The only excuse for having stale content in your online community is apathy. And that’s not even a real excuse. If you find yourself saying you don’t have time, then ask yourself this question: Why did I create the community in the first place?
When you can’t be bothered to post fresh content in your community, how will you possibly motivate others to do it?
A community requires ownership. Internal ownership. It needs someone whose job it is to care, cultivate and connect with the community. This shouldn’t be a difficult concept to grasp, but most communities fail because they are abandoned shortly after launch.
I gave a presentation to a group of executives in Geneva, Switzerland two weeks ago (via Skype) about what it takes to grow a successful online community and I went on and on about the sheer time and commitment level it takes to keep it alive. They were convinced by the end of the hour and that pleased me to no end.They really seemed to get it, which is much more than I can say for many.
I can go on and on about this but I won’t. Simply put, stale content is embarrassing.
So do something about it. If you don’t, you deserve exactly what you get.
[Editor’s Note: Angela cross-posted this at her personal blog. –mrh]
