Online communities were fairly prolific prior to COVID, but the pandemic shot community participation into the stratosphere. While there has been and still is, a strong case for the more micro-type communities, with a narrow focus that garner more trust, the 2024 trend of Community Everywhere, sees the emergence what will become known as community ecosystems.
According to the World Bank, over the past decade, aid funding for education has declined to less than 10 percent of global official development assistance, leaving much of the financing to national governments strained by conflicting priorities.
.png)
Last week I did something, I can’t recall doing too often across 30 years of running businesses. I bunked work, but with good reason. I had the rare opportunity of a private tour of the Brenthurst Library[1].
Though 2022 may be unknown, you can rest assured that there are plenty of great things to come! Community has had a steller couple of years; it’s become a staple part of many organizations and it’s only set to grow stronger and stronger.
What does the community world look like in this ‘new normal’ we’re facing?
Well, to put it lightly, It seems as though community is set to become a fully-fledged beast.
Jeff Breunsbach of Grow Gain Retain thinks that 2022 is the year that community really comes into its own; “The new normal is going to suit the community, we’ve seen the impact it can create through chaos, and now as things begin to calm, we’re only going to see more and more value garnered. Especially in the customer success space.”
Rav Singh of Reckon Limited explained that the coming year will see community “really excel in the new normal of an end-to-end brand experience.” Though we’ve seen such growth over the last few years, there is still ample space for the community to shine even more.
But like we said earlier, a community can accomplish far more than just one thing. Future-focused organizations invest in online communities because they know that sustained engagement (users coming, going, and returning) creates generative value.
Benefits from a branded community trickle down to increase satisfaction, revenue, and help grow entire organizations, including growing customer loyalty. With a community, you can:
Source: HigherLogic
Learning communities have been proven to work and this is true, prior to the pandemic. There are a number of reasons that learning communities provide relevance and work. From a philosophical perspective, learning communities are changing the way knowledge is accessed and consumed. In other words, there’s a philosophic shift in knowledge sharing and acquisition. According to researchers, learning communities fit into what the research has demonstrated and finally from a pragmatic perspective, they work.
<a href='https://www.freepik.com/vectors/background'>Background vector created by freepik - www.freepik.com</a>
This pandemic continues to highlight global inequality. For the privileged, isolation is possible. For the vast majority of workers, those fortunate to still have jobs, they risk their lives daily, travelling on public transport, sharing water sources, domestic work, factory work, store work and more.
.png)
Organisations, multi-sectoral stakeholder groups, crisis committees, sales teams, NGOs and support teams around the world – have been caught with their proverbial pants down.
As a customer, you trust other customers, right? You trust what they say more than what the brands you follow, say. Right? The thinking customer is okay to engage with the brand but demands an energy exchange. The thinking customer knows that he or she is Facebook’s product and that the trust model, has been completely eroded. Facebook is selling YOU! And as a result, an authentic community is not possible on Facebook.
Who do you trust? Do you trust your president, the one you possibly voted for? Do you trust your local mayor to honestly distribute your city’s resources? Do you trust your bank, the media you consume or your social media where you keep sharing personal data? Do you trust your supermarket, your car manufacturer and drug companies who you rely on, to keep whatever affliction at bay?
