Though still in its infancy, the Financial Times‘ move to digital-first is already bearing fruit – in October 2013, the newspaper reported an all-time high paid circulation, with millions more registered online (although many are sticking with the 8 free articles a month).
Following on from her talk with Interhacktives last year, Sarah Laitner, one of the architects of the FT’s move online, gives tips on how to build an internet community, how best to serve that readership, the behaviours of journalists and their commenters, and her thoughts on reddit.
How do you foster community? For those starting out, what are steps to build a community readership?
I think you foster an active community by listening and talking to people, as well as by working out what they want from your site.
Here are some tips for those trying to build a community:
-
Work out who you want to engage, and why
-
Think about this group’s web behaviour and from that consider how, when and why they might be inclined to participate
-
Look at what is already available to meet the needs of those people, and see if you can find a niche
-
Try to form a relationship with a small group of readers who could be the backbone of your community, writing comments, joining in discussions and giving you helpful feedback
-
Keep a close eye on the data to see what works, and what doesn’t
-
Experiment and be flexible in your efforts to encourage good quality comments from readers
While it’s important to think about those who engage heavily — posting comments, for example — it’s also necessary to keep in mind those who lurk. There are people who do not post comments, or join live chats, but who follow articles and journalists closely, sign up to email alerts, and through that very much feel part of a site. If you’re a lurker, you’re still a part of the community. Just by reading a site/buying a paper, you have “opted-in” and shown your affiliation.
Do community members associate themselves with the publication, its writers or their fellow readers and commenters?
All of the above. A site can have multiple communities. One community may include those who have an affection or emotional connection with the publication in general. Another community may comprise people who have a specific interest in a particular subject area, writer or group of readers. For example, at the Financial Times, FT Alphaville, our markets and finance blog, has developed a strong community. Some of its readers take part in a daily live chat on the blog and also comment on the team members’ posts. My colleagues at FT Alphaville have in some cases got to know their readers quite well.
And communities don’t just live on our site. They exist too on Twitter and on our Facebook/other social pages.
How does community react to change – such as a redesign, or new features?
I think this depends on how you make the change and how you communicate it. Do you introduce change incrementally or in a big bang? Do you solicit your readers’ views beforehand? If you do, you can analyse their likes and dislikes, taking their wishes into account. Along with my colleagues Lisa Pollack, Maija Palmer, plus members of our customer research team, we have carried out a survey with readers who comment most frequently on our site, to ascertain their likes and dislikes. This will guide us when we make changes.
To what extent do you allow a community to interact without FT writers or community managers getting involved? And how important is community autonomy?
Some discussions on our website develop without too much involvement from us, with readers chatting to each other. In other discussions, our journalists are engaged directly. Here are some recent examples:
Rose-coloured glasses for 2014 need a polish
The Buffett difference, derivatives edition
Some of our readers are extremely knowledgeable in their fields and often we can learn from what they write in their comments. Having readers’ responses on the site also creates a more personal feel to things.
As to autonomy: it depends what you mean by this. We like people to comment but we don’t rank replies or give readers moderation powers, though those are things to think about.
What does the paywall do to the FT’s community?
Commenting is a central part of our community. You don’t have to be a paying reader to comment; you just have to register, and that’s free. Rebecca Heptinstall, the social media manager in our communications team, informs readers about our digital access model and answers their questions.
What do you think about Reddit? Is it a threat or an opportunity?
Reddit’s a fantastic resource and it’s full of intriguing links. I can while away ages on there following Ask Me Anything sessions (for example the recent one by Monty Python) and subreddits on my interests, such as tennis.
We do sometimes see traffic surges by the force of Reddit, and it’s exciting when that happens. It can be around a story from our archives, such as this one submitted to Reddit’s TIL: http://www.reddit.com/r/
It’s heartening to see that our stories can stand the test of time and continue to generate discussion long after publication.
And do you use the internet for work, fun or both?
Both!