Pete Caputa points me to a couple of interesting articles about how veteran online community members react to changes to “their�? community.
The story about the Blue Note Jazz Forums is a must-read. It’s fascinating to see how the members reacted to the disappearance of their posts, the influx of new Norah Jones fans and the eventual closing of the forums. But what is most fascinating to me is the reaction of the label. Was that established community that meaningless to the label? Could this have been handled in a better way? I think so.
I spoke with Blue Note a week or so after all this happened and they had a much different perspective on the whole thing; they just had layoffs. The staff was overextended. They couldn't justify the cost and manpower needed to keep the forum up.
And they seemed oblivious to the uproar they had caused their fan base, because quite honestly, these weren't their fan base anymore. Their fan base were the people buying Norah Jones records. These other people were part of some other time and place. They were good for a couple of thousand in sales, but in their entire history didn't buy as many albums as Norah Jones sold in a few short weeks.
And the passion, loyalty, and emotional investment these folks had made in this brand over their entire lives - it was expendable, inconsequential, and misplaced brand equity. Welcome to Norah Jonestown.
Daily Kos also provides thoughts on the ongoing churn of old and new members.
As the old guard fades away, the hanger-ons complain how the old-timers are being "chased off". But there's nothing I can do. Online communities are not static. People come and go. And those "old-timers" once upon a time chased off the established community that preceded them. And those guys chased off the original community. Like I said, four waves.