words when responding to someone.
If private or sensitive matters are part of your community’s discussion, consider requiring that members officially agree not to share anything that is discussed within the group with people from outside.
Cultivate Community Membership
Make guidelines to keep things organized
Be clear about the goals and structure of the group (although both may change over time as the community evolves.)
Focus on the topic that originally brought the group together.
Establish regular timing for meetings when the group comes together as a whole in addition to giving people the opportunity to share updates in real time.
Be intentional about welcoming members
Give every new member the same prompt when they join - this sets a baseline that helps everyone feel connected and establishes rapport between new and older members.
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Keep the Community Strong
Use rituals and repetition to keep people engaged.
For example: prompt discussion with the same question weekly, do “shoutouts” on a regular basis to motivate and inspire members, share gratitude or have people write in ALL CAPS or in rhyme one day a week.
Share content but don’t inundate
Streamlining access to relevant articles, links to books, and community updates available can be helpful but remember that it’s easy for people to get overwhelmed. No need to share so much content that people can’t digest it.
Know that it will ebb and flow - your community will have moments when things feel slow and that’s ok.
If you can maintain a community throughout slower periods so that people can come back to it when they are ready, they are more likely to stay involved and invite others because they trust that it will be there when they need it.
Empower members
By having different people lead as the community gets older and stronger, the group is fundamentally tied to surfacing fresh ideas and maintaining regular check-ins and communication.
This is also fundamental to the longevity of the group since it allows for people to take over when the original leadership wants or needs to step away.
Shalon has always been a place where guests can meet new people, to expand their perspective and to commit to supporting the people around us. Whether physical or virtual, the power of gathering is tangible for each of us and I hope everyone continues to use all of the tools available to them to stay connected and to care for ourselves and each other.