144 What Makes a Great Online Community?

Online communities (sometimes the only communities we have during a pandemic) can be magical places. Friendships forged, insights shared, and fun had by all. They can also become toxic, shouty cesspools. Why do some succeed while others devolve into chaos? Alli and Jen talk with Anika Gupta, a journalist who studied online community structures for her book How to Handle a Crowd: The Art of Creating Healthy and Dynamic Online Communities. Gupta shares the key to healthy moderation, the social norms of different platforms, why scale makes things complicated, and what online platforms can do to help communities thrive and protect vulnerable members. Follow Anika: https://twitter.com/digitalanika Get the Book: https://www.amazon.com/How-Handle-Crowd-Creating-Communities/dp/1982132310 Support 2G1P on Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/2G1P Join us on Discord: discord.gg/2g1p Email us: [email protected] Talk to Alli and Jen: https://twitter.com/alligold https://twitter.com/joonbugger Call the show and leave a message! (347) 871-6548   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices