With Glastonbury kicking off tomorrow Google has come out with a nice little ad that could turn festival goers the world over into Casanova’s. Read More »

I’m really excited to release eModeration’s new white paper today. 
The paper, Communities
of Purpose, focuses on interactive online communities with a
clear goal, otherwise known as ‘communities of purpose’.

Brands and not-for-profit organisations can establish these communities
to act as a focal point for  members to meet, contribute content and
provide mutual support as they try to reach their shared goal – whether
that be to lose weight or elect an official to office.  Think of Weight
Watchers,  Walk the Walk
(raising money to comabt breast cancer) or Liberal Democrat Voice for
example.

This paper (co-authored by eModeration’s CEO, Tamara Littleton,
and Head of Community Ashley Cooksley) 
gathers the thinking from some of the highly respected voices in
community management today to provide clear, practical advice to those
thinking about establishing a community of purpose.  It details best
practice for the management of Communities of Purpose in order to
maximise the engagement and support that these communities can offer
their members.

For example, here is our list of things a brand should consider when
creating a community of purpose:

• Create the ‘burning imperative’. The community has to
  have a strong goal for people to join and continue to be active members.
• Add value. What does your community offer that members can’t
  get elsewhere?
• Stay relevant. The community will lack credibility if there’s
  a clear disconnect between the community purpose and the brand.
• Agree timeframes. Goal focused communities are mainly
  transitional. A member – or the whole community – meets their personal
  goals and so they move on, or the community as a whole comes to an end.
  It’s essential to have a clear exit strategy before launch.
• Keep members motivated by setting goalposts. It’s not unusual
  for community members to wax and wane in their interest and involvement
  in the community. Motivate members by setting smaller goals and
  promoting feelings of achievement.
• Set clear guidelines. These should be the mission statement
  of the community, and provide the structure for your community
  management decisions.

To read more, download a free copy of Communities of
Purpose, which includes detailed information on issues that brands
may face and how they can be addressed.

Our huge thanks go to the community
managers that we spoke to and who took the time to share their
experiences with us: Leah Williams, Community & Social Media
Manager at Breast Cancer Care;
Patrick O’Keefe, owner of iFroggy Network and
author of “Managing Online Forums“;
Alison
Michalk, Director of Quiip and ex-community manager for Essential
Baby at Fairfax Digital Australia; Blaise Grimes-Viort, Head of Communities & Social Media at National
Magazine Company and Hearst Digital and Vanessa
DiMauro, CEO of LeaderNetworks.

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Earlier this year something called Fourwhere popped up offering a simple geo-location mashup of Foursquare comments and Google Maps. Now the Canadian firm behind it has added Gowalla and Yelp. It’s pretty cool. Read More »

The Los Angeles Times has launched its new iPhone app today featuring the paper’s full content for $1.99, and says it plans to launch a “Hollywood Star Walk” app later this month, while USA Today has held off charging for its iPad app in favour of chasing a bigger audience. Read More »