Six Ways to Build Online Community

Building community will help you in several ways. It will make your end users into your partners, instead of just your customers, it will increase the knowledge in your company, and it will be a source of information for you to know what you need to improve. Here are some basic ideas to encourage feedback in your SharePoint Server 2007 community:

  1. Make the reason for the discussion board or wiki clear
    Be very clear in your goal for the discussion board or wiki, and make any rules of engagement very clear.

  2. Word-of-mouth increases use
    Use your Super users or other users to inform new users about the discussion board and wikis.

  3. Be prepared for surprises
    Your users may not have the same ideas and questions that you have. Be prepared to be surprised by the questions.

  4. Develop ownership
    Don’t feel that the IT department has to answer every question or set the tone/rules. Encourage ownership by highlighting the people who frequently answer questions.

  5. Make it easy to use and visible
    Make it simple and easy to find. Consider putting up posters to advertise the discussion board you’ve developed.

  6. Handle rude comments quickly
    Don’t allow co-workers to berate each other. Make it clear in your rules that you expect professional behavior and collaboration.

read more (and source): https://sharepoint.microsoft.com/gearup/Pages/EU_Build_Community.aspx

https://sharepoint.microsoft.com/gearup/