What’s the minimum requirement for an online community?

I’ve been discussing online communities with a couple of people, more so than usual, so wanted to get some of my basic ideas down.

I actually run the meetings of the Game Experimentation & Development Group, as much as anyone does, for Stone Paper Scissors, and keep an eye on the server. I wouldn’t say I run this community, but I have been, or am, a member of quite a few, so I’m interested in how they work.

What does an online community need?

As a starter, this is mainly a list I put together as part of an existing conversation. I’ll update this post as and when new points come to mind.

• A community needs a clear aim. If that’s not possible, then make it clear that there is no current aim and that you’re looking for emergent properties which means that you need to discuss that subject, and actively run experiments. But something beyond just getting everyone with a certain approach together and hoping.¹
• The members of a community need a recurring reason to talk to each other, or to share information. This can be themed channels, or regular meetings on a theme, or group projects.
• Once any knowledge is repeated more than a couple of times, an online community needs a body of FAQs, with some kind of static reference - just so there’s institutional knowledge, and people can use those answers to build out new ideas, rather than answering the same questions, or everyone relearning the same answers. And, no, Discord’s search function doesn’t apply.
• It can be over-whelming to join a community that’s been going for some time, so once a community gets to that stage, it needs to be mindful of the new users’ experience of unfamiliar terms and culture. Only enabling them all to join as one cohort in a short space of time can work, and a good reason for people to introduce themselves to others and learn together.
• A community needs scheduled meetings - even if that schedule is haphazard, people need to be able to plan ahead. Personally I like scheduling that isn’t locked to a specific day of the week or month with a set time, because that will lead to the occasional clash with people’s commitments, either to other online communities or to real world demands. But I think I’m quite an outlier in that, in general people prefer something like “every third Tuesday at seven” and just put up with never being able to make a meeting if an existing schedule gets in the way.

References

This list came out of a discussion I’m having with Abby Covert, you can check out her Sensemakers Club here.

And while it’s not for the kind of communities I’ve got in mind, John Willshire put together an excellent document on his Community Power Compass, his way of thinking about the power dynamics in any kind of community.