Tag: Trends

Trend Questions: Community “management?”

Having been in the “online community” world since around 1997, I have seen “community” ebb and flow. What is different this time around is the credibility that is given to those talented individuals who help steward, facilitate, care, lead, host, cajole and even “manage” online communities. While we can quibble for hours about the definition of online community (and what is or isn’t a community), the role of supporting these things finally has arrived with legitimacy. (That means people sometimes actually get PAID to do the work! Amazing!)

In my work, I am finally seeing people budget for this role – even in tough economic times. “Build it and they will come” has finally come and gone and people have gotten serious about the strategic use of online groups, communities and networks and thus are willing to invest in their care and feeding.

What is happening with online community management where you work/play? Is the role legitimate? In what fields? What kind of value is placed on the role/job?

Trend Question: Social Media Fatigue?

As part of my “gear up” for Australia, Matt Moore and I agreed to do some blogging to start surfacing issues for conversation in our face to face events. Matt had a great idea to share some of the trends I’m seeing elsewhere in the world and then asking people what they are seeing in Australia.  After thinking about it, I realized this might be interesting to my main blog readers. So this will be the first in a series of posts. I’ll try and cross pollinate the responses…

Are people experiencing “social media fatigue?”

I’ve been working mostly with global groups in international development. This sector is a bit behind other sectors, so there is still a great deal of interest and excitement in social media. In fact, there seems to be a slightly greater amount of interest and actual adoption than a year ago and fewer signs of fatigue than I see with some of my colleagues in the United States.

What IS a challenge is discerning the strategic application of any particular bit of social media, and a great deal of concern about figuring out what is useful for one’s organization, and what is a silly waste of time. At the recent KM4Development gathering in Brussels, we even convened a Social Media Skeptics session which in the end was less about skepticism and more about identifying useful practices and paths. With one exception. Locations with poor connectivity and electricity are sick and tired about hearing about tools they can’t even see.

What have you seen in your work in Australia?