Building a super forum: Director’s Cut + Extra Footage

So, here is the ‘Director’s Cut’ of how to build a super forum. For those who pay attention to titles you realize I’m missing Episodes 1, 2 and 3, but be assured that will be corrected in the future. Like any good Director in the special features on a DVD it’s time to fill in my two cents for what’s out there on the Internet, the super forum that we’ve come to know and embrace on a wider scale than ever before.

Tools are a means to an end. Without an objective they would not exist. So, the question is what exactly these objectives are. The developers of the following tools asked these questions and the answers are the programs they wrote.

The list below is what I believe to be a few best practices when tackling the Internet. Here are 10 reasons why we do the things we do and what’s out there to help us Public Relations 2.0 professionals or your tech-savvy mother-in-law.

1. Awareness: The Internet is big and some people think it’s just going to keep getting bigger. Volume makes it difficult to stay on top of everything and despite our best efforts it is sometimes impossible. Google Alerts is an automated search service that allows you to learn about articles matching key search terms the moment Google knows about them. It’s quick, efficient and intuitive.
2. Stay current: You’ve found a site you like, but we’re all busy and yes, it is difficult to check those important sites every day. Make life easy and set up an RSS feed to have new articles or content delivered directly to your inbox. The site you’re interested in doesn’t have an RSS feed?! Get on their back, because it’s in their best interest to have one.
3. Know what others are looking at: Del.icio.us is a good example of a social bookmarking website. This type of tool allows you to share what you are bookmarking on the Internet with a network and allows you to see what people in your network are bookmarking. No longer will you need those pesky “Check out this link” e-mails.
4. Video is becoming very important: To survive, I think America’s Funniest Videos needs a gimmick… oh, wait, that’s what the money is for. YouTube and other video upload sites allow any one to become a broadcaster and some of these videos have a loyal fan base or even appear in a dedicated channel. This is viewer ship some companies can’t afford to ignore.
5. We’re people, not just keyboards: You’ve dealt with so many people in text e-mails its nice to have a face-to-face conversation with someone once in a while. Tools like Seesmic are leading the way in video conversations; just another way to get your beautiful self out there.
6. Online communities are another public: People are spending more time online and this group is increasingly diverse. It’s natural people would find ways to entertain themselves and community interaction online is another option. It’s likely this trend will continue and it’s important to keep an eye on it – or heck, get into it yourself.
7. Everyone wants a voice: This is natural. The most frustrating thing is to be ignored. Get Satisfaction has taken customer support one step further by taking the idea of the company support page and merging it with community support forums. “Tech support, meet the customer’s knowledgeable neighbour.”
8. I want to have a presence, but I don’t have time to blog: Micro-blogging platforms like Twitter allow users to post messages publicly at their convenience. They’re short, to the point and get out there. You won’t carry as much “weight” in an online community as someone who does write articles, but it’s something.
9. I need a professional place online to get connected with other professionals: LinkedIn is a website that encourages and facilitates professional relationships. Users can share their work histories, experience, knowledge and recommendations with anyone.
10. I’m not overwhelmed with the Internet, I’m overwhelmed with tools: Check out Friendfeed. This gem allows you to create a network of people and then follow what they share on the Internet across multiple services/tools. Friendfeed aggregates approximately 40 different Internet tools and brings them to one feed. This is a great way to make it easy on yourself and make it easy on people who are interested in what you’re doing online. Friendfeed also allows for conversations on each posted item.

So the next time you’re on the Internet, keep some of these tips in mind. These best practices will keep you in the know and allow you to use your time on the Internet more effectively. The new skill is not gathering information, it’s sorting it.

This list is by no means the end all of technological technique. Feel free to comment on your favourite Internet tool if it’s not here and let us all know its benefits. The neat thing about the Internet is that this list may change in a year or two anyways. Please, Public Relations 2.0 professionals, take notice and stay aware before the people you’re responsible for communicating with leave you in the cyber-dust.