LIBR 246-04/13 Web 2.0 (Spring 2010)

April 20 - 26

• Learning Objectives
• Readings
• Examples
• Things to Do
  

Learning Objectives

By the end of the week, you should:

1. Identify dynamics of participation in online communities
2. Identify methods of moderating online communities
3. Determine best practices for building online community
4. Identify the challenges involved in building an online community.

Lecture

No lecture this week since we have discussed much of this with our guest speakers.

Readings

White, N. (2002). "Defining the Purpose of Your Community." Online Community Toolkit.
Reed, M. (2009). "How to Build an Online Community." CommunitySpark.
Hinchliffe, D. (2008). "Twelve Best Practices for Online customer Communities." Enterprise Web 2.0.
Dholakia, U. & Vianello, S. (2009). "The Fans Know Best." Wall Street Journal.
Cohen, A. (2008). "Characteristics of Successful Online Communities." Idealware.
Anglin, T. (2007). "Community 2.0: The Recipe for a Successful Online Community." ASP.
Reed, M. (2009). "Inside the Mind of an Online Community Lurker." CommunitySpark.
Oates, G. (2008). "Community: From Little Things, Big Things Grow." A List Apart.
Grohol, J. (2006). "Anonymity and Online Community: Identity Matters." A List Apart.
Reed, M. (2008). "20 Questions for Managers of Online Communities." CommunitySpark.
White, N. (2004). "Facilitating and Hosting a Virtual Community." Online Community Toolkit.
White, N. (2004). "Some Considerations for Facilitating Online Interaction." Online Community Toolkit.
White, N. (n.d.). "Interventions: Behind the Scenes or Out in Front." Online Community Toolkit.
Johnston, B. (2009). "Managing Negative Influences on Community Culture." Online Community Report.
Lampe, C. & Resnick, P. (2004). "Slash(dot) and Burn. Distributed Moderation in a Large Online Conversation Space." ACM Computer Human Interaction Conference.
Hayden, T. (2005). "Virtual Panel Participation." Making Light.
Reed, M. (2008). "Online Communities Don't Develop Overnight." CommunitySpark.
Reed, M. (2009). "Community Building: Getting Members Active and Addicted." CommunitySpark.
Sierra, K. (2006). "How to Build a User Community: Part 1." Creating Passionate Users.

Examples

Library or Library-Related Online Communities
WebJunction
SkokieNet
Bookspace
My Own Cafe (recently shut down -- not sure why)

Other Online Communities
Duke City Fix
Edmunds
English Companion
Flickr (check out some groups)
FriendFeed
IdeaStorm
JavaRanch
Share (March of Dimes)
The Simplest
Slashdot
Smart Bitches Trashy Books
Tax Almanac (check out the forums)
TechSoup
Television Without Pity (take a look at some of the Forums)

Things to Do

1. View the examples listed above.
2. Write at least one blog post on one (or more) of the following topics (due April 24):

1. Which of the online communities that you viewed in the past 2 weeks were you the most drawn to (pick 1 or 2)? Why? (Tag = blogpostwk12n1)
2. What do you think are the best practices for moderating an online community? What do you think of Slashdot's moderation scheme? (Tag = blogpostwk12n2)
3. What do you think about anonymous users in an online community? What about lurkers? (Tag = blogpostwk12n3)
4. What does success look like in an online community? What characteristics of the communities you looked at contribute to their success? (Tag = blogpostwk12n4)
5. What are some of the challenges of building an active online community? (Tag = blogpostwk12n5)

6. Write your own reflections on what you learned this week. (Tag = blogpostwk12n6)

3. Write a blog post that includes a brief description of an article, technology, blog post, or other interesting resource outside of the classwork you've found that's related to that week's topic. Be sure to include a link to the resource (due April 24). (Tag = resourcewk12)

4. Comment on at least two other people's blog posts (due April 26).

5. Elluminate session Wednesday, April 21, 6:00 - 7:00 pm PT

6. Community Dynamics Paper Due April 25