FreshNetworks Blog

We’ve already looked at the insight you can get from profile data and focused discussion in online communities. For the third in our series of how to get insight from online communities we are going to look not at what people say, but how they say it.

Communities drive discussions, be those the organic discussions that will begin between members, or discussions prompted by questions, content or other stimulus from the community manager. There is a lot that we can learn about the community members from how they respond in these discussions. What they say, the ideas they give and the opinions they express. But often overlooked is to examine the language they use.

There is a great value to seeing and  understanding the language people use when talking to each other about issues, products and brands. Organisations often have no clear idea of the language people use, the words they choose and the way they discuss their product or talk about an issue. It is difficult and has traditionally been hard to really see how a mass of people discuss and talk about what you do. With online communities you get a real spotlight into this, not only the language people choose but how they talk about and describe things to each other.

Observing and understanding this can be really valuable. One of our clients at FreshNetworks was able to identify significant problems in it’s marketing by watching how people discussed their needs and the different products in an online community. When none of the language they used was chosen by community members we saw that there must be a problem, asked the members why they hadn’t used this language and then realigned the client’s marketing message using the language that customers were using. In this case the real insight from the online community was not so much what was said, but how it was said.

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Some more reading

• Five ways to use an online research community in 2009
• Crowdsourcing – does the customer know best?
• What Can Small Business Owners Learn From Obama

Yesterday we wrote about how to maximise the insight gained from profiling data in online communities. For the second in our series on how to get insight from online communities, we’re looking at how to make the most of the core of most online communities – discussions and forums.

Most communities have some form of discussion area. This may be in a traditional forum, or may be focused on media, features or other pieces of content. But the basic concept of allowing community members to discuss, debate and share ideas is a critical part of an online community. These are the spaces in which people will probably spend the most time in any online community they join and are the parts that get most involvement early on. It’s easy to see how and where to contribute and  existing discussions encourage people to add their point of view.

Whilst it’s great to allow discussions to grow and develop depending on the interests of the community members, it’s important not to overlook the power of this simple tool for insight. Many brands and organisations enjoy being able to watch how people discuss things. What their opinions are and how they express them. What language they use and what they choose to discuss. How they interact with other members and how they discuss things with each other. Forums and discussions can offer a vibrant source of insight and with a little bit of focus can be even more valuable.

To gain maximum insight from discussions and forums it is best to build them as part of a larger research process and series of activities, something that an online research community is ideal for. However, any online community can make the most of its forums and discussions from an insight perspective. It’s about how you frame and focus the discussions that go on and the four points below will help maximise the insight benefits you get:

1. Keep your discussions focused at first and build them round issues that are of specific interest to your brand or organisation. Community members find it easier to join conversations if it is obvious where they can add their opinions and so focusing on the issues of most interest to you will help them take part and help you gain insights where they are needed most.
2. Provide a space for people to discuss any other issues, and mark it specifically as such (one of our communities has a ‘Juice Bar’ specifically for this). We don’t want to discourage people who want to participate and can gain a lot from knowing what people what to discuss organically. Sometimes the best insights come in areas you couldn’t predict.
3. Make sure the brand or organisation responds to people in the forum. The best insights often come when you iterate ideas with community members. They suggest something and you tell them what your reaction is. They then respond, and it is this response which starts to yield real depth of insight you wouldn’t have got otherwise.
4. Think of ways you can use discussions for innovation or co-creation. Thinking of a new product? Start a discussion about your ideas and see what the reaction is.

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Some more reading

• Five ways to use an online research community in 2009
• Why Facebook really can’t be your online research community
• Business media: trends for 2009
• Ted Mininni: Is Some of Nike’s Current Success Due to Its ‘Running’ Social Network?
• Blogging 101

The Economist Debate Series is in full swing. The latest debate is centred on the proposition that “The competitiveness of today’s rich countries is in permanent decline”. The rules are familiar to anybody who’s seen debates before. Somebody is arguing for the proposition and somebody against. And those viewing the debate can vote. But this Economist debate is online.

The online debate series uses a simple online community functionality:

• the debate has a moderator and a individual commentators or experts who are for and against the motion. Their arguments are put to the debate when the community is launched
• individual readers can access the community site, read the arguments and vote for or against the motion. They are asked to post their comments and reasons with their vote
• the experts return twice more – each time a few days apart. They respond to the other expert’s comments and to the comments of the community members who have voted
• community members can change their vote during the period of the debate, either because their opinions change or develop, or because they are convinced by the developing arguments
• the debate closes after ten days and the winner announced

I love these Economist debates. They are a great example of one of the real benefits of online communities – they allow real and true reflection on your opinions. Rather than just getting to vote once, or getting just a couple of hours to consider a complex issue, people get ten days and can read arguments multiple times. They get to comment and have their comments responded to. They are entering into a real and reasoned exchange.

We find in our online research communities that people give better depth of response and more reasoned reactions when they have time to think about and consider issues, and to read and re-read any inputs or arguments. The Economist debates allow this and I think reading through the comments from community members that you can really see the benefit that comes from this time and reasoned comment.

Overall this kind of online debate programme probably generates more reasoned comment than its offline counterpart. As such it is a great example of where online communities can enhance the previous offline experience.

Some more reading

• The Economist’s Oxford 2.0 Debates
• The Economist’s Open Online Debate on Education & Technology