“When you think about things this way, you realize that you have hundreds, or thousands or millions of individuals out there, and that’s why you can’t spend all your time or mental energy on one person or group that’s unhappy. On Reddit’s page outlining etiquette for the site (reddiquette), the number one directive is to “remember the human.” This is significant not just for that community, but for all online communities where it’s easy to forget this simple fact, he says. “Sometimes people just want to know there’s someone else on the other side of the line,” Martin says. “When you respond, make it clear: 'Yes, human beings read what you write.'” It’s easier to be mean to an inanimate object than an actual human being. Not only does it make the user you’re talking to feel better understood, it also demonstrates that there’s actual people behind the product. And don’t forget that the strongest show of empathy is often just listening.Įmpathy works in two ways. When you communicate with them, make it clear that you understand their motivation, and then walk them through a desired course of action to resolve the problem. Try first to see things from their point of view and dissect the source of their behavior. Don’t tell people they are wrong or handling things poorly (unless an extreme response is warranted). Put channels in place that make you appear responsive whenever possible.īe empathetic. This could include a help center, an FAQ, or in Reddit’s case, a moderator. And it does mean directing people to resources where they can find help and support on your site without requiring personal attention. It does mean recognizing patterns that emerge from many pieces of feedback and responding meaningfully to those issues. This doesn’t necessarily mean working your way through an impossible queue of feedback.
Adopt the kindness and attitude of someone that you would like to know and spend time with.īe responsive. Use mass communications as opportunities to showcase the humanity behind your product and service. So what are these macro gestures you can take so that millions of people feel like their have a personal relationship with your company?īe kind and courteous in communications big and small. “People express themselves much more often when things are going wrong.” This is where community management can be a lot like customer service. And the ones who don’t seem to be are often just angry at something else going on in their world. “Just remember, most people are reasonable. You have a lot more people that you’re serving on a regular basis,” he says.
“You can’t panic when a certain contingent of people is very loud and angry. So you have to be prepared for some of them to be upset every time you tweak the product, or send a mass email, or change the look or feel of any part of their experience. People will feel very strongly about your product, no matter what it is. “It’s so important to not waste your time on a small minority of users, even if they're very vocal,” he says. They have to take macro actions to steer the community in the right direction. There’s no way he or his team can respond to every fire, complaint, or unpleasant exchange on the platform. The latter is what he’s dealing with, and as a result, has become very stringent about how he allocates his time and attention. Depending on the stage of your company, you may have hundreds of users for every one community professional. The number one piece of advice Martin has for community managers: Be very thoughtful about where you invest your time.
How can you make your company's community feel so connected? Heard? Engaged? In this exclusive First Round Review interview, Reddit’s General Manager and former Community Manager Erik Martin shatters assumptions and talks about how to win by making community management more about the heart than the mind. And yet, the millions of people who post, observe, and return day after day have enshrined it as a sacred part of their lives. What you’d find is a human approach that relies more on intuition than numbers. You’d expect a sophisticated big data machine. Given the sheer volume, you’d expect the community team to be huge, but it’s still in the single digits. It’s sparked fiery debates in the media over what the internet should and shouldn’t be. It’s given birth to international movements. It’s also known as one of the most engaged, vocal and opinionated communities on the web. Reddit is considered one of the world’s leading news and social sites, with over 5.5 billion pages served to over 100 million unique visitors spanning 186 countries.