Community Manager: Administrator, moderator, collaborator, advocat

One of the common misconceptions about the role of Community Manager(CM) is that it is largely a “babysitting” position. A CM’s presence on a site typically realised as a combination of administrator, moderator and advocate. Balancing these three responsibilities can be tricky and there is often a perceived bias towards one area at the detriment of the others.

At Sift Media, the Community Manager is more than an all-powerful moderator. Indeed, moderation in the traditional sense of editing or removing content and issuing infractions and bans is always a last resort within the communities. While unfortunately necessary from time to time, we aim to resolve issues through discussion, both private and public, seeking compromise and mutual understanding between members.

Strategies for protecting users’ interests and resolving conflicts vary wildly depending on the site in question and the nature of the material.

The image of a business, brand or community feeds directly into what material is considered to be appropriate. The challenge is balancing this with members’ own perceptions of the site.

On Sift Media’s most active sites the Community Manager is much more than a distant observer. We engage directly with members both privately and publicly so that actions remain transparent and we are approachable at all times. Human error is sometimes inevitable but the fallout can be greatly reduced by presenting a recognisable face and personality alongside the standard branding.

Recently, this has been used to great effect on one of our largest sites UK Business Forums. With improvements being planned for Q1 2012, we’ve turned to the community to help us flesh out the suggestions that have been appearing on the site via our dedicated feedback forum.

By welcoming any interested members into a small, private focus group we can gain vital insight into the views and needs of our most engaged audience before presenting our suggestions to the community at large. From this, we’re confident that, when the updates are rolled out, everyone on the site will be prepared and excited for what’s to come.

The ability to garner direct feedback and work with our members in this way is a direct result of our close and active relationship with the community. It pays dividends in the long run to build an effective rapport and bond with your community.