This week’s reading was definitely way more easy to digest than previous readings.  It seemed to more directly link to what we are actually doing.  It was seemingly more relevant – probably because it was more understandable.  The reading was fundamentally about farthing interaction online and creating more of a community where you will actively read and communicate with other blogs and online websites and in turn gain your own ‘followers’.

The author speaks about the “big 5.”  The ‘groups’ you need to follow and interact with in order to establish an online community.  He compares it to the 5 hardest African animals to hunt: “lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo.”  These 5 animals are similar to the 5 “bloggers, professional groups, topic chats, aggregators and midfluencers” which form the online ‘hunt’.

You need to build a relationship with these online personas in order for them to communicate with you and ‘share’ your work.  ‘Sharing’ of someone’s work is a very personal reflection of you as a blogger for example, so ‘sharing’ doesn’t happen randomly.  These ‘big 5’ including “professional groups” are going to put their own following and community first, so make sure you are following groups and online communities with a similar focus to your own.

Oatway, Jay, Apr 26, 2012, Mastering Story, Community and Influence : How to Use Social Media to Become a Socialeader Wiley, Hoboken. 97-109.