Even now, there are plenty of examples of online communities that are failing to establish themselves and deliver the expected results. It is worth remembering therefore, that more often than not these failures can be traced to one or more of these common mistakes.
What should be clear, is that any new project needs a substantial commitment in both time and resources, and an understanding of the way communities develop, in order to avoid these mistakes.
1. If you build it, they will come.
Probably the most common community fallacy. Too many organisations believe that simply rolling out a given technology (blogs, forums, wikis, etc.) will be enough to attract and engage users, who can the be left to develop a vibrant community. This can be attributed to the shiny attraction of “social software”, companies jumping at an application or platform rather than looking to provide value for their audiences.
2. Once it’s launched, we’re done.
Many communities launch successfully, only to fade out and disappear. This is often due to a failure in the planning stage to identify and secure ownership of the community and to have a strategy that lasts past “launch.”
3. Bigger is better.
It is often assumed that the overall size of a community is indicative of its success. However, a community’s value to its members is more about the quality and relevance of engagement and content rather than numbers. This can be challenging for most community managers and businesses to understand, and is often contrary to what they’ve usually been told.
