Not sure whether to hire a moderator or community manager? Wondering whether you can just get someone in part-time? Two great posts last month explored both these questions.
from new agency on the block Spoke Digital, has written “When does a moderator become a community manager?” sparking a lot of response from many running communities. The article is a good discussion on the difference between these two roles and shows the variety of interpretation.
Another Tempero fave has written “Can a Community Manager be part-time?” outlining four main approaches and the pros and cons of each. Yours truly waded in to the debate where I tried to avoid demonising the humble intern which seems to be the target of choice these days for social media gaffes – don’t you think?
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I think the key issue is that you can’t just tar all interns with the same brush. As Blaise says, an intern that is supported and educated by the infrastructure around them is likely to do very well, especially if they already possess strong social media knowledge and a talent for striking the right tone of voice alongside a healthy discretion.
Fling an intern into the fray with the brief to ‘get on with it’, though, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Ultimate, with full-time, experienced community managers (or moderators) you get safety and reassurance, which obviously comes with a price: and, in my opinion, it’s a price worth paying for on-tone brand messaging.
Hi Darika,
Thanks for the mention :) Interns do get a bad rap, and we all have to start somehwere, so it does feel harsh to pick on them. However, AS an intern I would rather work for someone who has experience so I could learn, than be thrown at the deep end; if a crisis occurs and they sink, they will carry that bad experience around with them, whereas being protected from the worst of it by a manager is a better situation to learn in.
I think the key issue is that you can't just tar all interns with the same brush. As Blaise says, an intern that is supported and educated by the infrastructure around them is likely to do very well, especially if they already possess strong social media knowledge and a talent for striking the right tone of voice alongside a healthy discretion.
Fling an intern into the fray with the brief to 'get on with it', though, and it's a recipe for disaster.
Ultimate, with full-time, experienced community managers (or moderators) you get safety and reassurance, which obviously comes with a price: and, in my opinion, it's a price worth paying for on-tone brand messaging.