Online Communities
As part of the paper on online communities I’m doing at the moment students are required to write a series of blog posts. I’m not a fan of school project style work so I’m going to post these blog assignments here even if they’re a bit off topic. Not that this blog has a topic…
This week I’m going to talk about three online communities I find interesting: Threadless, Open Source Food and IRGO.
Threadless
Members submit tshirt designs which can be modified to reflect feedback from other members. Designs are rated on a scale from one to five (by members) and at the end of each month the most popular designs chosen as winners. The winning artists receive a cash prize (which has steadily increased over the years) and designs are printed on t-shirts which are sold to the Threadless community. The less artistic among us can submit slogans to be printed on Type Tees.
Threadless is by far the largest community I’ve chosen to discuss. The concept started out as a thread in a design forum and turned into Time Magazine’s coolest company in America. Threadless is possibly the best example of co-creation whereby the customers design (and buy) the product. Many Threadless designs such as The Communist Party have gone on to enter popular culture.
Threadless makes money by selling T-Shirts online and offline (there’s a Threadless retail store in Chicago). It’s that simple.
Check it out: threadless.com
Open Source Food
Members upload and share recipes and photos of their culinary creations. Other members can then comment, suggest variations and ‘like’ these recipes. Largely due to the example set by early members the site has become focused on gourmet asian food.
There are many recipe sharing sites online but OSF stands out because of the tantalising photos of each completed recipe and the community. Many recipe sharing sites become just a place for people to go to download recipes but OSF is more than that. Members visit the site because they are proud of their creations and to give feedback to other aspiring chefs.
Open Source Food makes some money through advertising on the site and by offering ‘pro’ memberships for an annual fee. The site was built and is maintained by a Japanese developer named YongFook as a side project.
Check it out: opensourcefood.com
IRGO (Internet Research Group Otago)
A place for members of the Internet Research Group Otago to discuss internet issues and online culture. The site is primarily a wiki but also includes a discussion forum. Most of this papers staff are active participants in the IRGO online community.
The wiki and forums are also used to coordinate offline activities such as last years conference on social networking. While members of the Theadless and Open Source Food communities come from all over the world IRGO members are largely based at Otago University (though OSF does have an Asian focus).
The site is maintained by members of IRGO on a voluntary basis (largely Erika Pearson, Tuesdays lecturer), there are no costs and no revenues, therefore no business model.
Check it out: irgo.wetpaint.com
Conclusion
All the communities I’ve described here have a very specific focus and limited functionality. Open Source Food is about sharing recipes. There are no videos, blogs, online shops or flash games. There are only recipes and comments on those recipes. I think focusing not only on one topic but also on a particular type of content to provide value beyond networking is the future of online communities.
That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll be looking at tools for creating online communities, any recommendations?
