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Heard this lately from your boss? "Hey, let's add some community to our site. Our traffic will explode!" or "Let's make a blog, how hard can it be?" The Web is by its very nature interactive, so one-way broadcasts are out, communities are in. Community add-ons and sites are all the rage, but how do you do it right? Derek Powazek's book shows you how.
This book is not a technology book on the intricacies of blogger or Manila. The focus is on the design and moderation issues that arise when you add community features to your site. You'll learn what works and what doesn't when building and running virtual communities on the Web.
The author should know. Derek Powazek, a journalist by training, has helped build many pioneering virtual communities for HotWired, Electric Minds, Vivid Studios, Netscape, and his own fray.com and kvetch.com (love that site). He writes with wit and wisdom on what works on the Web when creating and running thriving online communities.
Each chapter focuses on a specific issue of community building on the Web, from moderation to intimacy to using email. Each chapter ends with New Riders' signature interview with an expert in that particular area. They include:
Matt Haughey (metafilter.com), Steven Johnson (plastic.com), Rob Malda (slashdot.org), John Styn (CitizenX.com), Matt Williams (Amazon.com), and Howard Rheingold (rheingold.com).
One of the things I learned is that in some cases it's a good idea to "bury the post button." By making users read through your entire article, and *then* supplying the "post your response" button at the end, you automatically filter out all but the most interested readers. Your discussions will stay on topic and have higher signal-to-noise ratios.
Powazek says: "Web communities happen when users are given tools to use their voice in a public and immediate way, form intimate relationships over time." He goes so far as to say that sites without community-related features are doomed. "Any Internet technology that does not allow for its users to communicate directly with each other is doomed to failure."
After reading this book, you'll feel like you've designed a community already, and your next one will be better for it. Recommended. From WebReference.com.
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