Publishers are scratching at this right now: how do we turn our publications into communities? In the magazine world, FastCompany swapped their magazine site out for a social network with a magazine stuck in there between the member content. Last year’s Gnomedex conference used IntroNetworks to power people-to-people connectivity before the event started. Webkins knows it’s not about the cloth or the stuffing. But they’re just the start. There are too many obvious community business plays laying on the table waiting to happen. Why?
Here are some community options for some organizations not yet doing such:
Hotel Social Networks
Forget loyalty programs and miles. Imagine a program where business types can opt in to expose that they’re staying at a particular hotel, and that they’re amenable to meetings about product pitches, but not job offers, and for the next four days. The upside? I’d pay EXTRA to go where the business opportunities would make it worth it.
Fear Factor: stalkers and other liabilities. This can’t be too hard to solve, can it?
Harry Potter
They’ve merchandised the hell out of the books, everything from pretend wands to real jelly beans, and they’ve got a massively multiplayer videogame in the works (or did they launch it?), but what’s missing is a place where fans of the books and movies can get together, talk about them, create their own fan fictions and mashups, and otherwise sit there in a barrel to be hit with opportunities that would work best for them.
Fear Factor: kids in the mix means different privacy laws, so, stalkers/predators are part of it again.
The NFL (or Your Sports Industry Here)
During this past year’s SuperBowl, I was at a local cinema pub watching my team melt down on a 40 foot wide screen in a room full of people. I’m a casual attendee, but sports fans are crazy passionate. Where there’s passion, there’s an opportunity for a community play in social networking. Why not some kind of site to share videos, pictures, audio, and more? It’s obvious the difference in quality between what an NFL fan will produce and what a huge organization dedicated to the best crafted sports media can whip up. Allow for profiles, for chats, and maybe even for on-NFL-site fantasy football, an opportunity you want anyway, and haven’t figured out how to approach.
Fear Factor: my only guess here is copyright and other legal stuff.
Trade or Non-Profit Associations
Most trade association websites are brochureware from the 1990s. They have a home page, an about page, a contact page, a calendar, and maybe one more wild card page. Here are situations where you’ve got hundreds and/or thousands of members and prospective members who might also find value in connecting to each other, as well as to you. Make it easier. Build a space for connecting side-by-side as well as the part of your site just giving out information.
Fear Factor: I don’t think there is a fear factor, unless it’s just fear of cost to upgrade their sites.
Any Where You Have a Population of Like-Minded People
There are community plays inherent in most every situation where you’ve got tons and tons of motivated customers waiting to be converted into even more valuable community members. I could keep naming them, but the above are some examples that should get your head moving. In all cases, I provided a fear factor that might keep people from executing. You may or may not agree with me that these are the reasons why people wouldn’t execute a community play. But if you disagree, you’ll have to share what else might be holding them down.
Whatever the case, I think there are opportunities not yet being explored. What do YOU think?
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The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.
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Photo credit, Sarimeh