Personalities Needed
A key ingredient to a successful online community is personality. Personality goes a long way in any situation. While beauty may be important to many people, it is as they say only skin deep.
So if your online community appears to be managed well, then yeah, you probably will attract a good crowd, but once members start engaging and trying to connect they will soon realise that beauty is not enough.
It’s not only important that a community manager has personality, but also that his or her personality matches that of the community.
Once this is established, the personality bit should come easy. Personally, I know if I am asked to engage people on a certain topic that I am enthusiastic about I am able to do it with flare.
Here are some quick tips on how to let your personality shine through:
Be friendly – Talk to your community as if you were speaking to your mates. This will make everyone else in the community feel comfortable to do the same; which in return will let other personalities shine through.
Be opinionated – Don’t just post a topic and be done with it. Let the group know what you think about it while also encouraging them to share their thoughts.
Be thoughtful – Try to put yourself in your members’ shoes. Think about what they would want and if you aren’t able to come up with an answer, then ask them.
Community management is all about ensuring that there is a safe platform for members to communicate.
Robin Ray – Head of Community Development – robin@schmooz.me
