Drupal and the Keys to Successful Communities. Martin Mayer, Diplom Systems Practitioner (Open)

Transcription

1 Drupal and the Keys to Successful Communities

2 Case Study: Livemocha's Way to Success The idea was born only 5 years ago Years of Spanish lessons left Shirish Nadkarni's children unable to communicate with native speakers Instead they went to social networks The idea of learning a language in a social community was born

3 Case Study: Livemocha - the Situation Today Around 12 million registered members from 196 countries Around 460,000 daily users $19 million venture capital collected Many free language courses are offered It earns revenues from advanced language courses advanced reviews personal instruction sessions via video chat advertising Source: WolframAlpha.com

4 Case Study: Livemocha's Community Concept Members can study 38 languages in free basic courses. Exercises are reviewed by native speaking members Reviewers provide feedback and earn expert status Many of the courses were added by members. Translating available course materials into a members native language earns expert status. Members can become paid expert reviewers or video chat tutors with a certain status

5 Case Study: Livemocha - the Bottom Line Livemocha provided the infrastructure for a largely self organizing social community. Members are attracted through free language courses The free courses are excellent marketing for paid services. Most of the daily work is done by members Much of the product is provided by members Thus, the community became a million dollar business

6 Other Communities The United Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and the World Bank have internal knowledge bases, built as communities Drupal.org Open Source Content Management System Lonely Planet Travel information CooksUnited (Chefkoch) Recipes, cooking tips You could probably do it in your sphere of business, too!!

7 Creating Value for the Initiators Public communities can generate revenues through: Premium services Advertisements Membership fees Current information can be gathered inexpensively Internal communities make the organization more viable

8 The Basic Strategy of Successful Communities Create a framework for a commonality from which participants can profit Structure it self organizing Users contribute content by collective action

9 But some Communities Fail! What motivates people to cooperate? And when do they free ride?

10 What Motivates Members to Contribute? Nobel Price winner Elinor Ostrom shows in "Governing the Commons" prerequisites for viable communities: Members must have an interest in continual participation Members can participate in shaping operational rules Conflict resolution mechanisms are easily available Monitoring, to prevent misuse comes from within the community

11 Interest in Continual Participation Why is it motivating? Long term members profit more from a strong and healthy community If they have only short term interest, people see no reason to contribute. They are more interested in free riding. How can it be fostered in online communities? Members become part of a social system Earning reputation and recognition Becoming a sought after specialist Receiving help from other members Building special interest groups

12 Members Participate in Shaping Operational Rules Why is it motivating? Members who helped shaping a community identify stronger with its destiny. Increased confidence that the rules fit the group's specific needs. How can it be fostered in online communities? Improvement suggestions or other feedback about the community can be sent in, posted or discussed Administrators embrace the suggestions Voting, which improvements will be implemented

13 Monitoring Comes from Within the Community Why is it motivating? Members feel more reassured about minimal free riding and misuse if they do the monitoring themselves There are doubts about the motivation of outsiders How can it be fostered in online communities? Easy reporting of misuse Contributions can be evaluated Evaluations can be evaluated

14 Conflict Resolution Mechanisms are Easily Available Why is it motivating? Easy persecution fosters trust that misuse is kept to a minimum Long and difficult conflicts alienate from the community How can it be fostered in online communities? A code of conduct is available Site administrators can be easily contacted Graduated sanctions are available, for example: Administrators can warn offenders Status points can be removed Administrators can block abusive users

15 What Motivates Members to Contribute? Dee Hock, initiator of Visa International, shows in his groundbreaking work about self organizing organizations: There must be a hybrid of cooperation and competition within the community Participants must have a high degree of autonomy

16 A Hybrid of Cooperation and Competition Why is it motivating? If there is only competition, a communality is not created or dies quickly If there is only cooperation, there is no incentive to do better than others. People tend to lean back and wait for others to contribute. How can it be fostered in online communities? Contributions and members can be evaluated Evaluations can be evaluated Points system for contributions Rankings in search results Member of the week / month

17 A High Degree of Autonomy Why is it motivating? People identify stronger with their own decisions, than with somebody else's The quality of a contribution is higher, if decisions come from local experts. Remote decision makers are often to far away for suitable decisions. How can it be fostered in online communities? Participants are given the freedom to decide how they want to contribute No external pressure is exerted

18 Some suitable Drupal Modules: Fivestar

19 Some suitable Drupal Modules: Answers

20 Some suitable Drupal Modules: Invite

21 Some suitable Drupal Modules: Advanced Forum

22 Some suitable Drupal Modules: Userpoints

23 More Community Supporting Drupal Modules Answers Answers Userpoints Blog Events Invite Invite Userpoints Notifications Poll Reputation Shoutbox Organic groups and Subgroups Homebox Freelinking Activity Calendar, Calendar Block Tagadelic User badges user relationships user points Wikitools Activity Hall of Fame Poll User Badges Voting Fivestar Userpoints Karma Userpoints Contributed Modules Interest in continual participation Cooperation Community Support Activity Answers several Chat modules Events Invite Poll Shoutbox Organic Groups Subgroups Freelinking Forum Userpoints Userpoints Contributed Modules User Bagdes User relationships Wikitools Members participate in shaping operational rules Poll Voting Wikitools Contact Comment Forum Competition Monitoring comes from within the community Flag Content

24 Some ideas for your communities Sphere of Business Suitable Community Cosmetics Make-up tips Fashion Fashion tips Lingery Seduction tips Realtor Interior design consulting Do-it-yourself store Do-it-yourself tips, construction plans (Private) schools Tutoring, homework support

25 The Experiment: Which Motivating Factors were Present? Members must have an interest in continual participation Members can participate in shaping operational rules Conflict resolution mechanisms are easily available Monitoring, to prevent misuse comes from within the community There must be a hybrid of cooperation and competition within the community Participants must have a high degree of autonomy

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