Ask HN: How are online communities established? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#61

Post by prox » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 5:20 PM UTC

deedub wrote: post #44

bserge wrote: post #12

You get users. The most important part imo is the regulars who stick around and talk to everyone, answer everything. They make the core of a community and help turn others into regulars. I used to have 2 small niche forums and there were always 2-5 people that created the bulk of the content ( along with myself - I had to post a lot to start and keep it going, I was the first user! ). Always making threads, checking…

I think you really nailed this! I've built a couple forums, one which just hit 15 years and has around 6000 registered users. It is member funded, hosted, moderated etc. I have no part in it anymore really and it has a great culture. I've actually just launched a new forum for my current employer and our community members. Like you said, it takes effort from the person starting it to create activity and get people co…

How do you jump from the initial tens, to hundred to thousands of users? How does the popularity scale in your experience?

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#62

Post by bredren » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

andreygrehov wrote: post #55

bredren wrote: post #39

I built a 30k+ member vbulletin community in the 2000s. I used sock puppets with different personalities and views that created threads, replied to each other and encouraged real users to reply and made them feel welcome. I also moderated as myself and was welcoming to real new users, (and the puppets :) This did not last more than two months, as there were enough real users that the puppets were able to largely hibe…

AFAIK, Reddit was created in a similar manner. According to Reddit cofounder Steve Huffman, in the early days the Reddit crew just faked it ‘til they made it – hundreds of fake profiles to boost popularity of the site.

I have a very early account. I remember being chastised by another user for posting links to my own blog over weeks. That’s how few posts there were.

I wonder if it was them trying to shape content.

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#63

Post by notatoad » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #21

Question is: what's an online community ? I don't think HN is one. At the very least I don't have a sense of being a member of an HN community.

you've got 6000+ karma. whether you feel like you're a member or not, you obviously participate on a continual basis.

i think a reasonable definition for online community is a group of people who regularly and continually participate in the same online platform.

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#64

Post by webwanderings » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 5:37 PM UTC

Before thinking about creating, or participating in an "online" community, think about the same without the online.

A community is first formed by humans. The online piece is just a platform, or a place of logistics.

This may throw you back in time but read Scott Peck's The Different Drum, to get a real feel of what a community is.

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#65

Post by skmurphy » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 6:19 PM UTC

jasonhong wrote: post #27

Here is a very good book that summarizes a lot of the scientific research about creating and fostering online communities. Building Successful Online Communities: Evidence-Based Social Design Here are the chapters: * Encouraging Contribution to Online Communities * Encouraging Commitment to Online Communities * Regulating Behavior in Online Communities * The Challenges of Dealing with Newcomers * Starting New Online…

This is a $150 textbook ($75 used $25 Kindle): have you read it and actually gotten value out of it? https://www.amazon.com/Building-Successful-Online-Communitie...

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#66

Post by bemmu » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 6:20 PM UTC

larrykubin wrote: post #29

nostrademons wrote: post #13

Usually they splinter off an existing online community or fanbase of a prominent writer/net-celebrity. Hacker News was initially populated by refugees from Reddit. Imgur also got started off Reddit. Reddit's initial userbase largely came from readers of comp.lang.lisp and Paul Graham's essays (PG funded it, and posted announcements there when it launched, 3 weeks after it started). StackOverflow largely came from the…

I thought I was here on the first day, but your HN join date is one day before mine. Time flies!

Sure does, I have the same day as you. But wasn’t it pg’s blog and not Reddit that sent the initial users? Starting to get hazy on the details.

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#67

Post by baud147258 » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 6:39 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #13

Usually they splinter off an existing online community or fanbase of a prominent writer/net-celebrity. Hacker News was initially populated by refugees from Reddit. Imgur also got started off Reddit. Reddit's initial userbase largely came from readers of comp.lang.lisp and Paul Graham's essays (PG funded it, and posted announcements there when it launched, 3 weeks after it started). StackOverflow largely came from the…

Why did people leave Fanfiction.net? I spend quite some time there, but I never follow the meta discussions

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#68

Post by LostTrackHowM » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 6:58 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #13

Usually they splinter off an existing online community or fanbase of a prominent writer/net-celebrity. Hacker News was initially populated by refugees from Reddit. Imgur also got started off Reddit. Reddit's initial userbase largely came from readers of comp.lang.lisp and Paul Graham's essays (PG funded it, and posted announcements there when it launched, 3 weeks after it started). StackOverflow largely came from the…

If my memory is correct, I discovered PG's essays from Slashdot, and through them reddit, and through reddit hn.

And this reminds me of how some people theorize that life on Earth came from another planet.

In one way it answers the question, but also does not answer it at all.

My guess for origination online communities from scratch would be advertising and already having a small community. Well obviously content too. But I think the reddit founders early on pretended to be many more people on reddit, because no one wants to join an empty community.

The founders provided the startup community. PG's essay were the advertising. And both slashdot and the people who posted PG's essay there, where the advertising of PG's essays.

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#69

Post by nostrademons » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 7:00 PM UTC

bemmu wrote: post #66

larrykubin wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I was here on the first day, but your HN join date is one day before mine. Time flies!

Sure does, I have the same day as you. But wasn’t it pg’s blog and not Reddit that sent the initial users? Starting to get hazy on the details.

I think it was both - not unusual to post an announcement for a new forum in multiple places, and PG's blog and Reddit very much had overlapping readerships (and authors) at the time. I found it through Reddit.

BTW, there are some YC founders that have join dates several months before us - HN was open to internal YC batches about a half-year before it went public.

Re: Ask HN: How are online communities established?

#70

Post by nostrademons » Fri, Sep 11, 2020, 7:03 PM UTC

baud147258 wrote: post #67

nostrademons wrote: post #13

Usually they splinter off an existing online community or fanbase of a prominent writer/net-celebrity. Hacker News was initially populated by refugees from Reddit. Imgur also got started off Reddit. Reddit's initial userbase largely came from readers of comp.lang.lisp and Paul Graham's essays (PG funded it, and posted announcements there when it launched, 3 weeks after it started). StackOverflow largely came from the…

Why did people leave Fanfiction.net? I spend quite some time there, but I never follow the meta discussions

The immediate reason was the whole "PLAGURISM!" kerfuffle - Cassandra Claire's work (which was immensely popular within the HP fandom) was booted off of it for having a few too many Buffy quotes. Discontent about FF.net had been growing for a while, though - since they let anyone upload with no moderation, many of the fics there were low quality or unfinished, many of the reviews were one-liners or abusive, etc.