Best Practices for Building Online Communities

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Best Practices for Building Online Communities between

Researchers and Practitioners - Summary

August 2005Marian Farrior for the Conservation Psychology website

A goal of Phase II of the Conservation Psychology website is to foster dialogue and collaboration

between researchers and practitioners. The purpose of this summary is to take a look at lessonslearned! and best practices to help achieve this goal. To keep this summary document short" I am

outlining some highlights found in my research. #yperlinks are included to the references$ in

addition" if the reference says see %otes&!" key findings are found inBest Practices for BuildingOnline Communities between Researchers and Practitioners Notes, which also contains

additional information and website links that are not included in this summary.

irtual Communities of Practice

'ecause Conservation Psychology is a newly developing interdisciplinary field" it is arguably aCommunity of Practice! (CoP)" a social networking term developed by *tienne +engner to

describe groups that form among peers for sharing knowledge and information about their

professional interests and activities. The interface between CoP and ,irtual Communities and

Community Informatics (aka information management or knowledge management) is -ustbeginning to emerge systems and technologies are rapidly evolving on the +eb. In response"

new fields of study are organi/ing around a variety of topics" such as Information Technology"

0ame 1tudies (which delves into the world of computer gaming)"*lectronic2,irtual23igital24nline (these words are used interchangeably) Communications or

Communities" Cyberpsychology" Cyberculture" #uman5Computer 1tudies" etc. (see 6esource

Center for Cyberculture 1tudiesand ,irtual Community 6esearch 6esources).

A useful definition for Community of Practice is 0roups of people who come together to share

and to learn from one another face5to5face and virtually. They are held together by a commoninterest in a body of knowledge and are driven by a desire and need to share problems"

e7periences" insights" templates" tools and best practices. Community members deepen their

knowledge by interacting on an ongoing basis! (see %otes&Inter54rgani/ational Communities ofPractice). 6esearch shows that face5to5face interactions on occasion are important for CoP to

develop this fosters trust. Another key element of CoP is reification" whereby community

members develop artifacts! together" such as articles" books" stories. CoP also help to advancetheir fields through identifying best practices" defining underlying principles" and helping to

create common vocabularies and conceptual frameworks (see %otes&,irtual Communities).

Stages ofCommunity Develoment

There are a few key practices to develop a successful ,irtual Communities of Practice (,CoP)&solicit member feedback" plan for stages of user involvement on the website" and have a good

facilitator or host to moderate the site" especially at the beginning. The +eb has a whole lot of

resources to help develop ,CoP. 4ne of the best meta5websites is Full Circle Associates(by web

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http://webpages.charter.net/stormking/research.htmlhttp://webpages.charter.net/stormking/research.htmlhttp://webpages.charter.net/stormking/research.htmlhttp://www.elearningeuropa.info/index.php?page=doc&doc_id=1483&doclng=1http://www.elearningeuropa.info/index.php?page=doc&doc_id=1483&doclng=1http://www.elearningeuropa.info/index.php?page=doc&doc_id=1483&doclng=1http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=576&bhcp=1&bhav=5.0.0&bhsh=768&bhsw=1024&bhiw=1004&bhih=575&bhqs=1http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=576&bhcp=1&bhav=5.0.0&bhsh=768&bhsw=1024&bhiw=1004&bhih=575&bhqs=1http://www.fullcirc.com/http://webpages.charter.net/stormking/research.htmlhttp://webpages.charter.net/stormking/research.htmlhttp://webpages.charter.net/stormking/research.htmlhttp://www.elearningeuropa.info/index.php?page=doc&doc_id=1483&doclng=1http://www.elearningeuropa.info/index.php?page=doc&doc_id=1483&doclng=1http://www.educause.edu/content.asp?page_id=576&bhcp=1&bhav=5.0.0&bhsh=768&bhsw=1024&bhiw=1004&bhih=575&bhqs=1http://www.fullcirc.com/


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e7pert %ancy +hite)" which lists tips and resources in how to build online communities" and the

technology and tools that are currently available.

Most of website users (as high as 9:;) who log onto a site are lurkers! they will take an

occasional look at a website but will not participate in it$ the participants" also called posters!

or contributors! are in the minority. Tools to engage member input and feedback include& e5mails" blogs" chat rooms" message boards" user surveys" comments bo7es" o ?im and summari/ed below (see %otes& Community 'uildingon the +eb& 1ecret 1trategies for 1uccessful 4nline Communitiesand a great video clip&

0rowing a +eb Community& Three Immutable @aws" %ine Timeless 3esign 1trategies)&

About Community 3evelopment&

Communities start small and simple and grow organically over time$ people stay tomaintain a web of relationships. se feedback loops to grow the community e5mails"

message boards" surveys" chat rooms" polls" tracking" page use. As the community grows"

there will be different roles and increasing influence over time. At first" there is a lot ofenergy at the launching of a web site provide ground rules for eti


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personali/ed services" as well as giving the community a sense of history and conte7t.

Track and display participantBs usage history.

E. 3esign for a range of 64@*1. 'asically" there are five roles that people have that

change over time&

!isitors need to be welcomedNovicesneed instruction

Regularsneed rewards and perks

"eadersneed to be empowered#ldersneed to be appreciated and honored

sually the site moderator welcomes newcomers" encourages silent participants" seeds

conversations" and connects people with the resources they need.

. 3evelop a strong @*A3*61#IP program. @eaders can greet newcomers" encourage

newcomers" teach classes" answer


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members to take on leadership roles and also act as hosts (see %otes&Facilitating and #osing a

,irtual Community).

"anguage

There are some uni


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Technology is a challenge because not all members in a community have the same access to

skills and resources (such as hardware and software). It is helpful to have a technology

e7pert or steward on hand to help assess and identify technology needs" answer


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Tool Advantages and 3isadvantages

Tool Advantages 3isadvantages*mail list (@istserv)

(asynchronous )

Can be used as an ad-unct

tool

Push! technology Ine7pensive to

people with high access costs

Can reach anyone online0ood for broadcasting

information

Can be individuali/ed 55 welcome

new members" send reminders

and updates to members" keep in

touch with members individually

and privately

Messages can come out of order$

lose conte7t of the conversation

Archiving isnBt always done1pammers can send messages to list

A talkative group can produce too

many messages

@ess helpful for getting work done"

deep discussion" building coherent

teams

,iruses are a concern

%ewsgroups

(asynchronous)

4nly subscribers can post

a message

%ot always moderated

Ine7pensive

Can reach anyone online

Can -ust download title and not

whole message

1ame as email

Pull! technology have to check it

Can get contentious with out

ground rules for interaction

Chat (synchronous

messages are posted in

real! time)

Can communicate with

many people at the same

time$ can be used for

meetings and brainstorm

sessions

Can use Instant

Messaging to

communicate with one

particular member

0ood for meetings to come to

conclusion with everyone there

Can have a real5time

(synchronous) discussion

Can have a guest speaker to

answer


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'logs web log

(asynchronous)

Features&

611 real simple

syndication allows

subscribers to combineand recombine published

postings in ways that

make sense and receive

updates

Trackbacks subscriber

is alerted to posting on

their post

0roup publishing tool (te7ts"

links" photos" documents" etc.)

with little technology needed

se own browser

+iki online writing tool(asynchronous)

0roup publishing and editing toolbetween internal pages

1upports hyperlinks" has simplete7t synta7 for creating new pages

and crosslinks

0roup+are and Portals

(synchronous andasynchronous)

An aggregate of tools 55

discussion tools"

voting2polling2prioriti/in

g tools" document and file

sharing" calendaring"

directories" contentmanagement and

workflow2pro-ect

management

0ood for facilitating teams

and variety of functions

0rowing technology that is rapidly

changing

Multimedia auditorium

@ive presentation tools

(synchronous)

@ive online event tools

(audio and video)

Customers pay per event" based

on number of attendees or by the

month

0ood in combination with

conference calls

#eavy bandwidth

sers may not have necessary

hardware or software

More load on server and network

The following tools can be used to draw new members and publici/e the online community (see%otes& Publicityand ,irtual Promote) &

'anner ads

Advertising in your email signoff signature

Posting on appropriate newsgroups or in other communities

%ews releases

%otices or links on your home page

H
http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitytypes.htmhttp://www.virtualpromote.com/http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitytypes.htmhttp://www.virtualpromote.com/


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6egistering with forum or community directories

%etworking among those who you know would be interested

Print advertising

'usiness cards

Building Relationshi"s between Researchers and Practitioners

6esearchers and practitioners bring different perspectives to the Conservation Psychology field.

6esearchers can be reflective observers" and draw from different disciplines of study.

Practitioners bring a rich set of on5the5ground e7periences to the discussion" can readily identifyreal world problems and research


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3evelop ground rules regarding& communication (with each other and others)"

confidentiality" roles" timing" reporting and how reports will be developed and reviewed"and how problems will be resolved if they arise.

3evelop a written agreement incorporating all of the above.

Additional financial and intuitional support is necessary for successful collaborations. Inparticular" practitioners should be given enough incentives to engage in research" which is often

an addition to their work plan. Incentives could be stipends" professional development

opportunities" or staff time set aside for participation in research collaboration.

Recommendations

For Phase II of the Conservation Psychology website" here are some suggestions&

Create a website development plan" taking a look at the stages in community

development and map out appropriate design strategies (and benchmarks) for the site in

order to foster ongoing community involvement. Identify a website facilitator to foster dialogue and input" and manage! the site.

Identify a technology steward to work with an ongoing basis.

Create a Task Force! of a few Conservation Psychology researchers and practitioners to

discuss appropriate tools for collaboration on the website (such as blogs to discuss

research

Documents

Best Practices for Building Online Communities