How to put your money where your mouth is: grow a community

I’ve written before about how reader engagement is the key to making money because it lets you charge more for ads.

I’ve also, in the past, called current newspaper community efforts “lip service.”

That’s not true of all newspapers. But it’s true for a lot of them, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the comments.

Newspapers are scared sh*%less of their readers. Often comments are not put on the same page as an article - this is idiotic. It introduces barriers to interaction and it makes it harder to refer back to an article for intelligent discussion. If you grow the community right then the comments are going to be as good or better than the original piece and you’re going to want them on the same page.

Even those places where comments are allowed, they’re also accompanied by byzantine warning and legalese, or even things like “If you don’t want to register and put your name on your comments, then we don’t want you commenting here” (paraphrased, of course).

Newspapers should start putting their money where their mouth is, and own the community space. They should make a sincere effort to cross the pontificate/blank stare border with their readers, and step one is actively moderating and engaging in the comments.

If you’re ready to take the steps to grow a community, I’d suggest reading Patrick Thornton’s post, It’s all about the community, stupid.