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Networking: A New Manifesto

đź’­ Showing up more in online communities

Published 4 months ago • 1 min read

Here are 3 ideas to help you cultivate more connection in your life this week 👇
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As promised, this week is all about online communities.
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(1) An idea to help you show up more consistently
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Do you have a few online communities you’d like to be more active in? Use your browser’s shortcuts to create a folder with a list of these communities, and set a reminder to check in on them regularly (eg once a week). A simple reminder and a list of the communities in one place is a great way to get more active in online communities. The learning and connection opportunities will grow exponentially.
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(2) Give more than you seek to gain
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As a general rule, I think it's best to aim to answer more questions than you ask. For every post you make in an online community, aim to answer or comment on three others. Join other people’s conversations, rather than always trying to create your own. It's less work and creates connection. The community manager will also thank you for helping to contribute to ongoing community engagement.
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(3) Share the online love
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Last week, I mentioned the importance of sharing offline events and communities to help spread the word. I offer the same advice for online communities. Is there an online community that helps you professionally or personally? Talk about it.
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The two online communities I have found enormous value in these past few years are the Espresso+ community by John Espirian and the CMJ Community by Carrie Melissa Jones. If you’re looking for a community of LinkedIn enthusiasts or a community for community builders, I recommend checking them out. Both of these communities do a wonderful job of creating meaningful conversations, learning opportunities, and sharing industry knowledge.
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What are your thoughts? Reply or let me know in the comments here.
I will be travelling next week, so I will be taking a week off from these posts. See you in two weeks ✌🏽
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Anna
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Photo via Unsplash

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Networking: A New Manifesto

By Anna McAfee

Exploring the intersection between digital connection, community strategy, local communities, belonging, permaculture principles, sustainability, and psychology. My work analyses the systems that prop up our current networking practices and looks at practical steps we can unlearn to build stronger networks that serve both people and the planet.

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