When it comes to building a community online, you are in control of the results.
You’ve been able to get some traction online and are beginning to build a community. Whether it’s as an online personality through YouTube or podcasts, or through your own brand of online forums, once people regularly start coming to you for content, you have the power to decide who gets to stay part of the community.
If you find yourself in a position where your community isn’t engaging with you in a way you expect, maybe it’s time to rethink how you put yourself out there. You can run a tight ship on the way your community behaves, without driving everyone away.
Set the Topics
A community centered around discussing certain topics is going to piggyback off the topics you discuss first. If you’re running a podcast centered around politics, or gardening, or technical how-tos – you get to set the focus, direction, and tone of the community with each piece of content.
Do you want a community that thinks about new ideas? Research and inform them about topics most people maybe aren’t aware of. Do you want to stir some controversy and bring a discussion? Set yourself apart by taking sides on a topic people can get passionate about.
Be careful if you’re going to start controversial discussions. If people are arguing at you or amongst themselves in an unhealthy way, it’s because you didn’t set the tone correctly. Or you didn’t explain your position very well. Covering controversial subjects is all about setting your points clearly, making people aware of your assumptions, and humbly admitting when you don’t understand something fully. Expect to be challenged, and be prepared to answer those challenges.
If randomness or off-topic hilarious discussions are part of the community, that’s not a problem, but things still have to be moderated. Memes are everywhere, and people will never stop creating more.
Sometimes a topic will be exhausted where it’s not fun for you anymore, or is too far away from the original discussion you wanted to have. If that’s the care, feel free to reign in the discussion towards the direction you want to go, gently at first and more forcefully later for the stragglers that don’t hear you the first time.
If that one guy doesn’t like you changing the subject, don’t worry about it, there are a hundred other people who are happy to see you be yourself and doing what you enjoy.
Predict the Reactions
Before you put yourself out there, recognize the kinds of reactions you could get, or the types of new people you are attracting. If you find yourself bombarded with trolls or negative comments, think about what sort of responses you are attracting.
It’s tempting to be vulnerable online with people you don’t know. If you have a blog or vlog that covers your life or lifestyle, perhaps you open up more about day-to-day life or personal struggles you are going through.You can expect some people to be sympathetic, but expect all kinds of other reactions too.
Being vulnerable means other people will want to give you their advice. It means you may attract trolls who will make jokes for their own humor without thinking of you. Know how people might react to your content. Cut off the negative reactions before they happen by addressing them. Encourage the positive reactions by shutting out negative talk and highlighting the positive comments.
Empower New Leaders
This is an important part of building community – empower others to own the community as part of themselves. To those that have been around the longest that you trust, let them step up, whether as moderators or as contributing to the discussion with their own content.
People may come into the community for you at first, but they will stay for each other and the friendships they make.
This means reaching out to people you may only know virtually and asking for their help. Ask them to help moderate, or to make graphics and designs for you if you need them.
Once those in your community get to recognize these other names almost as much as they know your own, they are more likely to stick around. It’s not just entertainment value they get out of the community anymore, they develop a sense of ownership as they get to know everyone else.