Thread by @RichMillington

In almost every client survey I do, members rank 'making friends', 'events', and 'building a reputation' as the LEAST important factors to them.

Top are 'finding information', 'quick answers to questions', and sometimes 'product reviews/what to buy/use'. #CMGR

How do we reconcile that with the idea that we work in community?

Or with building a sense of community? Or with the literature that shows the importance of brands providing a sense of belonging?

My belief is the surveys are accurate. The majority of people in a brand community only want to solve the information needs they have right now.

However, there will always be a tiny minority who do love having a connection to that brand, want access to you, and where the art of building a sense of belonging (or a true community) really do matter.

I suspect the majority of books on the amazing power and importance of belonging simply pull data/examples/interviews from this tiny group and say that everyone wants a sense of belonging with the companies they buy from.

This is like scooping the surface water from a pond and pretending it represents the depths below.

We're seeing an increasing books/articles which push us to try and make every member feel a strong sense of belonging to each other.

It's a big mistake.

e.g If you're visiting the Apple community to ask a question to fix your iPhone, you don't want to make friends with others trying to fix their iPhone too.

What's the point?

In short, we have a TINY group of members we can truly build a sense of community with and a majority of visitors who simply want the right information at the right time.

Nothing wrong with either group as long as we know which we're dealing with.