Stepping out of the comfort zone:The discomfort of communities

Andrew Spong, PhDEditorial Director, Nexus

About me

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11

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About this presentation

Concepts trump counting

Concepts trump counting

Concepts trump counting

RO...

InvestmentConnectionsReputationAdvocacyTrust...Investment

?

direct

indirect

A comfort zone?

Stepping out of the comfort zone:The discomfort of communities

Communities on the social web are often initially created as comfort zones

Why, therefore, would a community ever feel the need to 'step out of' its comfort zone?

What might precipitate such an action? What benefits might it gain from doing so? Hypothesis: successful communities have a

complex inclusion-exclusion dynamic wherein a degree of discomfort is a) likely, b) may have positive results

Let's consider some case studies to test this

Case studies

Case study #1: hcsmeuproductive discomfort

Commitment to inclusion disclosed regional needs (language; local conditions) core group could not serve

Core group set establishment of regional groups as goal

Core members create regional groups

hcsmeu is a link in a chain that no-one owns: US... EU... Asia... LatAm

No spend, modest effort, big results

#3

Case study #2: nhssmissue-based discomfort

Pharma issue: regulation

HCP issue: privacy

Patient issue: trust

Provider issue: strategyextensible

inspirational

informational

social

Issues addressed, additional benefits also conferred:

Case study #3: Psoriasis360self-reflexive discomfort

Whilst existing communities may feel they are supporting other members' initiatives, the members of new groups may feel they are being 'colonized'

Communities must be aware of where they don't belong

Case study #4: Iwork@novartisprogressive discomfort

Prompted by a progressive desire to do more (my observation)

Gently reminds us that a company is a community of many voices

Challenges perceptions, bravely treads a reformist line

Interesting insights into what is shared internally with #yam

Case study #5:temporal discomfort

http://cyhealthcommunications.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/twitter-rt-tweet-ups-and-me/

A new way to browse health community conversations:

http://www.foxepractice.com/healthcare-hashtags

On the discomfort of communities: Τα Πάντα ῥεῖ Everything flows

Communities on the social web exhibit an arborescent inclusion-exclusion dyamic: tree-like growth, root & branch

Communities should not worry about appealing to a 'general readership', but stick to their core interests

When niche interests align / when recommendations regarding a community's niche question are asked: weak ties direct, members join, temporarily, permanently #MyNiche

Credits

About me http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebingley/263966036

Prague astronomical clock http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangstaudt/359783377/

Zones http://www.flickr.com/photos/rocket9_net/3352272327

Case studies http://www.flickr.com/photos/xindaan/4005856992/

Tree http://www.flickr.com/photos/29609591@N08/4237133002/

Q&A

Andrew Spong, PhDEditorial Director, Nexus

@NexusNR@andrewspong