BOOK
Relationships, not atoms or electrons, are the building blocks of the new economy. No village, no mall. But how does one intentionally build a community? I'm often asked that question by companies large and clueless, young and impatient, and my answer is simple: Read the book.
Amy Jo Kim, a consultant and veteran online-community builder, has distilled the essential components of this art into an understandable framework with practical nuts-and-bolts advice: how to encourage volunteers, when to nurture rituals, what to do about disruptive jerks, where to go for specialized software. It's all here. And even if you know all this, your new hires don't.
Kim also provides wonderful inspiration for noncommercial sites - say, for building dialog around a cause or a game, or bringing a flat homepage to life. This book is a short course in putting soul into the Web.
Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities by Amy Jo Kim: $29.99. Peachpit Press: (800) 283 9444, www.peachpit.com.
STREET CRED
Prêt-à-Portégé
Afterburn Rate
Clean Sweep
The Institute of Higher G-Forces
Fac-droid
Sticky Sight
Your Personal Web Scrawler
ReadMe
Music
Cardiac Arrest
Galaxy Quest
The City That Never Sleeps
Just Outta Beta
Atlas Shrugged
Noise "R" Us
Contributors
