Before returning to near-absolute focus on my studies I lead a fairly successful game modding group. We were the top dogs, we were pretty successful, and we even got hired by the company we modded for to do work - so, I was certainly an amateur, but I like to think a competent one.
I mention this because it truly changed my perspective in regards to how software, communities, fanbases and such all work together to increase a products value - and the potency and power of the community. As I switched to Mac late last year one of the things that surprised me (and it may be this way with PC software, but I never had reason to use shareware NEARLY as much as I do in the Mac community) was the lack of such institutions in so many places. Now, admitedly, I’m used to that gaming environment and in most situations you’re going to have much more rabid fanbases there, but still… so many companies don’t seem to harness, or even have an interest in doing so, a community.
What do I mean? Well, it seems there are a few things here that are primary: communication, consumer involvement, and shared resources. Now, yes… a lot of this is pretty much there in open source communities - and ha-rah to you! Adium, for instance, wouldn’t be nearly the product it is without it - but open source isn’t necessary for these options to become available to the developer, and I’ve neither the interest nor competence to get into an open source debate. But it does seem to me some otherwise brilliant developers are really dropping the ball here.
So, let’s go through these primary issues. Part I: Communication, beyond the cut…
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Communication
This seems to be the elephant in the room as far as these issues goes - it isn’t that more companies fail here in particular, so much as this is probably the most important issue in software development in an area where fan support is vital. Mac software, so much of it being done by small companies, really shouldn’t fail here. Mac communities are very vibrant, and exceptionally loyal when given the opportunity to be - they should be harnessed. So, how does this work out…. well, another three things naturally!
Blogs
These days this isn’t so much a problem - blogs are hawt. Almost every company I know of keeps these. Now, they may not update them but once every two months - but they have them. For many companies they’ve effectively replaced the “news page.” Now, there are different ways to approach these - and the “news” angle is certainly one of them. But I think companies that only make a post about a patch or major release is missing an important opportunity to communicate with their fans and allow them to have some sense of personal stake in the software. You don’t have to do what the fans say, but listening is important.
Message Boards
This is where I see a real big problem. Message boards allow your customers to communicate with each other, and with you. It allows for a great deal of information about your product to be centralized, for people to get help, for individuals and groups to get together to further enhance your product. It allows your users to become a community.
Now, a message board is so easy a monkey can set it up. I’ve done it multiple times - even ones with complicated bridges between different applications and all tens of thousands of users. Now, you don’t know me - but I am NOT an expert in this sort of thing and if I can do it - almost anyone can. And if you can’t set it up, you can find places where you can have it set up for you.
But a message board is really a wonderful thing, especially for a shareware app. It allows the users to discuss the way they use the app - tips and tricks, it helps disseminate knowledge, and it allows for a place for people who create content for the software to share it. This sort of thing isn’t appropriate for every type of software, but… for a lot it is. Just take a look at Scrivener - the community absolutely enhanced how it came about and continue to be incredibly helpful. You want someone to use your program beyond the free trial - make sure they can get help and information quickly.
I’ve seen people using listservs in place of this, but… it isn’t a replacement. I know a lot of you old school guys are pretty into these things, but they are dinosaurs now and not only are they a pain to deal with - the quick back and forth and the library of available information at your fingertips are lost.
Support
Ah, the bane of small software developers everywhere. Having released things myself, I know what a nightmare this can be. But, it’s also vital. And this is where so many small developers absolutely drop the ball. In a community where word of mouth (via blogs, mac news sites, etc) this can be absolutely damning.
I’ll give a “for instance” here. I use Yojimbo a lot. Or, rather, I did. I love Yojimbo - it is one of my favorite apps for Mac and one of the reasons I GOT a mac. But, for the last month or so I’ve not been able to reliably use it. 3-4 weeks ago I sent an email to support, and I didn’t get a response for another week or two. After I mail them the info they asked for (about a week ago) I’ve not heard a single word back - not even “we’re looking into it.” I’m not happy. I can’t use Yojimbo and would be placated just by knowing they were actually looking into it - but they have not. So… all my “Yojimbo rocks” talk suddenly ends - I’ll start suggesting EagleFiler or DevonThink instead. And I won’t upgrade.
They also don’t have a message board - and are really missing out by doing so, I think. They archive their listserv, but it has been down for about a month now, I believe.
Conclusions
Communication is a vital, but necessary first step, for all other aspects of community building. And honestly, there isn’t a lot of good reasons NOT to do these things - aside from support, neither maintaining a solid blog or a message board requires a lot of cash or time. Many companies have hardly any presence on their own message boards, and that’s fine - it’s there for the community more than anything.
Companies who can harness their consumers enthusiasm have a very valuable asset on their hands - but building enthusiasm is only step one - maintaining it and utilizing it come next.
Next time we’ll talk about consumer involvement.
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