Community, Social Media and Risk Perceptions

Do You Trust Your Members?

My friend Grace Smith asked me to speak to the Board of Well for the Journey, about social media. The Well’s mission statement is a bit intimidating:

In response to God’s grace and spirit, The Well offers spiritual nourishment for daily living. Though grounded in Christianity, the center reaches beyond denominations and traditions to provide opportunities for spiritual growth and formation, equipping individuals to serve God and others.

Although the word “community†isn’t in the mission statement, it is important to the organization. So my task was to tell them the many ways they can use social media to spread their message of leading a more spiritual life. This was a refreshing change from my usual “risks of social media†talk.

While preparing to channel Maddie and Lindy (I hope I made them proud!) on the value of social media in building community, a board member asked, “What is social media?†…I thought, this is going to be a long hour. We talked about the various tools, but also kept them focused on defining what they wanted to do via social media – outreach, growth, marketing, fundraising and just sharing their joy of leading a spiritual life (as they define it) while encouraging others to join them on their journey.

It was great to watch them “get it.†The most amazing thing for me was that no one asked about the most dreaded social media risk – “What if someone says something bad about us?†Maybe as a nonprofit focused on building community they don’t think about that stuff. We talked about some of the risks – posting someone’s photo online without their permission (get a signed media waiver) or the “time suck†of social media (time management or sharing tasks). The school teacher mentioned the problems of cyber-bulling and the Internet as fodder for child predators. But no one was worried about someone saying something bad about them – what a refreshing encounter.

They were focused on ways to build their community. Grace had just read Open Community (you may have heard of it) loved it and bought copies for her board members. The book spoke truths to her about The Well and its mission:

All community happens in small groups.
Open community means embracing the Ecosystem.
Forget perfect.
There’s something to be said for the mess.
Find your champions.
Create safe places.

Building community is risky stuff but to this board, the risks are not a barrier to their goal. But many other organizations see online communities as very risky. So why do people have such different perceptions of these risks? Because human feelings and emotions play a significant role in decision-making. Some fear the power of a community, while others embrace it.

Paul Slovic, a psychology professor at the University of Oregon is a leading theorist and researcher in risk perception. Dr. Slovic pioneered the concept of affect heuristic – a theory that a person’s “affect†(feelings, emotions) influences decision-making. A person may show a bias based upon an affect. A person having a good feeling towards a situation can lead to a perception of lower risk and higher benefit that is contrary to logic or self-interest. The reverse is also true where a negative affect influences a decision in a similar way. Seeing a house with good “curb appeal†, although the inside is in need of repair, may still influence the person to buy the house. But entering the house through the back into a shabby kitchen will influence the person to not buy the house. Same house but with a different affect on people viewing it.

Humans are not rational, logical beings we make decisions based more on emotion than logic. The Well’s board members were more concerned with supporting and growing its community than the risks (real and imagined) from social media. The risks are manageable and not a barrier to community but a way to create a safe place for people to gather. Perhaps because associations deal with diverse members with both positive and negative feelings about the organization, the staff may have a less favorable affect toward the members’ community.

How do we mitigate a negative affect to encourage the growth of online communities? Are members your reason for existing, or an annoyance? Many associations say their members are important but their behavior indicates otherwise. If the affect is negative how can you change that perception knowing you will always have unhappy, problematic members? This affect, or feelings about your members, influences your perceptions of the risks of social media and community. If you don’t trust your members, you are not going to be comfortable using social media.