Comments on: What Motivates Participants to Engage in Online Communities

By: Library clips :: Community of Practice for Facilitators : pilot, adoption and participation :: September :: 2009

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:32:02 +0000

[...] Dawn Foster lists some motivation factors [...]

By: Adolfo Elliott

Adolfo Elliott — Tue, 26 May 2009 07:32:36 +0000

We can learn a lot about our customers likes and dislikes and what motivates them when we set up a social online communities. I truly believe the online community has great power so companies need to make good use of these wonderful new customer feedback systems.

By: John Norris

John Norris — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:43:34 +0000

Hi Folks- just found this site. I’m a Biomedical Informaticist and have been looking at healthcare support groups, especially within virtual worlds.

If one looks at healthcare writ large, including people who I would classify as mental health issues, but are non-clinical/non-severe, the predominate motivation I think is companionship. I recently took a look at the virtual world IMVU and found a large number of groups centered around just wanting to talk about general problems. I think these groups are more about simple sharing and chatting, than specific information.

That said, when I looked at Second Life, the groups tended to have a much more, say clinical, focus. Here, I think that the motivation is to give and get assistance. Groups are centered around particular issues, such as Autism, or Multiple Sclerosis. There is probably still and underlying need for companionship.

To generalize, if a group offers companionship and the ability of its members to give and get assistance for even a broad field of interest, they would serve the motivation of their members.

John
john-norris.net

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:58:31 +0000

Great article!
Alot of companies are trying to determine how to create and sustain online communities. The best online communities have many active participants that are engaged in the subject and offer useful insight.

Kevin
http://www.kidsdesk.net

By: Jared O'Toole

Jared O'Toole — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:32:58 +0000

I have recently started a community for young entrepreneurs. The big picture is to increase the interest in entrepreneurship and help young entrepreneurs achieve their goals. However to do this we focus on developing entrepreneurship clubs at specific colleges. This is what keeps people involved in the community they want to help grow their school specific club so it stands out as the best.

So we still get our entrepreneurship info across but people are really focused on helping their school club. I think having this personal connection with their school really helps facilitate their activity on the network.

By: Social Media Are Not Communities | BPWrap

Social Media Are Not Communities | BPWrap — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:09:06 +0000

[...] a company, they will need to go beyond just having a blog. Dawn Foster has explored the question of how customers can be encouraged to participate in online communities created by companies. She feels that the company must grapple with the [...]

By: Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for November 26 : Oregon Startup Blog

Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for November 26 : Oregon Startup Blog — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:12:52 +0000

[...] What Motivates Participants to Engage in Online Communities at Fast Wonder Blog: Consulting, Online … Dawn Foster writes “Many of my past posts have talked about the benefits of having a community for a company or organization. However, I have not spent enough time talking about the benefit to the participants in the community. It has to go both ways. A community will only be successful if the participants and the sponsoring organization both find value in participating regularly in the community.” [...]

By: Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for November 26 » Silicon Florist

Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for November 26 » Silicon Florist — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:02:08 +0000

By: Martin Reed

Martin Reed — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:22:23 +0000

An online community should bring people with similar interests or objectives together. People that love a product or what a product is used for will want to join an online community to share their thoughts and obtain positive reassurance that their opinion of the product is the right one to have.

There may well be existing communities out there that are similar to the one(s) you want to develop. However, all online communities should offer something new – whether that be on a basic level (eg features and design) or a more advanced level, such as the personality of the community and the level of involvement by those in positions of authority.

Online communities need to be fun, friendly and engaging. They take a lot of hard work, but the rewards are worth it.

- Martin