PowerPointpresentatie

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Lurkers in Online Communities
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• Main Source
• Tim Pickles
• tpickles_at_sift.co.uk
• Sift Best Practice Director

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Lurkers?

• 1980s BBS gt accessed by a single phone line gt
  expectation everybody contributes
• Dictionary
• lying in wait, often with malicious intent.
• Users which stay inactive
• Lurkers gt viewed negatively might be barred
  from access by the sysop
• Various synonyms gt
• Salmon browser
• McDonald legitimate peripheral participant
• Williams ROPs -Read Only Participants
• Lee vicarious learner
• asynchronous groups have lurking rates around 75

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Lurkers definitions

• No messages sent during a three month period
  (Nonnecke, 2000)
• regular visits to the community but reticence or
  very seldom posting (Rafaeli et al)
• a persistent but silent audience (Rafaeli et
  al)
• members who had never posted in a community at
  any time. (Nonnecke et al)
• one who posts occasionally or not at all but is
  known to read the groups postings regularly
  (Jargon Dictionary in Nonnecke Preece)
• someone initially reluctant to commit themselves
  fully to public participation in conferencing
  (Salmon)
• peripheral participation, done until a topic of
  interest is spotted (Whittaker in Rafaeli)
• In common gt Level of participation

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Lurkers vs active members

• Preece
• two groups very similar
• lurking was not higher among a particular age
  group, sex, education level or dependent on
  employment status.
• posters and lurkers go online for similar reasons
• to improve their understanding of a topic
• both value privacy and security.
• Characterises of a lurker? (Katz)
• are less hostile than posters
• are more tolerant to open discussion
• are technically sophisticated
• are uncomfortable with language that demonstrates
  disrespect and/or hostility
• feel alone in their opinions and feel isolated.

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Communities as icebergs
There is far more to OC than users/managers can
see
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Leaders
Lieutenantsregularly active
Leavers
Libellers Trolls etc
Lobbyists Self-promotion
Loners, potential OC audience
Learners
Lurkers
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Numbers of
Community members
Support required (no big attention for lurkers)
Lurkers
Learners
Leaders
Lieutenants
Level of involvement
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Why participation is important

• Within commercial sites, community members
  account for one-third of all users, but
  two-thirds of all transactions
• Active posters make nine times as many visits to
  a website as passive users
• Active contributors are twice as loyal to a site
  as all other users
• Source McKinsey and Co, 2001

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Paretos Rule

• A rule-of-thumb about where to focus management
  priorities .
• 80 of business comes from 20 of the customers
• 80 of satisfaction derives from 20 of the tasks
• 80 of the problems arise from 20 of the people
• but does Paretos Rule apply online ?
• Does 80 of participation come from 20 of
  members?

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Active members
Passive members
Gaming Communities Learning communities Self-hel
p communities Professional communities Commerce
communities
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Why lurkers lurk

• Just reading/browsing is enough (57.0)
• Still learning about the group (29.7)
• Shy about posting (28.3)
• Nothing to offer (22.8)
• No requirements to post (21.5)
• Others respond the way I would (18.7)
• Want to remain anonymous (15.1)
• Had no intention to post to this group (13.2)
• Of no value to me (11.0)
• Not enough time to post ( 9.1)
• Do not know how to post to this group ( 7.8)
• Poor quality of messages or group ( 7.8)
• Wrong group for me ( 7.3)
• Long delay in response to postings ( 6.8)
• Concern about aggressive or hostile responses (
  5.9)
• There are too many messages already ( 4.6)
• If I post, I am making a commitment ( 4.1)
• Group treats members badly ( 1.4)
• My work does not allow posting ( 1.4)

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Lurkers

• Need time to familiarise themselves with the
  community
• Dont want to be noticed too quickly
• Want to check the rules and procedures before
  committing themselves publicly
• Are not doing any harm to anyone else
• Dont want to be made to do anything
• Are typical of the vast majority of real-world
  communities in that they dont want to stand out
• Provide a substantial body of support to the
  community, without requiring any effort from the
  organisers

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Techniques for managing Lurkers

• Must be gaining some benefit if they return to
  the community
• Are not causing any harm to anyone else
• Need support in finding their own way in, when
  theyre ready
• Give them easy signposts
• Create anonymous posting facilities
• Dont require any significant effort to maintain
  their lurking presence

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Moving lurkers to posters

• There is no magic answer to engage all lurkers
  you will need to develop a repertoire of
  strategies drawing on your intuition and
  improvising as required
• The facilitator must model the behaviour
• It is critical that the facilitator accesses the
  site frequently to motivate the participants. The
  lurker will not be motivated to access the site
  frequently if the information is not changing.
• Lurkers are not publicly asking questions BUT
  want detailed answers
• Provide clear expectations of participants
• a set of clear norms and standards for sharing
  information
• Display a clear statement of purpose for the
  group and articulate the communitys goals
• Avoid wrong expectations
• Include a privacy statement up-front.

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Moving lurkers to posters

• Provide technology induction.
• Non-technically sophisticated communities may be
  more affected those facilitators need to
  understand the capabilities of both their
  audiences and the community tools chosen for the
  community
• Create a special welcome area
• members could be encouraged to take on the role
  of the greeter
• Offer mentoring partnerships
• lurkers are gradually introduced to the group
  through a mentor and small group activities
• Pay special attention to acknowledging and
  responding to new members promptly
• avoid answering all the questions.
• Lecture vs conversation

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Moving lurkers to posters

• seed discussion
• Start stimulate
• Avoid situations where participants disengage
  because of the growing complexity of the
  discussions.
• Personal information pages
• may encourage newcomers to feel connection to
  the group
• Ice-breakers
• Eg who are you where are you from?
• create opportunities for newcomers to join
  conversations
• introducing them to a buddy or asking specific
  questions in an area where they may hold
  expertise
• Ask participants personally to engage in seeking
  information, summarising discussions and other
  self-directed activities.

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Moving Lurkers to posters

• Dominant contributors need to be managed
• Thanks XXX , that is a very valuable
  contribution. Now, what do others think?
• using tracking tools can identify lurkers
• send individual messages to lurkers encouraging
  them to contribute
• Running a contest
• rewarding quality contributions
• the determination of a quality contribution may
  be open to interpretation

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Learners

• Members who are starting to become engaged
• People making their very first contribution or
  posting
• Wary of making a mistake
• Afraid of being recognised
• Worried about behaving inappropriately
• Learners need it to be easy to make that first
  posting or contribution
• Learners need to feel that its safe to
  contribute
• Learners need to be able to make mistakes without
  criticism

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Leaders
Lieutenantsregularly active
Leavers
Libellers Trolls etc
Lobbyists Self-promotion
Loners, potential OC audience
Learners
Lurkers
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Techniques for managing Learners

• Capture all new members through basic
  Registration
• Welcome each new member personally (using
  automated acknowledgement)
• Send a series of Welcome Tips to new members
• Create a well-signed New Users Guide to the
  community
• Set up a forum specifically for new members to
  introduce themselves
• Set up a forum for member test postings only
• Appoint a forum co-ordinator responsible for
  greeting new members
• Create anonymous postings area or forums
• Create simple anonymous voting scales on issues,

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Lieutenants

• Members becoming more regularly involved in the
  community
• People who are recommending the community to
  colleagues
• Supporters of the community and its aims
• Users who are finding real benefit from the
  community
• Lieutenants are developing loyalty to the
  community
• Lieutenants require re-assurance that they have
  made the right choice
• Lieutenants are the advocates and leaders of the
  future

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Techniques for managing Lieutenants

• Give them public recognition and acknowledgement
  e.g. in newswires and stories
• Give them on-page credits with links and photos
• Invite them to meet the team events or to focus
  group sessions
• Develop an informal pool of topic experts
• Build a database of members to contact for
  comments and reactions to stories
• Ask them for testimonials and case studies
  regarding their use of the community
• Seek to identify their motive e.g. recognition,
  kudos, publicity, status, expertise
• Look out for Lieutenants with leadership
  capabilities

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Beware Lobbyists and Libellers

• Both lobbyists and libellers are time-consuming
  distractions.
• Lobbyists are motivated by self-interest not
  community-interest they use the community to
  promote themselves
• Libellers are motivated by criticism of others,
  not contribution to community they use the
  community to attack others
• A key role of Lieutenants is to act as a
  peer-check on Lobbyists and Libellers

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Leaders

• Voluntary or fee-paid members undertaking
  specific responsibilities within the community
• Regular contributors of articles, opinion pieces,
  reviews, etc.
• Moderators of forums
• Co-ordinators of (online or offline) events
• Potential staff members
• Leaders want to contribute for fun, not
  obligation
• Leaders are motivated by some form of recognition

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Techniques for managing Leaders

• Seek to identify specific areas of interest e.g.
  topics, issues, functions
• Create appropriate honorary positions e.g.
  reviews editor, forum convenor, Scotland
  correspondent
• Develop perks for Leaders reduced subscription,
  access to closed areas, job titles, tickets to
  events, review materials

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• Remember Paretos Rule only a minority of
  members will become seriously active
• Focus your energy on supporting and recognising
  the active members
• The active members will be the most likely people
  to draw draw in the passive ones
• You cant influence the iceberg whilst standing
  on its surface, but you can monitor its progress
  from above
• Spend time developing a helicopter view of your
  community