Common Sense Media Survey - What teens *actually* do online

My weekly portion of undue alarm arrived a few days ago, in the form of the figures from the Common Sense Media, whose survey revealed an almost comic gap between what parents think their teens do online, and what those teens actually do.

• 22% of teens check social networking sites more than 10 times a day, but only 4% of parents realize that
  
• 51% of teens check social networking sites more than once a day, but only 23% of parents know it


• 28% have shared personal information that they normally wouldn't have shared in public.


• 39% have posted something they regretted

I am the kind of parent who shuttles dizzyingly between 'recklessly laid-back' and 'pathologically over-protective', depending on the headlines in any given week. But before I could dismantle the laptop and reconfigure it using a stair-gate and some childproof bottle-caps, their father reminded me that our eldest is only Nearly-Eight and the other can't yet read, and so we have a little time to perfect our teen social media strategy.

This allowed me useful space to reflect that, while the survey is a timely reminder, the fact that children sometimes give their parents an edited version of the truth should not be news to us. It's a childhood reflex - fostered by relentless parental questioning and nurtured by the realization that the truth can occasionally have adverse outcomes of a pocket-money nature.

Sometimes it's deliberate, but sometimes they just - well, perceive things differently. On Monday, for example, Nearly-Four claimed with heart-breaking conviction that the broken picture frame on the floor had jumped off the wall, magnetically attracted to her person as she walked past it at a moderate pace. Predictably, the impasse was resolved by me apologizing for having questioned her integrity.

My point is this: it is in the nature of children to be flexible in respect of the facts - especially as they begin testing themselves, their identities, and their independence. Some of the time this is relatively harmless, sometimes it isn't - but it always needs to be factored in to our parenting plans. We simply can't assume that we're going to know what our kids are doing online.

What we can do is to encourage them towards web destinations which show us that they value our kids safety as much as we do. We can teach our kids the skills to keep themselves safe, as soon as we can - well before they progress to unmoderated social networks. And - as the survey usefully reminded us - we can help them understand that other people's feelings are as important as their own, and that pretending to be someone else online, as 26% have done, is really not okay.

After that, we have to trust them. And to put things into perspective, Common Sense Media's survey also threw up an unexpected and extremely cheering statistic - 54% have joined an online community or Facebook/MySpace group in support of a cause, and 34% have volunteered for a campaign, non-profit, or charity online. So we must be doing something right.

Kate Williams, eModeration Research Consultant

Photo credited to danielfoster437 on Flickr

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The Estavillo vs Sony case - real rights in a virtual world?

The virtual world community was sucking its collective teeth last week, when it emerged that Sony was being sued for allegedly violating the right to free speech of Erik Estavillo, a 29-year-old gamer who suffers from agoraphobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mr Estavillo alleges that Sony violated his free speech rights when it banned him first from Resistance: Fall of Man, and then from the entire PlayStationNetwork, for what he calls 'trash-talking'.

He's claiming $55,000 damages to cover both the alleged First Amendment violation, and the pain and suffering that he says Sony caused to 'an already disabled plaintiff'. The full story's here at The Escapist.

So far, so frivolous. Not, of course, because Mr Estavillo cites his disabilities: Target made a $6m settlement with the National Federation of the Blind late last year, over the inaccessibility of their site to visually impaired customers. No, rather because First Amendment rights famously don't pertain on private property.

But Annie Lin, in a closer look on Venturebeat, asks "Do you have the right to socialize online?" She notes that if he can persuade the court that PSN qualifies as a 'public forum' - using a legal exception which protects free speech in 'company towns' - Estavillo might be in with a chance.

Annie concludes that how the court views this particular aspect of the suit "will pose interesting and important constitutional implications for products such as Second Life and Facebook, as well as other MMOGs with in-game communities like World of Warcraft, Everquest and EVE Online."

The Sony case is also remarkable for its rarity - despite the massive expansion of the area, there have been relatively few cases in which a gamer sues a virtual world, MMOG or similar. Perhaps the closest parallel is Marc Bragg’s suit against Second Life, in which Bragg claimed that Linden stole his virtual property when they terminated his account.

Generally though, inter-corporate cases are far more frequent. Most cases in the last year or so have been disputes concerning bots, trademarks, and patents – with the occasional allegation of phony blackmail to shake things up.

So unsurprisingly, the Sony-Estavillo case has hit the headlines in the gamer community - partly for its rarity, but also because it taps a widely-held dislike of the kind of behaviours which get a gamer locked out after three prior warnings.

In the many forum threads which discuss the case, it is hard to find a single comment which supports Mr Estavillo in the sea of negative posts - with many commenters making the ‘shoulda read the EULA, huh?’ point.

So it’s worth keeping an eye on the progress of the case. But it's also worth remembering that the vast majority of users actively demand a safe, fair, unthreatening entertainment environment, and are pretty supportive of attempts to provide it.

And, in a week in which Kzero reports that membership of virtual worlds grew by 39% in the second quarter of 2009 to an estimated 579 million, it's clear that getting that bit right could pay dividends.

Kate Williams, eModeration Research Consultant

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When Words are All We Have ...

When I first joined eModeration to work for the first time in what is now called a ‘distributed team’, I was gently advised to be very cautious about my use of email and IM to my new colleagues: people who I may never meet face to face or even talk to on the phone. It was good advice: text is a powerful tool, and it’s frighteningly easy to be misunderstood or misunderstand.

Recently I’ve been reading the words of the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Nichols, in conjunction with one of my favourite social media players, Jake McKee in his recent post 9 Tips for Inspired (and Inspiring) Text Communication in his blog Community Guy.

The Archbishop said that relationships are already being weakened by the decline in face-to-face meetings and conversations over the phone.

"I think there's a worry that an excessive use or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we're losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together and building a community.
"We're losing social skills, the human interaction skills, how to read a person's mood, to read their body language, how to be patient until the moment is right to make or press a point. Too much exclusive use of electronic information dehumanises what is a very, very important part of community life and living together."

I don’t suppose for a moment that Jake intended to be juxtaposed with the Archbishop, and I guess he wouldn’t have, bar for their proximity in my inbox. But they are both touching on the same point: how can we try to convey our exact meaning, deprived of the other key communicators of voice and body?

Jake’s excellent advice (originally written for Online Community Research Network) is aimed at community managers, but I’d suggest it’s worth reading for anyone at all whose chief means of communication with friends, remote co-workers or those they wish to influence, is primarily by the written word.

His nine pointers cover such topics as how to draft, draft and then re-draft to capture your enthusiasm for something without it sounding like a fourteen-year-old’s diary entry (my words, not his!), how to respond to criticism in a way you can later be proud of, why you should include the context within which you’re writing, and letting just the right amount of personality show through to let your readers know you’re a person, not a company.

Speaking – or rather writing - as one who spends a completely disproportionate amount of time worrying over whether a smiley is or is not appropriate in each instance, if I should say goodbye when an IM seems to have finished (or if that will just string it out to a series of annoying bleeps for someone who is trying to maintain four IM conversations at once), and pressing 'send' then realising I'm probably just sounded rude, over-enthusiastic, impatient or plain ignorant, I’m very grateful to have some ground rules finally written. And in case you’re wondering about the IM thing, the answer from Jake is yes, say goodbye: it’s rude not to.

Do take a look at Jake’s advice here. Bye!

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How to Engage Your Community - an interview with Angela Connor

We’ve previously talked about community management in two previous posts here: Pitfalls of Community Management, and Best Practice in Starting Up Your Online Community.

This, the third in the series, will focus on how to create a community that engages and builds loyalty with users. To do this, we’ve invited Angela Connor, one of the leading online community strategists and author of the book 18 Rules of Community Engagement (reviewed here), to talk to us about how to engage users within a community.

Angela Connor is Managing Editor of User-Generated Content at WRAL.com, where she has built her online community GOLO from zero to 11,000 members in just eighteen months. She also writes on social media issues on her blog Online Community Strategist and is @communitygirl on Twitter.

You say in your book that just providing the forum for people to start their own community is not enough (and of course we agree with that!). In your experience, what are the main things brands have to do to create a successful community (as well as reading your book!)?

"First and foremost a community must be nurtured. When you launch a community you must commit to it and provide ample resources for growth. It is a major undertaking and that is a fact that should not be underestimated. Can you think of any situation where an organization would launch a major product and let it go unsupervised? Why then do so many feel as though they can launch a community and leave it to its own devices to grow organically? Community is essentially a new product and should be treated as such. At the very least a community deserves a product manager or someone who is personally responsible for its success. Someone has to own it. If there is no real ownership, success is out of the question. "

What defines a successful community in your view?

"There are many levels of success, and that often depends on goals and objectives, but I will tell you a little story to illustrate my personal thoughts on success: There was a blog posted by the wife of a very popular, widely-known community member just today indicating that he had a heart-attack over the weekend. This member has been with the community I manage from the beginning and he is probably our oldest and wisest. He’s a retired lawyer who teaches Constitutional Law and is always up for a good debate. His wife, however, does not belong to the community and had never posted before today. He told her from his hospital bed to log in and post a blog letting the GOLO community know what had happened to him and that he was on the mend. Knowing how much the community means to him, she obliged. She identified herself as his wife, gave a few details about what happened and thanked everyone for providing something so important to her husband’s life that he would make her do this on his behalf. The kind wishes came in droves. That is just one example of my idea of success. A community is successful when people actually care deeply about the well-being of others even though they may have never met."

How should brands plan their community development and what kind of resources should they allocate? Is this something they should lead in-house, or should they ask for outside help?

"There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer for this. I think it largely depends on your internal talent pool, and how much time can be allocated for community development. I don’t believe that it's something you just add to the plate of an employee who already has a full-time job within the organization. This is increasingly becoming a field of specific expertise. There are people in the trenches, who have experience developing and growing communities, and if those people are available I would encourage any brand that is new to community to seek advice from those who have been there, done that. "

How can brands define the culture of a community? And how do they decide who to target (and who not to target)?

"I don’t necessarily believe that brands define community culture. The culture of a community develops from its members and how they relate and interact within the community. To the extent that culture can be defined, it’s important to establish guidelines, set expectations and lead by example. But beyond that, the culture develops on its own, and that’s a good thing. That makes it authentic. In terms of targeting, that’s where those important goals and objectives come into play. You must have goals going in. Community should not be an afterthought and neither should your target audience. Let's keep in mind that you will often get the answers to the questions you seek, once the community begins to develop. It’s like an ongoing focus group. That is why it's very important to have someone within the company (or contractor) with a finger on the pulse of the community. "

What should they do if they see the community moving in a direction they don’t feel comfortable with?

"Step in. This is where a community manager is crucial. I have often had to step in and remind people of our guidelines and purpose. It helps when there is an authority figure within the community who is respected. Reiterate your goals to the community. Perhaps members are not sure of your mission. Maybe you've never made it quite clear. Take a look inside before pointing outward."

How should a community manager cope with negative comments?

"This is certainly an area where I’ve had a lot of practice! The first thing to do is take a deep breath. We must evaluate the comments and look at them as an opportunity to educate or turn a situation completely around. Oftentimes, there is an underlying issue or concern with these comments and learning how to get to the root is what helps you find solutions. A community manager without a thick skin is like a football player without a helmet."

And how can they spot and reward those community members that make a positive contribution?

"The only way to spot these contributions is by being present within the community. I believe in publicly acknowledging good work. You can never give members too much praise. Remember that. By encouraging an environment of gratitude, you will find that others follow suit and give praise to those who contribute great content. Ask for more. Keep making it worth their while. They have to know how much they are valued and appreciated. This requires a great deal of work but it has the biggest payoff."

Can you give us some examples of positive things you’ve done that have worked well in creating an engaged user group?

"I conduct member profiles where I spend time interviewing a member and then post the content of the interview prominently on the home page. Those profiles are wildly popular and have become quite a status symbol. I spend time actively commenting on content created by our members. I share my own stories, to get others to open up on touchy subjects. I hold impromptu contests that may only be open for an hour. I look for experts in areas of interest to the community and invite them to participate in live chats. One example of that was a chat with two financial planners once I noticed that many members were losing their jobs and fretting over their future. That’s just scratching the surface: I try something new almost weekly. I keep what sticks and discard or tweak what doesn't."

And any bad examples you’ve seen out there?

"The worse things I see in communities are forums with no comments, no new members and no clear presence of anyone from within the organization. I won't knock anyone’s attempt at engagement – oh, actually, I have to take that back. I absolutely detest blatant marketing in communities. You know, when a brand acts as though they want to engage but they really want to push their own agenda. That is unacceptable and counterintuitive to the mission."

One of the issues brands raise sometimes is what to do if the community gets too big to control. Do you have any advice on this?

"Well, I will in about six months! I’m currently dealing with this very issue. My community has grown exponentially and the staffing has not increased. One of my current struggles is maintaining the level of interaction that I've created and continuing to reach new members. Here's one piece of advice I can offer though, something I've done which seems to work wonders. Solicit others who are genuinely passionate about the community to greet newcomers and familiarize them with the community. What I have found is that long-time members can sometimes be your best advocates: they've been around and understand the culture and dynamics of the community. That has been a great help to me. I also formed a small group that I can approach with new ideas and to get inside information of what's happening deeply within the community trenches that I may not be aware of. Form alliances with members who value the community and want to see it succeed."

Do you have any advice for the brand manager who’s been tasked with building a community but is having trouble selling the idea internally?

"Sometimes you have to show and tell. I'd say gather some of the success stories and share the details with the powers that be. Also, show them what can happen when you don't build community. If that fails, they can always call me and we can brainstorm a strategy to scare them to death ...
No seriously, the best thing to do, as I said, is provide examples of how it can work. Show them that there are people talking about the company and the brand regardless and that it only makes sense to join the conversation and potentially lead it wherever possible."

Many thanks to Angela for talking to us, and we hope that this has been valuable - if you have any questions for Angela, or on any other aspects of commnunity engagement, please feel free to post them in the comments here.

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