In an ideal environment, your community will have members that will rise to the top as leading voices providing those catalysts for others to rally around, argue with, or even hate (don’t dismiss the value of a threat as you build and strengthen a community). If you don’t already have an audience, expect “the rise of voices” to take some time. You’ll need to lead them first.
I’ve become weary of the hard-to-avoid debate of “What is Web 2.0?” You can’t mention the term Web 2.0 in passing without someone saying, “What is it?” And then someone else will usually chime in with “You know there’s Web 3.0 now.” One way people try to show that they’re “in the know” is to force the “What is Web 2.0” debate at the moment the “2” is uttered or state their opinion by wearing a t-shirt that says “Web 2.0 is ________.” I’m just asking everyone to please stop. I’ve become exhausted.
Back in 2000, I started a discussion group called SFComedy on Yahoo! Groups (then named eGroups), a bulletin board for comedians in the San Francisco Bay Area to discuss performing, upcoming shows, and bookings. I used to be a stand up comedian myself. When I first started the site, still a comedian, I verbally had to harass a handful of my comedian friends to get on the site and start posting. I would make posts every now and then to draw people into discussions, and after the first year I wrote up a silly SFComedy Awards where I presented prizes to different members of the board. Today, seven and a half years later, I am no longer a comedian, but I’m still the moderator of the SFComedy board. I barely pay attention to what’s going on, but it’s taken on a life of its own with many SFComedy “voices” rising. Currently, there are 1100 members posting somewhere between 500-1000 posts every month. While I can take credit for starting the board, I can’t take credit for the current activity. The community has taken control and I’m thrilled.
