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Design for Community: Chapter 2
Meet Matt Haughey, proprietor of MetaFilter.
"Like most community endeavors, there needs to be a critical mass of sorts, before real interaction takes place."
"The best discussions seem to be exactly that – experts on a particular subject will see something mentioned on MetaFilter, then post informative comments that support or contradict the original thread. It makes for some really great discussions and I think everyone benefits from the information sharing."
"There's a wide variety of characters that inhabit the site, so you never know how where discussion threads will lead."
" . . . I decided to stop speaking at the community of readers, and start speaking to them, engaging them. . . . Suddenly I felt closer to the community. . . . that's when it really started feeling like a place, and not just a site."
" . . . there's a community and a code of ethics, guidelines, and unwritten rules that people follow. . . . the small town feel of MetaFilter means that discussions are almost always civil and respectful."
" . . . pitfalls that other communities face. After a period of growth, will the original users stop reading and participating? How do you teach new users the ethics and guidelines the veterans of the site follow? How many people is too much?"
" . . . everyone has to find their perfect place to hang out. . . . A very successful community creates a special place in a lot of people's hearts. People are what make a community great, not necessarily the administrator or moderators . . . "
"To sum up the good qualities of a community builder, pick something you're passionate about, devote the necessary time to building a site around it, stick with it for as long as it takes, keep it going as long as you can, and be open with your users. That's not too much to ask, now is it?"
1:08:19 PM Google It! 
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