Being Community Minded On A Forum

When I think of being community minded within a forum I relate it to how I would participate in my own neighborhood functions. Imagine if you would this picture... It is summer time and you are arriving at your annual neighborhood BBQ. You of course bring along your favorite dish as you know the rule that you don’t arrive empty handed at a party. You visit and catch up on what is happening in the neighborhood. You share plans with your neighbors, getting to know one another personally – you find out about their experiences, their quirks, and their goals such as an upcoming vacation. You volunteer to look after your neighbor’s home when they go away, wanting to be a help. Because you are known in your neighborhood by the way you maintain your own home, you’ve built up a trust and so you are deemed trustworthy and reliable - your housesitting offer is snapped up!

Now let’s flip this around and compare a neighborhood function to a forum community. You arrive at the forum, check out the posts or blogs by fellow members, catching up on what is happening in the forum. Just like taking food to a party, you bring your knowledge to the forum, posting and sharing with others as you would a favorite recipe. You too begin to get to know other forum members more personally, sharing your goals and dreams with one another. You volunteer to help out others within the forum and because you have built a reputation for helping out and have proven your reliability you have the opportunity to work with them or even subcontract – every VA needs to take a vacation at some point!

So there you have it…your own neighborhood function is quite similar to being a forum member. Don't forget to bring the food

Ps. Think of forum rules as you would your city bylaw’s…always obey them or you may get a ticket

Until next time…