people change

People ChangeOn communities and other third places

Clo Willaerts, 12 Feb 2009, Brussels

Clo Willaerts?

Sanoma Magazines Belgium

http://www.bnox.be

@bnox on Twitter

brusselsgirlgeekdinner.be

The third place

1st place: the home

2nd place: the workplace

3rd place: informal meeting places

Hallmarks of a true "third place"

free or inexpensive

food and drink, while not essential, are important

highly accessible: proximate for many (walking distance)

involve regulars – those who habitually congregate there; welcoming and comfortable; both new friends and old should be found there.

1985: The WellOne of the oldest virtual communities in continuous operation

Zappybaby.be

an online community for young parents:

pregnancy -> 3yrs old

mix of User Generated and editorial content

Content: the 1% rule (but that’s ok)

Strong communitiesCohesion and interactivity

Communities don’t look like this

They look like this.

Source: http://www.mattjmcd.com/2009/02/what-community-looks-like/

The baby conspiracy 1/2

The baby conspiracy 2/2

So what changed?

The internet is not a series of tubes

It’s a decentralised publishing model

Web 2.0: The egosphere

The echo chamber

Embedded publishing

Where do consumers search for information

social media websites

the real reason: natural search results

search engine bots like social media! better!

Humo blogs

Flair blogs

1999: Cluetrain Manifesto•http://www.cluetrain.com/ •Markets are conversations and the Internet is a facilitator of one of the grandest, most global of those conversations.

• “Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.”

Find the online waterholesGo where your consumers are

Hang out and listen

1. Humo page: 24,930 fans

2. Flair page: 11,274 fans

Humo “freedom” group

Twitter: BE

issues:

updates

following / followers

influence / authority

conversations

http://twitterfacts.blogspot.com/search/label/Belgium

Twitter

Thank you

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