How to handle a crowd : the art of creating healthy and dynamic online communities
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-224) and index.

"Today's digital experience is primarily driven by powerful online communities. Social media networks have gained enormous power over our online experience, partly by harnessing our desire to connect and share with each other. But successful, intentionalcommunities are incredibly difficult to build and get right, as media organizations often discover when they attempt to create their own. Anika Gupta has helped develop community products for media companies in both the United States and India, across boundaries of language and culture. She's seen firsthand the challenges inherent in trying to engineer something that should feel organic, and the difficulties traditional media companies face in leveraging participatory online culture. How, then, to bridgethis gap? One answer is moderators. Good moderators set shared goals for community members, invest in long-term relationships, and thoughtfully craft discussion norms. In her research, Anika has found that moderators are drawn to the work because they love interacting and sharing with others - exactly what the best communities run on. In How to Handle a Crowd, she looks at a range of examples -- from Reddit to your local mommy board -- for the dos and don'ts of building better cultures. Whether it's diffusing tensions, attracting new members or encouraging shared action, these lessons will be invaluable for anyone charged with running a community - whether for money, for fun, or for the greater good"--,Provided by publisher.