Category: social media

  • The Future of Online Communities – Insights from the Online Community Unconference 2025

    The Future of Online Communities – Insights from the Online Community Unconference 2025

    The Online Community Unconference 2025 made one thing clear: the need for meaningful connection has never been greater, but the challenges of fostering it have never been more complex. This post explores the key insights from the event—where community leadership is evolving, where it’s stuck, and what we must do next.

  • Online Community Unconference 2025

    Online Community Unconference 2025

    The Online Community Unconference (OCU) is returning to San Francisco on January 8th. Join me, Carrie Melissa Jones, and Susan Tenby for a full day of in-person collaboration with 100 experienced and engaged community leaders. At the Online Community Unconference you will: All while having a great time experiencing the in-person community of community leaders.…

  • Customer Communities Are Critical For Business Transformation

    The last few years have seen big brands make extraordinary investments in developing massive “digital transformation” and social media programs. On one hand, these programs have yielded moments of customer connection, advocacy and insight. Unfortunately, for the majority of programs reliant on mass social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, organic reach has dropped effectively to 0 and companies are now forced to…

  • Aligning Your Enterprise Community Strategy With Your Customer’s Career Journey

    Aligning Your Enterprise Community Strategy With Your Customer’s Career Journey

    Use these three contexts to help create a bigger and better future for your company’s community.

  • AI Use Cases For Communities & Networks

    AI Use Cases For Communities & Networks

    For business leaders shaping online community strategy, AI holds promise to help solve two of the biggest challenges with online communities: 1) Quantifying the value of community investment and delivering timely and actionable insight and 2) Managing large networks of relationships at scale.  

  • Announcing the C3/A3 Project: The Connected Future of Communities, AI & Automation

    Announcing the C3/A3 Project: The Connected Future of Communities, AI & Automation

    A new set of technologies is emerging to augment human cognition (AI), enhance human agency (Agents) and shape digital experiences and outcomes by taking advantage of a rich set of tools and APIs (Automation). We see these three technological forces (AI, Agents and Automation) as the next immediate wave of disruption in digital experience, and…

  • The Customer Community

    Image © Leigh Prather The last few years have seen big brands make extraordinary investments in developing massive “digital transformation” and social media programs. On one hand, these programs have yielded moments of customer connection, advocacy and insight. Unfortunately, for the majority of programs reliant on mass social platforms like facebook and twitter, organic reach has dropped effectively to 0 and companies…

  • To Develop a Community, Think Network First

    We need a new and more holistic approach to develop modern communities. Using network as a blank canvas allows you to create strategy from drawing from the largest possible pool of value. Thinking “Network” means you are considering the full set of relationships among stakeholders, assets, and increasingly, artificial intelligence actors that could potentially be…

  • Purpose Will Power Future Online Communities

    Purpose “…people’s identification of, and intention to pursue, particular highly valued, overarching life goals.” (Steger & Dik, 2010). a.k.a. “Your reason for getting up in the morning.” Bryan Dik PhD – Professor of Psychology at Colorado State & Cofounder of Jobzology The Fine Line Between Engagement & Manipulation Growthhacking, gamification, content snacks and personalization. Your feed…

  • Develop Your Networked Business Pilot in Less Than an Hour: Worksheet

    Develop Your Networked Business Pilot in Less Than an Hour: Worksheet

    Many organizations are struggling to understand and respond to the changes being driven by the Collaborative (some say On Demand or Sharing) Economy. A simple way to get started is to think about 1) what assets you have to offer and 2) how digital networks enable distribution, usage of and collaboration with those assets. This process is…