The Eternal Question -- content versus development.

Sivoph

I have racked my brain trying to figure out that delicate balance between actual content and development functionality. Scanning the digital landscape, you see platforms like Craiglist, with very simple interfaces (on the face of it) but massive followings.

At what point do we, as content creators or developers, stop adjusting that css or wanting more extensionality and start creating engaging and useful content?

I run a commercial enterprise, so my perspective and aims could be different....but at the end of the day we all want to create great spots that people enjoy and keep coming back to. As I'm an amateur in this space, I'd also like to hear from established webmasters, developers, creators, etc....on what they picked up on their journey. Thank you ahead of time.

luceos

Engagement is key, always. Without people, there's no content. Your own content should only be used to further engage your user base. Especially in the early days of your community, users care little for the platform, more so for those they follow. Naturally, even from the start, a concise, bug-free platform helps retain users stay engaged to your community.

Maybe the community lifecycle helps as well in clarifying the need for engagement: https://www.feverbee.com/the-online-community-lifecycle/

As you can see in the Inception and Establishment stages, the need to be on top of things, be involved is especially required. This is all required to boost engagement so that - eventually - your users are self-generating engaging content.

Let us know how your journey towards engagement works out!

Justoverclock

engagement is the key of success, as luceos says without people, content is irrilevant imho

BurnNoticeSpy

My thought process is that it depends on the mindset of the audience you are chasing.

You may be able to initially leverage minimal content through the establishment of a strong brand that user's can identify with. The pull of the brand in conjunction with some organic marketing, taking various forms of social media, friendship circles or even distributing flyers locally if that's your audience. Then give it enough time and word of mouth will help it grow.

The caveat to this is you need the right recipe for success.

Firstly you need to be passionate enough to be able to provide content that aligns with your brand's purpose, effectively seeding it, possibly under multiple identities.

Secondly your brand needs a strong visual identity and it should be meaningfully aligned to attract your audience, and your UI should probably be custom developed for a simple & personalised experience. If possible opt for a social media style layout to fill space and provide richer content. List format will be more difficult.

The above in conjunction with a friction-less path to contribute content may be effective.

At the end of the day there are many paths to succeed, and it depends on a lot of things.

But if you want your community to succeed, you must be bold and do what you have to do to make it work.

I want to hear counter arguments to this advice if anyone has one.

Sivoph

This is gold. I love the lifecycle chart and the words of wisdom. It's not enough to just have a great product or service....backed by solid or unique development. The final piece is looking at a website/forum as a business that needs to be nurtured, managed, and constantly evolving. With the user experience as a central focus.

I like the ideas of referrals and have heard of many start-up's achieving growth with this strategy. I like to look at what the user will gain -- be it information, monetary compensation, self-worth through personal growth, etc..

I grew up during the AOL chat/bulletin board days and have seen the trend move toward instant-gratification, swiping, and a toning-down of what I would deem as meaningful communication. I don't write the rules, I just have to follow them.

The question is--what really makes a user stop what they are doing in life and contribute their own time and effort to an endeavour? If we look at Flarum, for instance. The people are skilled and the product is great. It fills a need in the space and the brand is out there and well-known. So we have to ask ourselves....does our own website/forum do more than embellish our own ego's?

Some people say give the customers what they want, but that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, 'If I'd ask customers what they wanted, they would've told me a faster horse.' People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.

-Steve Jobs

luceos

Sivoph your standpoint in providing something that does not yet exist and ignoring market demand is quite extraordinary. I think building community takes a lot of effort, it takes perseverance and the ability to stand out, be unique. It also requires you to be consistent and keep branding, promoting yourself. This applies more so when you start from scratch and have no existing userbase to draw from.

You could compare it to being a content creator journey, a streamer I absolutely adore published a video on how to build a user base as a streamer. You can view this and apply it to building community and it would stay make sense:

I think the situation with Flarum doesn't really apply to other communities. We attract people because we build software, that's our avenue/intake for promotion. We aren't building community in a sense that it's our product, Flarum is, discuss acts purely as a way to dogfeed and to provide support 🙂

Sivoph

luceos

Enjoyed how he said that you gotta be different....unique....and pour boatloads of consistent work in. Reminds me of what Kobe Bryant said. Something along the lines of, "you are what you train everyday to be." This is a guy who studied the game, trained early in the morning while his teammates were recovering from partying.

BurnNoticeSpy

I broadly look at forums as archives of human knowledge. No matter what the topic or genre, people who connect with a particular subject will seek knowledge from more experienced members of that particular subject/industry.

These answers provide real value that is difficult to quantify unless you're in the user's particular situation. The knowledge a user receives could save them time, embarrassment, money etc. It could also build social status in the user's real life as they could be perceived as more capable and experienced than they actually are. It could give them confidence to take on bigger projects with the knowledge that they have a place to find answers/support consistently.

And the list could go on... but most importantly the cost of admission is Free. Specific advice from a qualified individuals usually costs money or is hard to find at the very least and a forum therefore offers a convenient alternative.

Say for example that i'm building a DIY home renovation forum. What impact could quality advice have on a member who wants to remodel their bathroom but has no experience? How does the user feel when they receive quality advice from a seasoned member giving them a starting point, an experienced perspective and possibly continued support? What happens if they succeed in the project?

The answer is they come back...again and again.

Another equally competing motivator is simply a feeling of inclusion in the form of community with the people who share the same passion or interest. Hence a strong visual identify for your brand can represent this situation and attract members like bees to the nectar.

Of course, you have to make your presence known otherwise you won't be considered. Consider this:

Why are flowers bright and colourful?

They are like advertisement signs for pollinators. In order for plants to entice pollinators, they must first offer their favorite foods: nectar and protein. Since most pollinators fly, the colors of a flower must attract them, therefore, the brighter the flower, the more likely it will be visited.