{"id":1036,"date":"2009-11-25T23:05:00","date_gmt":"2009-11-26T06:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sarahdopp.com\/blog\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2009-12-06T12:33:51","modified_gmt":"2009-12-06T19:33:51","slug":"aikido-moves-for-online-community-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarahdopp.com\/blog\/2009\/aikido-moves-for-online-community-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Aikido Moves for Online Community Management: The Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"
Heads up, this content is 16 years old. Please keep its age in mind while reading.<\/div>

I believe that some communities need managers<\/a> (or facilitators or moderators — there are a few different flavors to this role).\u00a0 I also believe there are ways to hold that space respectfully, in a way that takes care of everyone, while still being very strong.\u00a0 As promised, I want to offer you some of the “moves” I’ve learned over the years in this role, with hopes that you can use them to help guide your own community spaces.<\/p>\n

There’s just one problem.\u00a0 Every time I try to write this blog post, it keeps growing to the size of a book.<\/p>\n

So here’s what we’re going to do: we’re going to let it be a series. Last week I gave you the prologue<\/a>.\u00a0 Now here’s Part 1: “Aikido Moves for Online Community Management: The Basics,” complete with even more intro material for context.\u00a0 There will be a Part 2. I promise.
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My Training<\/h2>\n

I’ve been building websites since ’97 and have held the reigns on a number of community-rallying projects.\u00a0 There are two in particular, though, that I can attribute most of my lessons to.\u00a0 They are:<\/p>\n

The Writ<\/a><\/strong> – An online writing workshop and publication that had 2,000+ members and an ever-changing staff of volunteers. It started in 2003 and was just officially closed a few months ago, because it was time.<\/p>\n

Genderfork<\/a> <\/strong>– A community expression blog about gender variance that has 10,000+ readers a month.\u00a0 It’s run by a staff of 10 volunteers who all have clear responsibilities for maintaining the site. The broader community contributes through submissions and response comments. It’s been around since 2007.<\/p>\n

I built both of these spaces from scratch, with the help of friends and community members who wanted to see it succeed. And it’s important to note that in both of these communities, our goals were to:<\/p>\n