I had the pleasure of meeting John Hagel at the Community 2.0 conference in Las Vegas. He has written up the notes to his talk, which I think is the best succinct presentation of the opportunities and challenges in creating virtual communities. I strongly encourage you to read his entire post here.
Here are the things I think are the most salient. First Hagel defines what he means by virtual community:
For me, virtual community involves:
* establishing connections on electronic networks among people with common needs
* so that they can engage in shared discussions
* that persist and accumulate over time
* leading to complex webs of personal relationships and an increasing sense of identification with the overall community
The key elements of virtual community, therefore, are shared discussions, shared relationships and shared identity. Now, these may seem arbitrary but, as I’ll discuss below, they contribute to building shared meaning, shared trust and shared motivation in ways that are distinctive and responsive to the growing needs among participants.
This is probably the best definition of virtual community I've seen so far. Hagel goes on to define different types of communities:
* Social networks – focus on identity creation and connection with friends, but lack the same degree of shared discussions and shared identity as VCs
* Electronic markets – primary focus on transactions rather than relationships
* Content aggregation sites – display and access interesting content but limited focus on shared discussions and shared relationships
I think this is a useful set of distinctions but I also think these types are beginning to merge and blur.
Hagel defines a set of challenges facing developers of communities. I recommend reading this section carefully as I agree with his choices.
Finally he articulates an important overlooked opportunity in the creation of virtual communities: the cultivation of talent. Most of the learning communities I have been involved with had as their mission the achievement of a specific business process or goal: new product innovation, adaptation of new technologies to specific challenges. But the real value that emerged as a by-product of these communities was an environment that enabled people to cultivate their skills, making meaningful connections, and advance their personal interests. This is so important because it is the only compelling and sustainable reason for participation in a community. If by participating in an online community an individual isn't growing in clear and tangible means attention and participation will drop off. Here's Hagel on the topic:
The talent story is a little less well known and yet it is increasingly relevant to the virtual community opportunity. Two forces are coming together to increase the bargaining power of talent:
* Talent is becoming increasingly valuable to companies. The basis of competition is shifting from structural and physical asset advantages to advantages based on intangible assets – intellectual property, networks and brand – all of these hinge on talent. On top of this, intensifying competitive pressure driven in part by growing customer power is making talent more central to sustained value creation
* At the same time, talent has more options available than ever before. The Internet provides greater visibility on alternative employers. Employees have more mobility – both geographically and institutionally. Talent has more opportunities to strike out on its own and continue to create value as an independent contractor.
Companies can respond to this growing bargaining power by paying talent more money, but a more powerful and sustainable approach is to provide institutional environments that accelerate talent development, including enhanced opportunity to connect into talent pools that extend beyond the enterprise.
This is at the heart of community development and sustainability.
Share This
