Method to the Madness

Practical Science for Community Management

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Outline

• Understand Science
• 4 Principle Examples
• How to do this yourself

What is Science?

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What makes good science?

Replicable

• Get the same result multiple times from multiple parties

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What makes good science?

Controlled for bias

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What makes good science?

Big Sample Size

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What makes good science?

Peer-Reviewed

• Papers are submitted to journals
• Journals have a jury of peers
• Need to be approved

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Places to find journals

• Sage, JSTOR, local library

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Social Science??

Why use science in your work?

Benefits

• Conversation with your work, even if you work alone
• Helps advocate for your work
• Community management is new
• Extends your work beyond vibes

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Principle 1

Parasocial Relationships

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Definition

What is it?

• One-sided relationship built through consumption
• Fulfills space of friendship in our brain without reciprocation
• Made stronger with positive interactions and self-disclosure (sharing)

Impacts of Parasocial Relationships

What does it do?

• + loyalty to a person
• - resistance to persuasion

What’s the harm?

• Unfair expectations of friendship
• Boundary crossing

Profitable Dysfunction

Build a brand,

share yourself

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Post on platform designed for consumption

Create intimacy and connection

Get consistent engagement

Platform profits

Build Audience,

Paid content

Applications

• Impacts relationship to your audience
• Discord
• Marketing material
• Developer safety
• Influencer relations

Principle 2

In Groups and Out Groups

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Definition

• In Group and Out Group Dynamics is a framework to understand how humans form identity and community with each other
• Ideologies, religions, sexualities, hobbies, race, nationality, illness, astrology, cilantro gene

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Reinforcing Identity

• Find a group
• Learn about its norms
• Pick up identity
• Reinforce those norms
• Feel happier in group & identity
• Repeat

Must We Fight?

• In groups vs out groups doesn’t mean conflict is necessary
• The values you set for your “in-group” dictate who is allowed in

If you don’t set values for your group, someone else will!

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Example: Can’t Stand Commies

• Find a group (blaseball)
• Learn about its norms
• Pick up identity
• Reinforce those norms
• Feel happier in group & identity
• Repeat

Example: Can’t Stand Commies

• Find a group (blaseball)
• Learn about its norms (leftist + community care)
• Pick up identity
• Reinforce those norms
• Feel happier in group & identity
• Repeat

Example: Can’t Stand Commies

• Find a group (blaseball)
• Learn about its norms (leftist + community care)
• Pick up identity (introduced to new left ideas)
• Reinforce those norms
• Feel happier in group & identity
• Repeat

Example: Can’t Stand Commies

• Find a group (blaseball)
• Learn about its norms (leftist + community care)
• Pick up identity (introduced to new left ideas)
• Reinforce those norms (challenge conservative ideas)
• Feel happier in group & identity
• Repeat

Example: Can’t Stand Commies

• Find a group (blaseball)
• Learn about its norms (leftist + community care)
• Pick up identity (introduced to new left ideas)
• Reinforce those norms (challenge conservative ideas)
• Feel happier in group & identity (celebrate)
• Repeat

Applications to Community

• What do you want your community to care about?
• What do you want them to reject?
• What do they have in common?
• How can you define a group to include more of your fans?

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Principle 3

Social Cognitive Theory

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Definition

Social Cognitive Theory is a framework for how people learn & factors in environment, person, and behavior.

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1. See a behavior
2. See response to behavior (reward or punishment)
3. Evaluate if they have the self-efficacy to do same behavior

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Applications for Community Management

• Curate the culture you want to see in community by rewarding positive behaviors

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY

• Making those behaviors seem doable for your audience.

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Principle 4

Operant Conditioning

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Classical Conditioning vs Operant Conditioning

Definition

• Association of a voluntary behavior with a consequence (good or bad)
• Way of reinforcing or discouraging behavior

The TLDR;

• The reward does not have to be constant or predictable
• You see the behavior repeated MORE when reward is unpredictable.

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We’re all just rats

in a box hoping for biscuits…

Easy Ways to Reinforce Behavior

• Rewarding positive behaviors
• Muting someone for breaking a rule
• Rewarding people for opening an email
• Retweeting fanart on the official account

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A mongus

Meme credit to bigolas dickolas wolfwood on Twitter

Tying it All Together

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Info we share with fans

Responding to fans

Understanding fans

How we design interaction

Parasocial boundaries with fans

Discord server structure

Social media interaction

Low barrier activities

Modelling positive behavior

Moderation rules & messages

Patch notes

customer service

Rewarding behavior

Public Communication

Social Media posts

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Defining in-group values

Resolving cognitive dissonance for fans

Identifying fan demographics & values

Documenting process

Bot commands

In-game communication

Structures for fan-> dev communication

Operant conditioning

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Community events

Handling a crisis well

Doing this Yourself

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Doing this Yourself

Easy Mode

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Figure Out What You Need

• What are you stressed about at work?
• Abstract that

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→ Audience responding to big change

→ People accepting change, people experiencing novelty, people not understanding something

→ Persuasion

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Find it: Option 1

• Look up “social science theories [keyword],” “psychology [keyword]” or Wikipedia articles
• Take anything that isn’t peer-reviewed published work with a grain of salt
• Search it on Wikipedia and check sources

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Find it: Option 2

• Go to a university department website with a good communications or psych program
• Look up classes on that subject
• Read sources listed in the syllabus

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Do Due Dilligence

• Read multiple sources
• Check quality of sources
• Do it

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Doing this Yourself

Easier Mode

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Look These Up

• Social Penetration Theory
• Elaboration Likelihood Model
• Expectancy Violations Theory
• Spiral of Silence Theory
• Social Judgment Theory
• Uses and Gratifications
• Cultivation Theory
• Communication Accommodation Theory
• Priming

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• Confirmation Bias
• Groupthink
• Hedging
• Heuristics

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Conclusion

• Pulling from other fields strengthens your work
• Vibes are good, vibes and knowledge are better
• We’re all in this together

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Questions?

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Where to Find Me

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@thevoidencore

@thevoidandmore

Briadavis.com

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Or come get a business card :)

FILL OUT YOUR EVALUATIONS

PLEASEEEEEE

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