Growing a community on the web

I HAVE been chatting recently to a few people about how the changes in the way people use the internet will change the way websites are built.

In days gone by the public used to be sat at the bottom of a funnel and the news media would sift through press releases, make calls and cover a patch before passing it down to us, the readers at the bottom.

Naturally this gave news media great control over what we read and for many years this ensured newspapers and TV held all the cards, and off this they charged companies to advertise to this captive audience.

All very obvious and clear to see.

Today that balance has changed and it has been led by the ease in which people can produce their own websites and information, but more importantly the ease in which their audience can keep up to date with what’s been written and become involved.

Using blogging software anyone can produce articles and pass comment about events in their sphere and through the power of RSS keep their audience in the loop.

For me RSS is the key element to have come out of the increased popularity of using blogs, because it gives the reader the chance to decide what they want to read, when they want.

And RSS is so simple to use as all it involves is a simple yes or no decision and over the next few years will be used by more and more people.

The funnel mentioned above has now been flipped, with the audience at the top and the news media rubbing shoulders with forward thinking businesses, individuals and forums that produce RSS feeds.

The audience now draws up what it wants to see and read so it is important that websites make it easy for readers to do this, if you don’t people will go to those who do.

Gone are the days when I had to rely upon the wine correspondent in the newspaper to point me to what I should be drinking, or whose web page I had to bookmark and remember to check to see if it had been updated.

Today there are more informed and easier to access websites out there that I can choose to stay in touch with.

And it is this element of keeping in touch that any website today should be looking to do by not only providing as many ways as possible for the audience to keep up with what the site is doing, but also looking to develop ways for the audience to keep in touch with each other by providing the tools and standing back.

Marrying together blogs, forums and RSS feeds will allow a community to develop on a site that makes decisions, and grows, thanks to the people taking part.

Comments

[Anthony Page]

Nice article Craig. I think the key behind the success of RSS is how user friendly it can become.

Even though it is simple to a web savvy person I think the ordinary web surfer still fails to understand what it really is.

Once this is overcome then it will change the web for sure.

[Sheelagh Caygill]

Hi Craig,
A good piece. One of the things that stands out for me and a lot of others in this fundamental shift is that a lot of blogs aren't just personal opinion, but they share important and relevant information in a positive sense. I'm meeting more and more people who are switching off from the mainstream media because it's "negative", to use their word. Blogs can be successful for may reasons, one of which is that their content can be positive and useful to community groups.
Regards, Sheelagh