One recent morning I saw a post in one of my LinkedIN groups asking "what is the difference between a social media manager and an online community manager?" Social media managers bring the guests (clients, prospects) to the table and community managers welcome them in!" Ahh, but wait. MORE >>

Online community is like world peace – everyone thinks it is a good idea but it means something different to each person. Companies frequently encounter a core problem when planning an online community; the key stakeholders each hold different views of what the community will be like and what it will accomplish once it is launched. MORE >>

Many community manager positions advertised online ask for someone to help supervise and develop a newly launched community. In my opinion this is far too late to look at employing a community manager. They can be involved in seeding the community. Image by Compound Eye via Flickr. MORE >>

As tomorrow is an historic day – The Australian and other news.com sites move behind the paywall – what WILL we pay for, what SHOULD we pay for and what OTHER revenues streams are being missed by News.com refusal to build online communities around their content? Hence the development of a microcommunity The Future of Media. MORE >>

Talk about online communities is everywhere lately. This is good news to those of us who have been building online communities as the core of our profession for many years - sometimes quietly in the shadows of marketing. We community builders celebrate this market change and have high hopes for the future. MORE >>