Have you ever written community guidelines, or worked with someone to get them started? I’ve done both, and there is one word that often comes up: “irrelevance.”
Community managers, particularly those connected to a consumer brand do not want irrelevant conversations in their community space. If it’s not about the company, the product or the service, they want no parts of it.
You may not see a problem with that perspective, but I believe that you should.
If you’re really looking to grow and sustain a community, and you really want people to connect, you have to leave some room for them to do that. Is it really that bad if people go off-topic for a while?
If they’re doing it in your community, that means they feel some level of comfort there, which works in your favor.
It can’t always be about you. That may seem counter intuitive, but I am not speaking from theory, but practice.
People don’t connect on one topic alone. And the fact that other topics come into play from time-to-time proves that the wheels of true connections are in motion and good things are happening.
So, create your guidelines but don’t be so rigid that you miss opportunities for continued growth.
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November 20, 2011 at 5:11 pm
Jill Biddington
Beautifully said Angela. I am smiling in agreement. Too much control is a strong turnoff – and also sends the message that we don’t want the whole person engaging just the part which is useful in the most linear way.
November 21, 2011 at 11:16 am
Rosemary O'Neill (@rhogroupee)
That’s why I always include a “Just Conversation” forum whenever I’m running a community. It’s an absolute necessity. Thanks for pointing this out!
November 21, 2011 at 12:26 pm
infomart123
i want to agree to your statement that a community site should be not be too rigid in allow people comment on things they may find pressing to make known to the community.
like i want to say that ugly stik rod is good for fishing
December 20, 2011 at 3:08 am
Ned
I’ve found that its good to allow irrelevant conversations but to know how to easily transition them into the main topic. If you just blatantly stop irrelevant conversation after a few seconds, it will be obvious you don’t care for other irrelevant info. Many times the topics unrelated can connect with the subject of interest and lead to creative ideas