Online Community Vs. Audience: There’s a Difference
As social media professionals, the importance of community management is always stressed—you must interact with your audience to strengthen trust and loyalty and create a sense of community. But did you know there is a difference between your audience and an online community? Because I did not.
I have been a social media professional for about four years now and have always heard community management referred to as interacting with your audience via comments, direct/private messages, tags, mentions, etc. But in my first week of taking the Social Media Community Management course at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, I learned there is actually a difference between an audience and an online community.
According to Elder (2021):
An online community is a group of people who interact online around a shared interest, challenge, or goal. People with a shared sense of belonging use these spaces to share knowledge, learn, build networks, or simply discuss their interests without meeting face-to-face.
These online communities are not social networks—online communities can be started organically or by individuals, groups, or brands who want a place for interaction and community to form around a specific topic. The topics of these groups can vary greatly—anything as simple as a dog lovers group or as profound as an emotional support group used for therapy purposes, as discussed in Facebook Groups as Therapy.
These groups can be open, closed, and unsearchable—“many are “closed,” which in Facebook terminology means they are findable, but only members can see their content. Some are “secret” and unsearchable, and membership is by invitation only.” (Zhang, 2018)
Elder (2021) provided the following graphic from Global Web Index that really highlights the importance of online communities to those who are a part of one:
Elder (2021) points out that while online communities and audiences do have a lot in common, the major difference is the direction of communication, “When you build an audience, the majority of the interaction travels from you to your community.” While the comment section does allow for the exchange of dialogue, it can be limiting or not encouraging enough for participation.
Elder (2021) emphasizes that you do not need to select only one—online communities and audiences can work well together. Of course, as a social media professional, I am always thinking of new strategies and/or ways I could have improved. This particular topic makes me think about my first professional social media role with the Disneyland Resort. My team monitored and created content for the Disneyland Today and Disneyland Annual Passholders Facebook and Twitter accounts. A big part of our role was community management since we had a very engaged audience, especially on our Disneyland Annual Passholders Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Disney already has such a solid and loyal fanbase. While our content and interaction with our audience helped us grow the devoted audience for our specific account, I wonder if creating an online community via a Facebook group would have been beneficial. This group most likely would have been a closed and unsearchable group, meaning only paying Disneyland Annual Passholders could receive an invitation to join the group. This audience was already very engaged and commented regularly, but a Facebook group could have aided in more of a conversation. In addition, this already devoted group could have shared their love and passion for the brand.
However, when discussing this topic with my classmates, some counterarguments pointed out there may not be a need for a brand to create an online community or group when the fanbase is already so loyal and engaged. Some classmates pointed out that Facebook groups are probably more beneficial for smaller businesses with a tie to their local community.
I experienced this first hand with the brand Princess Polly, an online fashion retailer. Princess Polly’s Instagram has 2.2 million followers and receives thousands of engagements per day. Since I reached a certain tier on their rewards program, I was invited to a closed Facebook group that provided an opportunity to connect with other Princess Polly fans, giveaways, direct access to the Princess Polly team, and more. However, I noticed a lack of engagement from the group compared to what they usually get on their Instagram posts. Does the group just need time to get comfortable enough to participate in the discussion, or was the Facebook group unnecessary since they had already built such a strong audience on Instagram?
There are definitely pros and cons to creating an online community rather than solely focusing on an audience, so I am curious to hear what you think and what your experiences with online communities have been like!
References
Elder, D. (2021, November 26). What is an online community? (and how you can grow one). Tribe Blog. Retrieved January 9, 2022, from https://tribe.so/blog/what-is-online-community/
Zhang, S. (2018, October 26). Facebook groups as therapy. The Atlantic. Retrieved January 9, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/10/facebook-emotional-support-groups/572941/
