Final post Community Building

So, here it is. Like you may know, I’m currently writing blogs for the course ‘Community Building’ at school. In this last post (for the course, don’t panic, I’ll stay here 😉 ) I’ll make a summary of my experiences with the Chat ’n Run community.

One of the main facts of a community is that the users have a common interest. In this case that is running. Running from beginner to professional, in every possible way. This was of course the main point for me to join this community. I had been lurking some time before I registered, I was able to  see the whole forum (as that is the most important part of the community). This was until I really needed some advice for an injury. I registered, which was very easy, and was able to post topics.

Moderation

As soon as I posted the topic, it was visible for everybody. So I guess there is a kind of post-moderation. Honestly, during my membership I never noticed something from a moderator. The ambiance in the community is very friendly, so I think moderation isn’t needed that often. I didn’t posted in the topic to present myself as a new member. Nevertheless, I was welcomed by some members who saw that it was my first one.

Reputation

Those members where recognizable on their status. They have many stars/posts, or are once been elected as ‘forum member of the year’. I came across them on almost every topic I watched. Obviously those members where very active in the community. Quite fast I had kind of a ‘respect’ feeling for them. They have always good tips, links or knowledge. And, they’re just always there!

Me as a participant

So, how do I make my way over there? I notice that I don’t watch the forum regular. The main reasons I go back are:

• Post a topic with a specific question (injuries for example)
• Looking if there’s some information about a match I want to run
• Checking who is going to run there
• Post my results, and watch results/reports of others
• If someone replied on a topic I’m active in (you get an e-mail notification)

The above is very synchronized with the amount of matches I run. I’ll give an example. I’m planning to run match X. I’ll watch the forum to see if there’s a topic about it. if not, I’ll post the match on the ‘Plans for the next weekend’ topic. If there’s one, I’ll post that I will come eventually. I will check the whole topic and if I want, participate in a discussion. After the match, I post my result (in specific topic or the topic ‘results from last weekend’) and see what others did and thought about it.

Now comes the important part, there are the coming weeks no interesting matches for me to run. That’s where I hardly will visit the forum, unless someone replies to an earlier topic. So, daily discussions about non-running stuff, matches out of my region and others are kind of non of my interests.

Virtual vs. Real

I noticed some funny things. Some people get to know me at the forum, before the know me in the real world. That’s not so strange of course, but a lot of those people where with me at a lot of matches… Once someone approached me at a match and introduced himself. He even knew some details of my latest matches! On the other hand, there are some people who often run the same matches, but I really don’t know who they are. There is even someone of them who knows me, and supports me. We decided to meet sometime and have a training together. So the forum is also a place where you can meet people that are living in the neighbourhood, or going to the same matches.

So, that was it for the blogging about the CnR forum. Of course I’ll continue to post my reports on running matches, in Dutch again I guess. Coming up matches:

• 28-11 Half marathon @ Ell (21,1km)
• 06-12 Kapellerbosloop @ Landgraaf  (7,2 km) (I’ll pass the 200 km mark for 2009!)
• 20-12 Mescherbergloop @ Eijsden (15 km)
• 02-01 Sylvester run @ Meerssen (21,2 km)

Cheers!

Frank