What kind of community?

One of the basic challenges in creating online communities involves getting beyond the idea that all communities are alike. Communities have cultures, and those cultures evolve essentially out of the behavior of the community inhabitants.

This doesn't mean, however, that you have no control over what kind of community you create. And I don't mean simply by controlling who you allow to join. 

The fact is, how communities are designed - in terms of overall feature set, detailed interaction design, workflow, and look & feel - is the strongest control you can excercise over the community that results.

(Put another way, people's behavior results from a combination of their personality and their environment. Since you don't control their personality, focus on controlling their environment.). 

The first step is to determine what kind of community you want to create. In working with clients, I sometimes start with a simple excercise. Are you trying to be or create:

• A public library, which is open to all, but in which conversation is kept to a minimum
• A coffee shop, which allows much more open conversation and flexibility, but still within a certain proper decorum
• The French Quarter at Mardi Gras. Anything goes, including lots of behavior which at any other time or any other place would result in arrest.  

Setting the tone for the kinds of behaviors you want to create provides a filter through which to view the design. Every feature design encourages certain kinds of behavior and discourages others.

Want to encourage users to submit comments? Make sure the comment link is clearly visible. Want users to share links with their friends? Make sure the permanlink for each entry is clearly labeled, and preferably doesn't include lengthy query string variables.

It seems obvious, but it is amazing how often these simple observations get neglected.