Building Online Communities with Discourse
Your guide to building online spaces and encouraging engagement with Discourse forum
By: Jinso Raj
Intro
Online communities are essential, and Discourse forums stand out as a crucial tool in creating engaging digital spaces. This book is about building such Discourse communities, and is meant for two key audiences:
For NGOs and Community Builders: Discover how to bring your community online with healthier interactions and engagement.
For Tech Enthusiasts: If you're searching for the right forum tool to build communities or eager to help NGOs establish their forums, this guide is for you.
Let's start with Discourse forums and unlock the potential of creating vibrant online communities.
Credits
I would like to extend my gratitude to Shemeer for his invaluable help in structuring the book and providing insightful ideas and suggestions, to Sumi for her assistance in refining the writing and content, and to Megha for her creative ideas and contributions. Your support and contributions have played a significant role in shaping this book and making it a reality.
Case Study
1: Stakeholders
Audience
By examining the case study, it's clear that a sense of community or a safe online space is lacking.
But why is it important to bring people together, and how does it benefit them?
- Facilitates Communication and Networking
- Encourages Resource Sharing
- Enhances Transparency
Who Are the Needy People?
These are the individuals who are likely in need of being brought together:
- Students and Volunteers
- Grassroot NGOs
Tech Enthusiasts & Professionals- Funders and Donors
- Vulnerable Community Members
- Job Seekers
- Community Leaders
- Government Representatives
2: Power Map
Impacts
Now, let's explore the impacts created by an open online community on stakeholders, considering the influence and power they hold.
3: Stakeholder Needs
Actual Needs
Now, let's think about the actual needs of our stakeholders. What are the fundamental requirements they might have?
- Students and Volunteers: To contribute, learn, and connect with like-minded individuals.
- Grassroot NGOs: To communicate, collaborate, ask for help and feedback, and share insights within their communities.
- Funders and Donors: To see impactful projects, transparent communication, and opportunities to support meaningful initiatives.
- Vulnerable Community Members: A safe space to share experiences, seek support, and get proper resources and knowledge.
- Job Seekers: To explore employment opportunities.
- Community Leaders: To engage in discussions to share best practices, to bring people together, exchange ideas, and help in community development.
- Government Representatives: Seeking insights, collaboration, to offer support and to open communication with NGOs and other grassroots communities.
Finding the Right Tool
For this use case, the need for an online forum arises from the identified lack of a community or safe online space. An online forum, especially Discourse Forum, becomes the ideal solution for several reasons:
- FOSS (Free and Open-Source Software): Discourse is free to use and open-source, allowing for customization and community-driven development.
- Self-Hostable and Data Security: Being self-hostable gives organizations control over their data and security measures.
- Seamless Browser and Email Integration: Discourse provides a user-friendly experience both in-browser and through email notifications, ensuring easy access and engagement.
- Flexibility and Customizability: Discourse offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing organizations to tailor the forum to their specific needs and branding.
- Great Moderation Features: Discourse provides powerful moderation tools to keep discussions respectful, safe, and on-topic.
- Encourages Engagement: With features like likes, replies, and notifications, Discourse encourages active participation and community building.
There are alternative platforms also, such as:
- Flarum
- phpBB
- Vanilla Forums
- vBulletin
Fulfilling the Needs
Let's discuss how each feature in the Discourse forum can help GuideStarIndia build and nurture its community: