Online Communities 101 – Weekly Educational Series Through University of Reddit

Have you ever wondered what an online community consists of, or what it takes to create one? Join our free online classes!

Online communities are being utilized by businesses, political offices, schools and individuals. These online communities are often formed around a single point of interest, but what motivates them to remain active and continue to grow? Much like social media, online communities have been labeled as a mythical beast that only those with the proper education and communications skills can wrangle and bend them to their will.

For this reason I have developed a free online course that will discuss the ins and outs of online communities. Through the University of Reddit (a place where dedicated professionals can host and share courses on any topic), I will be hosting seven sessions that breaks down the roles members play, monitoring and analytics, as well as hearing from those who currently manage online communities.

Though it has not been officially confirmed, reddit’s General Manager (previously Community Manager), Eric Martin (hueypriest) has shown interest in potentially discussing his thoughts on managing reddit. Additionally there may be some other guest speakers which will be announced later when confirmed.

University of Reddit class page

Related reddit post

Description

This course will highlight online communities from both the Community Manager and Community Architect perspectives. We will initially touch on the basics such as what the different roles are in an online community, how each type of member plays a vital role in the ecosystem, and the different methods and procedures a community manager can utilize to act as a proper role model. After the basics we will go into communication theory, specifically three computer-mediated theories that frequently apply to all members in the ecosystem, and a psychological theory that will assist in your understanding of what motivates an online community. Finally we will wrap things up with identifying how and when an individual, organization, etc. should create an online community, how to identify the right tools for the job, and digging into the self-sustaining online community ecosystem model that acts as a foundation for Community Architects.

Class Structure

Classes will run once per week, and each class will run for approximately 30 minutes with up to another 30 minutes for questions and answers. Depending upon the topic for that day it may run under the time limit, and leave room for an extended question and answer period. There may also be an occasional guest speaker brought in as they may be able to provide further insight on our topics.

1. Register for classes using Eventbrite (Return here for each session for the link)
2. To attend the class session go here: http://www.livestream.com/thejournalizer1
3. Class recaps will be posted on www.play-this.org at most 48 hours after the session

There are 7 sessions to this course (all live classes will be at 9 pm EST/ 7 pm PST):

Some sessions may include guest speakers – Past sessions link to recaps, new sessions link to registration pages.

Session 1 – Thursday, Jan. 5. Introduction to online communities

Session 2 – Thursday, Jan. 12 Navigating communities and Identifying tools

Session 3 – Thursday, Jan. 19 Community best practices and policy building

Session 4 – Thursday, Jan. 26** Insights from a Community Manager [Reddit's Erik Martin @hueypriest]

Session 5 – Thursday, Feb. 2 Monitoring, Tracking, and Analytics

Session 6 – Thursday, Feb. 9 Communication Theory

Session 7 – Thursday, Feb. 16** What Motivates an Online Community? [GovLoop's Lauren Modeen and GovDelivery's Joseph Porcelli]

**Marks sessions that may change dates, and may be set for different times to adjust to the guest speakers schedule.

*Marks a longer course that discusses everything from when and why you would create a new community, dealing with those who want to create one even if there is no need for it, and looking at the Online Community Self-Sustaining Ecosystem model.

- Thanks, and let me know if you have any questions.

Required Materials

Internet connection

Beer/Wine

About The Teacher

• Elliot S. Volkman – Age 26
• Bachelors Degree in Journalism and a Masters Degree in Communications.
• My published masters’ thesis “Identifying online communities as self-sustaining ecosystems for fulfilling members’ needs” discusses online communities, managing, and building them.
• I currently manage an online community of 32,000 + members.
• I have also been quoted in a few Mashable articles, am a writer for social media today, and frequently highlight the latest changes in the digital world on Play This Magazine.

Elliot’s e-mail:  elliot@elliotvolkman.com

Twitter: @TheJournalizer