Niche groups can benefit from online communities
I wrote last week about how one of the benefits of social networks is that they can help people with particular interests or issues to find each other. It’s easier to network with people and share experiences with those who have similar interests of experiences to you, however niche.
Online communities are different to social networks. Rather than focusing on the individual, they focus on common issues, themes or interests. And if social networks are good at letting people find others with similar interests, online communities are a great place for these people to come together.
Any online community needs to concern a clear and defined area. There needs to be the common goal, aim or shared interest to get people to join and to contribute and for the community to move from infancy to maturity. One type of community that can work quite well is communities built round niche experiences - where few people
I was pointed this week to a new online community that fits in this category well: RareShare, a health-related community for people with specific rare medical disorders. The community is in its infancy and how successful it will be is yet to seen. As we know at FreshNetworks, even if all the factors for a successful community are in place its actual success can be made or broken by skills such as community management.
But the chances are that RareShare can be a success. Not only does it unite people around a common and niche experience, but as we have seen before, medical issues are often a great subject for successful online communities. People often feel more comfortable discussing often embarrassing or difficult issues online, and people like that they can find others in the same situation.
Communities such as this offer a real chance to create the kind of communication that has not previously existed between people with such niche interests and experiences. The benefits to members is clear and if well managed, RareShare could be a great success for them.
Some more reading
Paul:
Considering that there are now so many social networks catering to such a wide range of niches, my biggest problem is finding ones relevant to me and related to my specific interests or product niches. Google seems to be inefficient and returns alot of irrelevant results. A good resource that I use to find them is this search engine for social networking sites.
15 July 2008, 12:01 am