Inspired, since 2009

Sometimes, it’s a book that stays with us, a movie, a talk we watch…
Well this time, it’s an article I read in 2009 in HBR Magazine. It’s called “getting brand communities right” (by Susan Fournier and Lara Lee). It contains theories about community dynamic and debunks myths.
What interested me the most were the types of community affiliation that they analyzed (Pools have a shared activity, goal or values – , Hubs gather around a charismatic leader -, and Webs are based on personal relationships) but also the 18 roles (historian, mentor, provider, greeter…) one may play within a community and each of them are needed for various reasons.
So, it wasn’t as simple as marketers try to make it. Humans are much more fascinating and complex. To want to belong with others, we need motivation, we need reassurance, we need to find our places, we need stability, but also space for evolution.

I was therefor inspired to develop the “Community Dynamics Framework” :
– first we will need to understand what type of magnet brings your people together,
– what types of engagement levels are fulfilled,
– and what types of vitamins your members need in order to be fully empowered

Community Magnets ©

As time passed, I started looking into the subject matter myself. What brings the members of the Turkish Cultural Association of Luxembourg together for instance? What brings the gamers of World of Warcraft who created shared ressources and playbooks worth thousands of hours of production together? What brings the drag community together?
Common sense led the way and I realized that three types of magnets attract us together and they may be activated solo or simultaneously.

LOVE : We may come together because we enjoy the same passion or activity and sharing it makes the joy even bigger. –> Gamers for example

NEED : We may come together because we need solutions to the same issues. We can combine our ressources to be stronger, to solve the problem faster (or even survive) and support each other. –> People who have the same incurable disease for example

BE : We may come together because we have a shared history, a common identity and it is important for us to keep being who we are, to remember, to transmit our culture. –> Expatriates from the same country living abroad

For example, Drag Culture mixes all three of these : they need to come together to fight for their rights, they enjoy celebrating creative self expression and they have a common history.

The strongest communities are not designed or made up. They form organically because life happens. But knowing what brings us together may allow us to take better care of our communities. And that can be a fantastic reason for a creative workshop ; )

Engagement levels ©

There is a difference between casually checking content on a social media account and actually behaving as the member of a community, going to physical or online meetings, using your skills or knowledge, lending your resources, giving time on a frequent basis…

The community belongs to the community, but it needs multiple types of roles as mentioned before to last.

There seems to be multiple levels and circles of engagement within the community halo. At the heart of it are the managers (who may or may not be the founders) who are fully invested in nurturing and maintaining the community, then there are the members (who come to most events, give feedback, share resources, support the community as often as they can), and the visitors (those who are on a “test drive”, curious about what it’s like, but not fully engaged yet).

If you know there are more people out there who may benefit in sharing the NEED, BE and/or LOVE dynamic of your community, you may want to spread the word about your community’s existence (using content, advertising..), but the first and most powerful lever is to make sure your current members are fulfilled. They will be the greatest ambassadors of your tribe.