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About the title - Moderation is the.....
Moderation is the key to Longevity
Now I am not too sure who initially “coined” the phrase, and I am sure that whomever had was not referring to Online Community Moderation, but that phrase has always stuck with me for some reason.
How you manage and moderate the content that is posted and the members that interact within your community platform is just as important as which tools that you are going to implement. “If you build it, they will come”, but will they stay? “How can we encourage members to continually visit and actively participate within our community? Once the content is posted, what rules should we enforce, and how should we enforce them?” These are just a couple of questions that are typically asked by potential clients, and when it comes down to it, next to the tools that you are providing, Moderation and Management is the key to a successful community.
Online Community Moderation has been described in many ways/shapes/forms. It can entail something as simple as removing content that violates a specific policy, to the proactive seeding and posting of content within a community. Companies choose to moderate content within their online communities for a number of reasons: to protect their brand, manage content and their members, eliminate disruptive activity, stimulate discussions and facilitate interactions….I could go on, but I think that you get the picture. Moderation – in some way/shape/form - is an extremely important aspect of a successful online community, and one that should not be taken lightly.
To put this into everyday terms, how many times have you been to a restaurant, and said, “This place is nice, I would come back again”. What were your reasons? Good food? Clean environment? Friendly staff? It all comes down to impressions. If your restaurant does not provide those experiences, odds are that you will not see much return business. But if you do provide those experiences, you can create a loyal following, build up your clientele, and leverage the power of your community to build your brand awareness- Word of mouth advertising – it is free if you can implement and manage effectively.
That is about all for now, just remember that the key is not just building a great place, in a great location, it is also about the continuous management and upkeep of your area. It is an investment, but one that will pay itself off.
For other interesting blogs concerning Online Community Development, Management, Implementation and best practices, please visit one of our many experts on the subject:
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Thu, Aug 21 2008
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