Social Media | Communities & Education

I cannot express the depth of my gratitude to these tremendous ladies (Julia Nicholls and Dottie Hodges) for sharing their experiences with me. Their enthusiasm in and commitment to their communities is so genuine and inspiring. Listed below is only maybe 20% of what we discussed in our interviews. There is a lot more activity in these groups that could be compared with other community-related research and examined for potential usage in other fields (academia, marketing, etc). I continue to be a devoted and enthusiastic follower/onlooker/lurker in both online groups discussed below and am excited to see how they continue to grow into the future.

Introduction

In September, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dottie Hodges and Julia Nicholls – two stand up paddlers who have created vibrant online communities that facilitate group asynchronous fitness training. These groups were discussed briefly in my earlier post, Using Facebook Groups to Promote Online Learning Communities. The success of these paddlers and groups is exciting for many reasons:

focus on online collaborative learning – that they are communities centered around learning and collectively building knowledge online
low participation costs – how easy it is to participate in these groups despite their monumental group challenges
they inspire action – how successful they are in inspiring continuous real world action when all community interaction exists online
strong group identity – how enthusiastic their members are about the online communities
steep growth – their phenomenal growth in membership and participation within a short time frame

In my post below, I share more about these communities and discuss reasons for their success based on current community-related theories.

100/100 Paddle Challenge

The 100/100 Paddle Challenge (100/100) is a Facebook group that unites a global community of paddlers in completing various distance related challenges. It is named after its first challenge – to paddle 100 miles in 100 days. The group was created by Julia Nicholls, a stand up paddler and former ultrarunner from Morehead City, North Carolina, as a way to encourage herself to train and paddle throughout the winter (personal communication, September 25, 2014).

(Julia Nicholls, 2014)

To participate in 100/100, group members log their miles paddled through posting on the group’s Facebook wall. The challenge simply encourages members to complete the miles in the designated time frame. How, when, and where a participant paddles these miles is unimportant, making the challenge available to participants of all skill levels, ages, and geographic locations.

100/100 was created in January of 2014. In its first month, the group had 31 members. In 10 months, the group has grown dramatically and now includes 311 members (Nicholls, 2014).

Back of the Pack Chattajack

Back of the Pack Chattajack (BOP) is an online community of paddlers who are mostly geographically separated but use a Facebook group to train together asynchronously. Dottie Hodges, the group’s founder and a Hammer Nutrition sponsored athlete, created the group after registering for the Chattajack – a 32 mile stand up paddle race on the Chattanooga River. As a former triathlete, Hodges had trained for other endurance-testing events through group workouts. In my interview with her, she explained that this sense of community is what motivated her in the past to stay engaged in her training and to compete. Through BOP, Hodges wanted to leverage this same group accountability and motivation through connecting online with other paddlers training for the Chattajack. (personal communication, September 25, 2014).

(Dottie Hodges, 2014)

Like 100/100, paddlers can participate in BOP through logging their training progress on the group’s Facebook wall. Although BOP does not require participants to train using a specific format, members use the group as a forum to share and gather information on workouts, racing gear, and nutrition. Because of the length of the race (32 miles), group members need to push themselves to paddle longer distances (20+ miles) as part of their training. For many participants, paddling these long distances is a challenge and results in muscle fatigue, mental exhaustion, and sometimes injury. Members use the group to share these challenges to obtain needed encouragement and feedback.

BOP was created in March of 2014, with 2 original members. This has also grown tremendously for the past 7 months, and now includes 53 members (Hodges, 2014).

Reasons for Success

Low Participation Costs, High Reward

Butler et al. explain in their 2014 research article that there is cost – in terms of time and energy – to participate in online communities. Members participate in these groups to obtain a specific benefit as a result of reviewing the discussion posts of other members. If reviewing these posts is time intensive, the participation cost of the group is high and may deter future participation (p. 704).

Although both 100/100 and BOP require tremendous physical and real-life action, participation online is very simple. Posts to the groups’ Facebook walls can range in length and detail, from paragraphs to just a few words, and include pictures. Pictures and short posts are easily scanned by other members, keeping the online participation cost in these groups relatively low.

As posts are added to the groups’ walls, other group members respond by “liking” and/or comments on the posts with words of encouragement. This positive reinforcement gives the group a very high team moral and encourages further interaction. The more content a participant adds to the wall, the more positive reinforcement he or she receives. Nicholls also regularly features member photos shared on 100/100’s wall as the main photo for the group’s page (Nicholls, 2014). This spotlight opportunity encourages members to continue sharing pictures of their paddling adventures.

Strong Group Identity

Ren et al. explain in their 2012 research article that “member participation and retention [in online communities] depends on member attachment” which is the “members’ affective connection to and caring for an online community” (p. 842). According to theories regarding group identity, a strong group identity can result in a strong member attachment. This group identity can be built through promoting common goals and group objects (like a flag or group symbol) (p. 844). Both 100/100 and BOP unite paddlers using both of these methods.

100/100 and BOP promote a specific challenge with milestones towards that goal that are easily tracked. Only participants who are commitment to completing these challenges (or enthusiastic onlookers like myself) are permitted to join the groups. This screening of potential members keeps the group focused and unified on its original goals and expectations.

Both groups also utilize a team logo and encourage members to display it with pride. Nicholls mails all 100/100 participants a sticker with the name of the group’s challenge. At the completion of their challenge, participants are encouraged to post and photograph this sticker in a prominent location. On the group’s Facebook wall are pictures of stickers stuck to paddles, boards, buoys, cars, computers, etc. (Nicholls, 2014).

(Williams, 2014)

Hodges designed a special logo for BOP to give the group a more professional and elite appearance (personal communication, September 25, 2014).

(Hodges, 2014)

This logo was featured as the main picture for the group’s Facebook page. Hodges later distributed t-shirts with this logo to group members at this year’s Chattajack (Hodges, 2014).

(Hodges, 2014)

Summary

Nicholls and Hodges have succeeded in building two impressive online communities organically through emphasizing group identity. Both 100/100 and BOP continue to be active communities because of the enthusiasm of their members in the content, and a structure that requires a low online participation cost. The success of these groups outlines research potential into the effects of peer encouragement on retention and participation in online communities.

References

Butler, B. S., Bateman, P. J., Gray, P. H., & Diamant, E. (2014). An attraction-selection-attrition theory of online community size and resilience. MIS Quarterly, 38(3), 699-728. Retrieved from http://www.misq.org/

Dottie Hodges [online photo]. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/dottie.b.hodges

Hodges, D. (2014, March 6). Back of the Pack Chattajack [Facebook Group]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404314579830164/

Hodges, D. (2014). Back of the Pack Chattajack Logo [online image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404314579830164/

Hodges, D. (2014). Back of the Pack Chattajack T-shirts [online image]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/1404314579830164/

Julia Nicholls [online photo]. (2014). Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/julia.nicholls

Nicholls, J. (2014, January 18). 100/100 Paddle Challenge [Facebook Group]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/682074028482292/

Ren, Y., Harper, F. M., Drenner, S., Terveen, L., Kiesler, S., Riedl, J., Kraut, R. (2012). Building member attachment in online communities: Applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds. MIS Quarterly, 36(3), 841-864. Retrieved from http://www.misq.org/

Williams, C. (2014). 100/100 Paddle Challenge Sticker [online photo]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.norcross

Below is a blog post that I wrote as part of an assignment for UMUC’s class OMDE 603 Technology in Distance Education & E-learning. See the original post here.

Merriam-webster.com defines community in three ways: as “a united body of individuals,” as “an interacting population…in a common location,” and as “a body of persons of common…interests scattered through a larger society.” Tom Adamski, former CEO of Rosetta, describes communities in his TEDx talk (2012) as “an organic construct” that is “built off of the elements of our human nature: our wants, our desires, our psyche.”

Communities are built naturally in a traditional education setting. Students interact face-to-face with other students in their classes and on campus. As they get to know their peers, they identify and connect with people with interests, challenges, and goals similar to themselves. Students can then turn to these connections for support and encouragement throughout the completion of their program and beyond.

These communities also serve as reminders that their studies should be a high priority. In a tight-knit class community, the absence of a student is not only noted by a professor but also by their peers. In classes where verbal discourse is encouraged or required, students must stay engaged in class conversation and up-to-date with the course materials or risk possible public humiliation.

Online education, unfortunately, does not offer students the same access to their peers as in traditional education. Communication is largely asynchronous. Students also do not have easy access to the personal characteristics of their classmates: their age, background, personality, interests, sense of humor, etc. This makes it incredibly difficult for students to connect and form communities in meaningful ways and that give them support (moral or otherwise) in their studies.

In cases where online classrooms fail to give students a sense of community, social media may be utilized to assist students with connecting with their classmates. Because communities are formed by individuals meeting in a common location, institutions can assist students in building communities by dictating the common ground where they will exist: Facebook, Google+, a university sponsored social media platform, etc. Profile features, similar to those found in Facebook, can be utilized to assist students with locating peers with similar interests and backgrounds (Ren et al, 2012). Centralized, free, and open discussion forums can be utilized to give students a common ground to meet and communicate.

Not all online students are comfortable with or have experience using social media. Instructors can further assist with institution-wide endeavors to build online student community through helping students to construct online communication literacy and social media skills. OnlineUniversities.com’s 2010 blog post 100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom contains a detailed list of activities instructors can add to their curriculum/coursework to assist students in building these skills.

Online communities have the potential to encourage student engagement and prevent attrition in online distance education programs. However, in order to take advantage of this potential, institutions must commit to offering students a virtual common ground to meet, as well as encourage students to use it. At the same time, because communities are built organically, institutions must allow students the personal space to use the virtual common ground and to make it their own. If institutions force students to participate in communities that they (the institution) feels is most necessary and beneficial, they risk low student engagement.

References:

Adamski, T. (2012, December 26). Community – Making an old concept new [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AKfvRF_Mh8

Community. 2014. In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved October 23, 2014, Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community

OnlineUniversities.com. (2010, May 4). 100 Inspiring Ways to Use Social Media In the Classroom [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/05/100-inspiring-ways-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom/

Ren, Y. et al. (2012). Building member attachment in online communities: applying theories of group identity and interpersonal bonds. MIS Quarterly, 36(3), 841-864. Retrieved from http://www.misq.org/