Building Bridges: How to Develop Social Networks as Part of Community Management

Speakers: Rich Vogel

Track: Game Design

Format: Lecture

Experience Level: All

Description: Why think of gaming communities in terms of forums and a web presence? We need to think communities as social networks they actually are. We need to facilitate the gamers developing networks (bridges) with themselves as well as with developers and publishers. Why not focus their interest around your brand, and your games? There are many examples of social network sites like YouTube and MySpace. We need to examine what they are doing and capture the best ideas and put these ideas to work.

This lecture discusses the next generation of community management. What are the Building blocks for developing social networks between gamers, developers and publishers? A review of the best ideas being used on other social network sites and how these ideas can be integrated into existing gaming sites. The pros and cons on developing social networks around your brand (intellectual property). How can we focus social networks and use them to promote our brands via viral marketing? This will be a lively discussion for designers and community managers alike; it demonstrates the importance of social networks and how they can provide a good viral tool for brand building.