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Mary Haggard
Program Manager
Microsoft Corporation
December 23, 1997
The following article was originally published in Site Builder Magazine (now known as MSDN Online Voices).
If the business objectives of your Web site include cutting customer service costs, getting user feedback, or generating conversations that augment or add to your content set, consider implementing online community features as part of your Internet effort.
Because of the resources and expense involved, most Web developers who have been through the community-development process will recommend that you implement community after you actually launch your Internet or intranet site. In most cases, this makes a lot of sense. Most Internet efforts won't have enough of a readership or user base to support an online community right away. It's also important to learn and understand the culture behind an online community, and to gauge how your customers will participate in it, before you try to build your own online community.
Here, we'll touch on the culture of online community, communication technology that can be added to your Web site, examples of sites that have successful communities, and the resources in time and expense that they will take.
A valuable and inexpensive option is an electronic newsletter that carries your message to users who have expressed interest in learning more about your business, or want to know when events (such as a sale, new content, or business changes) occur on your site. These newsletters can provide great value to the user, and if implemented carefully, can also be a valuable marketing tool for you. Consider the content you will deliver within them as carefully as you consider the content on your Web site.
There are a few rules of thumb for electronic newsletters. Whenever you obtain a user's e-mail name with the intent to send newsletters, be sure that you clearly state your intentions. Not only is this considerate, it is also the law. As a courtesy, always include instructions on how a user can "unsubscribe" to your e-mail newsletter. E-mail sent to users may be forwarded to others, so be sure it includes directions on how to sign up to receive your newsletter as well.
Most large Web sites include electronic newsletters as part of their online offerings. One notable electronic newsletters of interest for Web developers is Microsoft's MSDN Wire (sent as an optional component of MSDN Online Community). Information about other e-mail newsletters from Microsoft is on the Microsoft Profile Center 
.
Electronic newsletters are generally one-way information-distribution vehicles: the information flows only from you to your customers. Those customers have no way to respond with concerns or questions. Discussion-group mailing lists allow two-way, e-mail communication between you and your customers. They have the additional benefit of letting customers talk regularly among themselves about your products or services. The cost of running an e-mail discussion list is usually fairly low. Discussion groups are also attractive to corporate and international customers, who may have trouble accessing newsgroups and chat sessions.
L-Soft International, Inc. 
runs both electronic newsletter and discussion groups using their Windows NT®-based Listserv software. We at MSDN have always been happy with the work they've done for us.
A newsgroup is implemented through an NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) News Server, which is part of the back end of your Web site, or is located at a specialty service provider. NNTP servers provide database services where users "post" messages, and read and respond to messages from others using client-side newsgroup software. Users can also search archives for messages that may pertain to information they seek. Microsoft Exchange Server offers NNTP News Server services. Client newsgroup software is available as an add-on to most major Web browsers, including Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator.
The Usenet system is by far the most successful example of a vibrant worldwide newsgroup community; an amazing variety of topics are discussed. Go to Deja News to learn more about how to join conversations on Usenet groups, rules of conduct, and other information.
Look for existing newsgroups that are similar to those you will be building. How active are they? Are they managed well? How many regular contributors are there? Is anything done to promote them? Also, consider how likely your target market is to use newsgroups. Keep in mind that many corporate users who are accessing the Internet through a proxy may have restrictions on the newsgroups they can view.
Consider the possibility that your resources may be better spent getting your message across to existing newsgroup communities, rather than trying to build your own. If you choose this option, be sure to learn how the newsgroups you want to target work. Some groups will not appreciate what they consider marketing efforts, and you may offend some potential customers.
Chats are interactive discussions that should be closely tied to the content of your Web site. They are implemented and managed by chat services on your Web servers or through a specialty service provider. You open "chat rooms" on the server, where users discuss topics interactively with one another through the use of Internet Relay Chat (IRC)-based client software. Microsoft Exchange provides chat server services. Major browser vendors also provide chat-client software as add-ons to their product offerings. Microsoft provides an IRC client as part of Internet Explorer's Outlook Express .
While the chat area is "open" on the server, users can interactively type messages to other users who are in the chat room. The sheer volume of interactivity makes it hard to keep chat room conversations on topic. One of the best uses of the technology is using it to host scheduled lecture-type chats. More and more organizations are moving toward this model. This type of chat format tends to keep the topic on track, and the benefit to users high. It also cuts the costs of organizations who have been running ongoing chat rooms where topics are random and user benefit is low.
As a side note, the ratio of useful information on an online forum is very commonly termed the signal/noise ratio. High signal/noise means the conversations are well managed and pertinent to the topic. Take a look at MSNBC for examples of daily hosted chats.
Again, corporate users may have barriers to getting to your information. International users may also have access problems, and scheduled chats may be difficult for them to attend and participate in because of time zone differences.
An important part of understanding online culture is appreciating the role of the forum manager. Think of this person as the online sheriff for your community. Usually, the forum manager is a member of your organization, or a trusted, longtime member of the community with ties to your company. They help keep conversations on topic, help manage troublesome community members, and help new users get up to speed on the group. The forum manager also communicates with your organization to keep you aware of conversation topics within your community that may concern you. Online users are very vocal about what they do and don't want discussed on forums. It is the job of the forum manager to weigh the needs of the community and help develop generally accepted rules and regulations. The manager also develops FAQ documents that help cut the number of repeatedly asked questions and keep the value of the group for advanced and regular users high.
If you target groups of users who don't have as much online experience, you may want to consider providing the tools for them to post questions and participate in online forums right on the Web site. This allows you to get newer users involved in your events without forcing them to download and configure news or chat software clients. It also helps ensure that your site and your community are tightly joined, and may even give you a better opportunity to target advertisements or other promotions to specific groups of users. Examples of sites that target all levels of online users and are currently running completely Web-based community features include MSNBC , eBay , and DejaNews .
Because intranet users do not have the bandwidth constraints that users of the Internet do, they have many more options for intranet-based communications. Microsoft NetMeeting and Windows Media Technologies help corporations take full advantage of the corporate intranet for real-time communications and collaboration.
These technologies are exciting for all that they allow you to do. By replacing expensive and complicated video teleconferencing and multimedia development systems with these Internet-based tools, you can save your business money and extend the services to more users than possible in the past. However, there are challenges to implementing the technologies below. They are very bandwidth intensive, and need to be set up and managed carefully. Also, the multimedia capabilities of the machines used may need to be configured individually to work properly.
Companies use Windows Media Technologies to offer new streaming content for applications such as training, corporate communications, entertainment, and advertising to users all over the world. On the Internet, video streaming has been used to "televise" live broadcasts of events from Web sites. Multimedia components such as these take up huge chunks of network bandwidth. If you are using Windows Media Technologies, make smart decisions about how to get the information to users based on your expected demand, and on the user needs. The software allows you to adjust the audio and video compression levels, and you also have the option to adjust video frame rates. Both help conserve bandwidth.
Since taking early retirement as commander of the Starship Enterprise and joining Microsoft, Mary Haggard has worked her way through the ranks to her lifelong goal, being Program Manager for the MSDN Online Web publishing team. Mary once worked in a paper mill, so she knows pulp when she sees it.
You've already found one example of an online community: Microsoft MSDN Online, which offers electronic newsletters, newsgroups, a discussion group, even a member database where members can search for peers with similar interests. Check the Connect with your peers page in the MSDN Online Member Community area. Signing up for free MSDN Community is one excellent way to explore how an online community hums. Great way to learn about site building, too.
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