A new front in the content moderation war; An expected outcome in the old one
Big Technology
Now that Facebook and Twitter have warmed to moderation, the war over content online will not end. It will just move on. And it’s worth considering where it’s going. After Amazon effectively took Parler offline, the battle appears headed to smaller, mainstream networks like Substack, Spotify (podcasts), and Clubhouse.
Storming Reddit's Moat
Flood State
Seeing an opportunity, the r/changemyview moderators decided in 2019 that they would “unbundle” the community from Reddit - migrate it, in other words, to a dedicated website. They had not just a large user base but an active and engaged one. Controlling their own platform, and being able to monetize their content, would let them build features tailored to CMV’s mission and fund work to further the growth of the community. But the effort didn’t last. Less than a year and a half later, the new CMV website is dead and the community continues to thrive on Reddit. What went wrong?
- Why Your New Software Needs a Developer Community Before Marketing — Taylor Waldon
- Is the boom in communal living really the good life? — The Guardian
- In the Age of Clubhouse, Must We All Become Curators, Experience Designers, and Moderators Now? — Tim Leberecht, Journal of Beautiful Business
- Issue #43: Belonging and Civicsm — Future of Belonging
- 🟡 #3: Community-Driven Startups!? — Francisco Fonseca
- I’ve Hit Community Burnout — Sarah Withee
- Explore Higher Friction Communities — Ian Vanagas
- If we want to make things better, we’ll have to do it ourselves. — Charles Marohn
- Mass (Social) Media and the Work Inversion — David Sherry
- 5 Best Alternatives to Facebook Groups For Your Community In 2021 — Tom Norman
🌟 Community Building Tip of the Week
Use RSS to your advantage to help your community connect and stay informed.
Here is one way: pull RSS feeds into your community Slack.
🎧 Podcasts
- How Reddit Builds Trust at Scale with Evan Hamilton — Masters of Community
- Kat Vellos ⎮ Cultivating Better Friendships — Good Life Project
- EP78: How CMX Ran Virtual Events During COVID — Bevy
- Episode 2: Finding Yourself Through Community — Meetup
- Healing through Inside Circles with James McLeary — Masters of Community
- Toastmasters: Still thriving 100 years into its history 🗯 Joe Smith, Toastmasters — Get Together
- Episode 43: How Digital Can Expose Underlying Problems Because of Separate Business Unit Past Decisions — Peers Over Beers
- Building Community is Not for The Faint of Heart: A Conversation with Holly Firestone — Create Community
🐦 Tweets
The term "Community" is thrown around a lot today, especially in creator circles.
— Ethan Brooks (@damn_ethan) January 17, 2021
Let's be clear about one thing -- if you're not fostering connections between your readers, you don't have a community, you have an audience. pic.twitter.com/G3Xg2bayii
Ok, thread.
— Hank Green (@hankgreen) January 20, 2021
I believe that we shouldn’t hold platforms accountable for decisions their users make. That would break a lot things.
But there is a sense that that means platforms are free from wrong-doing because they don’t create content...they just host it.
Bullshit.
No, it's proof that Facebook, like all communities, should kick the assholes out, early and often. (Also proof that these auto-generated videos are almost always a terrible idea.) https://t.co/kFO4WUY6Iv
— Derek Powazek (@fraying) January 18, 2021
People think creators need 1,000 true fans; others argue 100.
— Jamie Russo (@jamierusso) January 18, 2021
I say the number is irrelevant. Here’s what’s important.
When you’re getting started, don’t look for fans, look for friends.
Around a small group of friends, a community forms.
It’s important to teach people how cults work, and how cultish thinking permeates our politics, spirituality, and health
— Jesse Z Mann (@zookmann) January 24, 2021
Social media makes everyone a potential cult leader and to protect ourselves we need to know how they work. And to also not act as cult leaders ourselves
“Start with a community” is the new “do things that don’t scale”
— D’Arcy Coolican (@DCoolican) January 24, 2021
Great write-up on all the cool thing happening with @jjacobs22 and the MCJ community https://t.co/ojunTAAD5i
It occurs to me (while reading about conspiracy theories) that Wikipedia hasn't been subject to the same censorship pressures as other platforms. I wonder why we treat it so differently?
— Nadia (@nayafia) January 25, 2021
Solid read on what it takes to start turning a space around.https://t.co/61LOvOm8Ea
— Evan Hamilton (@evanhamilton) January 25, 2021
How to be a great community member.
— Ian Vanagas (@IanVanagas) January 25, 2021
Communities are a reflection of their members. Great members create great communities.
By being a great member, you can have a massive impact on the communities you belong to. Here's how you do it:
Five ways to make your community onboarding better:
— SPINKS | spinks.eth (@DavidSpinks) January 19, 2021
1. Send a very personalized welcome email
2. Add a unique ritual that all new members do
3. Invite to an initiation event for new members
4. Create a welcome committee
5. Assign them a buddy or mentor
