Four types of online communities and value you get from being a participant
I see three ways to look at community: as mastermind, as marketing, or OOC
Mastermind
This is usually a paid community. It's built on the audience of the community leader.
Examples: write of passage, altMBA, second brain,
Marketing
The community supports sales or retention for another product, example a CBC
Example: any big brand forum (say valve), or anything like coursera communities
Outcome oriented community OOC
The goal is to get a certain outcome. You can tell whether the community is helping or not by looking at the outcomes people get after being involved.
Example: a comunity of nonfiction book writers that want to get a book finished
The 'man' here is RobFitz.com, he's writing a book on it.
'Just for fun' communities
There's no ulterior motive here. People write about their passion projects, that are often 'useless'. There's no karma whoring, no likes, no follows. That makes people stop 'performing' and write and talk the way they are
Example: gemspace
Books I've read:
- 'Business of Belonging' (David Spinks)
- 'Community Masters' (Varum Maryya)
- Outcome oriented community OOC (work in progress, Rob Fitz)
Who is the best person to read/watch with actionable advice about launching a community?
/gemlog/