Different types of communities
This article is continually updated as we learn more on the community types
Different communities have different purposes, different cultures and different experiences.
Here are the different types of communities.
External & Internal
Knowledge driven
Opinion based
Conversation driven
Networking driven
Action driven
Event driven
Product based
1.External & Internal
1.1 External community
This is the “typical” community that is composed of customers or prospects of a brand or product.
The owners of these communities could be different as showcased below.
1.1.1 Marketing team
Customer community
Brand community
1.1.2 Product team
Users community
Domain or Industry expertise community
1.1.3 Sales
Channel Partner community
Affiliates community
Sellers community
1.2 Internal community
Internal communities are mainly employee communities formed for the following purposes.
1.2.1 Employee engagement
Owned by the Talent Team
1.2.1 Knowledge community
Domain expertise - eg. SCM practice forum
Industry expertise - eg. Finance & Banking practice forum
2.Knowledge driven
Knowledge driven communities are mainly focused on the quality of the content or information that’s created.
1.Forums - Topics and discussions (Reddit)
2.Q&A - Questions and Answers (Quora)
Characteristics
The quality of content is very important here, as opposed to who is saying it.
Favours content that is created than content that is shared.
Long form content that’s generated, mostly available as public repositories.
Less focus on the person. Members are not explicitly displayed
Key signals : Upvotes, Downvotes, comments, likes
3.Opinion based
These are for exchanging your ideas and opinions
1.Review and rating communities
2.Members not explicitly displayed
4.Conversation driven
These are very instant in nature.
1.Chat groups (public chat rooms)
2.Messaging app based groups (whatsapp groups)
Characteristics
They focus not only on the content, but also on the person, members are showcased
Gives an opportunity for a user to get noticed, based on how active a user is, irrespective of how good content s/he generates or shares
Short form content that’s generated, usually content is part of private groups
5.Networking driven
Networking focused communities are of a different breed.
Content doesn’t play a great role here, but members are explicitly displayed.
People profiles are showcased driven by the networking objectives.
Options will be there to search people profiles, based on certain criteria.
eg. Dating websites, Tinder like apps for business.
6.Action driven
These are formed to support a cause or movement at a local, national or international level. They usually consist of a group of volunteers or task force who perform actions.
Some of them work on specific issues such as environment, education, health or human rights.
7.Event driven
People join a group to meet people, make friends, find support, grow a business, and explore their interests.
Thousands of events happen every day, both online and in person.
8.Product based
Members are fans of a product or a brand.
Eg. MI India community, Harley Davidson community etc.
These are the ultimate playground for their fans to hang out together.
It's where all questions or doubts about products will get answered and where they can get the latest news and happenings.
It’s not a member based community but serves to promote a product.