MindComet

Wait…you don’t allow comments on your blog?

The word “community” is inextricably tied to social media. Facebook is a community of intertwined communities, as is Twitter. One of the most common social media related job functions is the “community manager”. Blogs too are considered communities, but in my opinion, only if they allow comments.

What is this you say Jeremy?

Yes, it’s my opinion that a blog that doesn’t allow comments is not a community. It might be a journal, perhaps a scholarly, professional or hobbyist one. It could be an online diary or maybe a magazine of sorts. It could be considered alot of things, but without comments, I don’t see it as a community.

Sense of Community

SOC is considered by many an essential component of any virtual community. Without SOC, a property is often called a virtual settlement.

SOC consists of the following four characteristics

Membership - Belonging to and identifying with the community
Influence - Feelings of having influence on and being influenced by the community
Integration and fulfillment of needs - Feelings of being supported in the community and being able to support others
Shared emotional connection - Feelings of relationships, shared experiences, and history

Comments are the glue that bind blog readers

Content is great; it’s the primary reason why we’re reading a blog. But that content is through the lense of the author. It’s their point-of-view. However without comments are some key questions/functions that can’t be accomplished to establish SOC.

• If don’t share the author’s point-of-view, how do I know if others share my feelings?
• If don’t share the author’s point-of-view, how do I make my argument in an attempt influence the author to accept my point-of-view?
• If I don’t understand a concept or their point-of-view, what am I to do? Who do I reach out to for help?
• How do I build relationships with other readers?

Do you agree or disagree with me? Can a blog with comments be considered a community?

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Jan. 25, 2010

Social Media is not a Panacea

Here’s what social media probably will not accomplish:

- Quadruple your web traffic in 2 months
- Be a sure fire way of owning the SERPs
- Make your brand a household name overnight
- Effectively eliminate your marketing budget by allowing you to ditch your other marketing channels

While social media is great, it requires a fair amount of planning, work, committment and support from other marketing channels to be successful.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Jan. 20, 2010

What is trust worth to a business?

It’s not a secret that MindComet uses Radian6 for social media monitoring. And being in the position that I’m in, Radian6’s competitors frequently solicit me in hope of winning MindComet’s business. Historically, I’ve obliged when offered to sit through a demo. I mean, what if I find a product that I like better than Radian6? What if there’s something that can do the same thing, but at a fraction of the cost?

I recently turned down a solicitation from a Radian6 competitor after coming to a realization about our social media monitoring tool vendor—I trust them.

While I don’t typically share emails on my blog, but I wanted to share this one (BTW, names have been changed to protect the innocent)

Dear FRED,

As far as cost, I get that your product is offered at 1/3 the price of Radian6, however, I refuse sacrifice trust in order to save a few dollars.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Jan. 05, 2010