I just finished reading an essay by Clay Shirky titled ‘A Group is its own Worst Enemy‘ on community and social software and it’s one of the clearest analyses of some of the factors inherent in online communities. This was based on a talk given in 2003 and I’m going to try and summarize it here because it’s a fantastic piece which anyone interested in community online should read and understand. I came across the article in the Best Software Writings Vol I, another great read. (I’m actually disappointed in myself for only discovering this article now, but better late than never.)
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel
From Clay’s perspective, social software is not a new creation, it has existed for over 40 years. Mailing list software, BBS-systems, Usenet were all forms of social software. Some of the learnings from those days, are just as applicable today.
Patterns of Group Interaction
The items in this section are a synthesis of a book called ‘Experiences in Groups’ by W.R. Bion which was written in the mid-1900s.
Bion identified three patterns:
- Sex Talk - This present, usually as innuendo in any group and “is in scope.”
- Identification and Vilification of External Enemies
- Veneration - The nomination and worship of a religious icon or tenets. For example, in a Tolkien group, anyone criticizing the Two Towers would be shot to pieces.
We saw all of these to varying degrees at Judy’s Book and they were present on any mailing list I’ve ever been on.
Groups Need Structure
Groups that are founded on open principles tend to break down as they grow because invetiably, people join the system who aren’t interested in the original goals. As a result, there needs to be a way to enforce the goals of the group and stamp out bad behavior.
He quotes Geoff Cohen:
“The likelihood that any unmoderated group will eventually get into a flame-war about whether or not to have a moderator approaches one as time increases.”
We saw this in spades at Judy’s Book as the size of our community grew. Initially, we had expected to be able to let the community regulate itself completely, but over time we realized we had to step in to set up a structure within the community and to take steps to remove bad actors from the system.
Three Conclusions
Clay drew three conclusions that make a ton of sense:
- You can’t separate social froms technical issues. Different groups running on the same technology exhibit very different characteristics. It’s the people that define the culture. A group is more likely to be destroyed by people logging in and posting rather than by people trying to flood servers.
- The group within the group is what counts. He says it better than I do, so I’ll quote him.
“…In all successful online communities I’ve looked at, a core group arises that cares about the community as a whole…and takes care of the social environment by encouraging good behavior and discouraging bad behavior.”
- The rights of the group trump the rights of the individual. It’s not a democracy. This is necessary to preserve the original intent of the group.
Our Experience at Judy’s Book
We saw all of the elements described by Clay in his essay at Judy’s Book as our, community evolved. Initially we had a completely flat community that was tightly focused around reviews. As it grew, new entrants weren’t committed to the same goals and we ended up having a lot of discussions that had nothing to do with reviews of businesses. We then began getting calls from members to step in to moderate the discussion. In retrospect, we should have moved on that earlier. We also created the City Editor program to highlight members who’s interests aligned with the core goals of the community. It was a bumpy road at times, but I think we got to a good place in the end.
It’s the people (duh!)
Ultimately, it’s people not technology that drive communities and we would do well to remember that as we think about the sites and products we are building. Also, there’s been a wealth of writing on human interaction and as technologists, we have to remind ourselves that the human dimension is critical.
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