Happy Friday, community people 🙌
We just got back from our annual family vacation to the Caribbean.
Despite the language barrier, our five year old daughter befriended a small gaggle of Argentinian girls during our stay.
It got me thinking about how these family resorts are like a microcosm of international relations playing out between parents.
It doesn’t matter where we’re from or what language we speak. We’re all watching each others’ kids. It’s a beautiful thing, and very much a community vibe.
P.S. Belated Happy Community Manager Appreciation Day!
The work we do takes on different forms depending on what kind of community we manage. Regardless of what industry we’re in, though, we all have one thing in common:
We bring people together.
I can’t overstate how important this is, given everything going on in the world right now. Connected groups, be they professional or personal, keep us going.
Two weeks ago I shared my definition of community:
A persistent, connected group of people who have something in common.
Then, the following weekend, I made a LinkedIn post suggesting that Community Management and Social Media Management aren’t all that different:
Pictured: Me grabbing the third rail on LinkedIn
My point was that, for consumer brands especially, genuine community activity happens across posts, comments, and DMs on social media platforms.
The brands who participate in this activity are doing community management, albeit differently from what we might do with a customer community running on Gainsight.
That line of thinking is what led me to my post.
Rosie Sherry put it best in her reply (as she tends to do):
“Social media is a tool that we can use.”
So let’s talk about that.
Community Management conversations tend to focus on managing centralized spaces like support forums and Slack teams. But those aren’t the only spaces where community members can come together.
Social media platforms are another shared space where community members show up, connect, and participate. This is especially true for decentralized fandoms. Fans find each other and interact with each other through social media. Their community anchors on the topic, not the channel.
As with any venue, we adapt our activities to suit the environment we’re in. How we adapt depends on the venue. We’re going to take a different approach in a Discord server vs a Zoom call vs an IRL meetup. The same goes for social.
A top-down vs bottoms-up strategy
A top-down social media strategy treats the brand as a broadcaster. It’s one-to-many, pushing content out to an audience. Everything is polished and optimized for the algo. This is what you’ll usually find on a brand’s social media profile.
Bottoms-up is is the brand interacting with what others share, responding where appropriate, and encouraging new contributions. It’s joining discussions and pulling other members into the conversations.
Effective Community Management on social requires a bit of both, IMO. You act as a catalyst by publishing brand content that prompts reactions and responses from your community members. You also pay attention to what others share, finding opportunities to thoughtfully respond and make connections.
Our opportunity is to do more “community things” through social media platforms
Consumer brands encourage UGC with hashtag campaigns. We can do more by collaborating on original community content with our members, creating things together, experimenting with different themes and formats together.
We can also facilitate connections by introducing members to each other through interviews, stories, and in-platform experiences. Remember: These platforms offer more utility than just passive doomscrolling. They’re also messaging apps with support for group and community chats.
And yes, please rock that “link in bio” to get people out of the feed and into the intentional spaces that you create elsewhere. Your community should have a definitive home for members. Social media is another way for them to find it.
Community Management can happen wherever our members are.
It comes down to what we’re doing with our members within those spaces, bu I understand where the criticism comes from, so I’m revising my premise from LinkedIn:
Social Media Management can be Community Management, if that’s how you’re using social media.
Thanks to everyone who dropped a comment on my original post. Y’all gave me something to chew on while laying on the beach. 🏖️
That’s it for me this week. Have a great weekend - I’ll see you on the other side!
Sunset in Bayahibe
Social media platforms are like venues