http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/ by Jeff Jarvis Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:40:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-428098 Finally, stories as long as they need to be have a chance to sell. What products are next? | Flying Flashlight Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:15:55 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-428098 [...] reader. Will this mean the end of some Web writers focusing on generating value by fostering community (content is advertising, the business is in the connections and trust)? Will they abandon that [...] [...] reader. Will this mean the end of some Web writers focusing on generating value by fostering community (content is advertising, the business is in the connections and trust)? Will they abandon that [...]

]]> http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-51161 BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Enabling v. owning Sun, 21 May 2006 13:46:14 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-51161 [...] Further, Fox invests at the edge of the new value chain: at the interface with consumers. That’s the point I want to probe. If they’re still “consumers,” is this really the edge? I say the edge is all about control by creators: That is, I control my own space, this space at the edge, Buzzmachine; I am subject to no one’s rules; I hold responsibility; I reap the benefits, if any; I have relationships as a result of having this presence online; this is mine, all mine; thus I can also relinquish control and, for example, put out full text on RSS and I can realize that the real conversation is not just the one in the comments but the one distributed across others’ sites. That is qualitatively different from a community destination: You go there, you benefit from their infrastructure but you are subject to their rules, you live in someone else’s space. Now I’m not denying the incredible power of MySpace. But I am wondering whether it is really fully at the edge — yet. In fact, I questioned here whether there is a disadvantage in trying to own a community — because then you become responsible for the community’s actions and its worst (i.e., the molester’s home page). And so I wonder, in turn, whether the real relationship play in the future is not to try to own community but to enable it. And enabling is sometimes known as infrastructure. [...] [...] Further, Fox invests at the edge of the new value chain: at the interface with consumers. That’s the point I want to probe. If they’re still “consumers,” is this really the edge? I say the edge is all about control by creators: That is, I control my own space, this space at the edge, Buzzmachine; I am subject to no one’s rules; I hold responsibility; I reap the benefits, if any; I have relationships as a result of having this presence online; this is mine, all mine; thus I can also relinquish control and, for example, put out full text on RSS and I can realize that the real conversation is not just the one in the comments but the one distributed across others’ sites. That is qualitatively different from a community destination: You go there, you benefit from their infrastructure but you are subject to their rules, you live in someone else’s space. Now I’m not denying the incredible power of MySpace. But I am wondering whether it is really fully at the edge — yet. In fact, I questioned here whether there is a disadvantage in trying to own a community — because then you become responsible for the community’s actions and its worst (i.e., the molester’s home page). And so I wonder, in turn, whether the real relationship play in the future is not to try to own community but to enable it. And enabling is sometimes known as infrastructure. [...]

]]> http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-30131 links for 2006-02-22 (Leapfroglog) Wed, 22 Feb 2006 07:23:31 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-30131 [...] BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Why you don’t want to own community “The web is the social application.” With emphasis on “is”. (tags: community communities web social socialsoftware) [...] [...] BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Why you don’t want to own community “The web is the social application.” With emphasis on “is”. (tags: community communities web social socialsoftware) [...]

]]> http://www.buzzmachine.com/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-29940 Ivan Tumanov Mon, 20 Feb 2006 19:27:44 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/index.php/2006/02/20/why-you-dont-want-to-own-community/#comment-29940 I completely agree with you on this one. I run <a href="http://www.kiwibox.com" rel="nofollow">Kiwibox.com</a> and we're learning these same lessons. We're trying to design our community features in such a way that users take on responsibility for keeping the community comfortable for them and their peers. We're doing this by enabling a tiered social infrastructure where certain users have responsibilities and authority, whereas others just enjoy the benefits of a community like this. I think the MySpace "safety czar" won't work out in the end, the community is much too large and has a mind of its own, everything this person does will probably be construed as unwelcome by users. The way they probably should've done it in my opinion is created a class of users who collect input from the community at large and then through a forum process figure out what to do about problems they find. I completely agree with you on this one. I run Kiwibox.com and we’re learning these same lessons. We’re trying to design our community features in such a way that users take on responsibility for keeping the community comfortable for them and their peers. We’re doing this by enabling a tiered social infrastructure where certain users have responsibilities and authority, whereas others just enjoy the benefits of a community like this. I think the MySpace “safety czar” won’t work out in the end, the community is much too large and has a mind of its own, everything this person does will probably be construed as unwelcome by users. The way they probably should’ve done it in my opinion is created a class of users who collect input from the community at large and then through a forum process figure out what to do about problems they find.

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