Online Communities: Novelty or Necessity?
Guest Perspective from the Inman Community
By Stefan Swanepoel, Thursday, July 10, 2008.
Editor's note: The Inman Community section is attracting some engaging topics and vibrant discussions. Stefan Swanepoel, CEO for the RealtyU group of companies and an author, speaker and management consultant, stirs up a lively online conversation about online real estate communities and comments -- there are already dozens of comments about his post.
Congratulations to both ActiveRain and RealTown that have reached that magical six-figure membership number of 100,000 people.
Add to these two frontrunners the re-engineered Inman News that now includes an online real estate community (where we are having this discussion right now) and the rapid expansion of the real estate side of LinkedIn and the evidence supports that social networking and community have officially taken hold of real estate. They are here to stay and are on the short list of major contributors to shape the residential real estate industry.
Granted that some of the 100,000 participants are vendors, technology nerds, people with duplicate accounts and even others who may visit their online accounts infrequently, but the critical mass is there and is generating sufficient buzz. Topics are being posted as frequently as on any online news service and the responses are frequent and increasing in number.
Stories or posts, as they are usually referred to, sometimes break on a news service only to find a part of the whole story analyzed and dissected on a blog where RSS subscribers receive immediate notification. And very quickly, within the seven degrees of separation, comments bounce from yonder to form a thread of discussion.
This is truly a new marvel for real estate -- open discussion between many agents. Agents now have an outlet to immediately express their opinion (pro or con) concerning a wide range of topics and products as well as their broker or Realtor Association.
Now it's true that some of the comments are not always polite, politically correct and can even be a little too sleazy. But more often than not they are well thought through and real estate is doing well overall at this early developmental stage of the "almost anonymous" debate.
This online conversation is slowly but surely creating an influence -- an influence that needs to be heard, managed and respected. The question is: How much of it is pointless chatter and how much is quality commentary, and how do we distinguish between the two?
In the end it's the substance (quality commentary), the diamonds in the rough, that will become the foundation for the continued reengineering of the real estate business process. To those who are already participating and joined one or more of the online communities, good for you. To those who are not yet participating, grab a keyboard and join in -- whether you know and can share or need to learn and grow -- there is much to say and so much more to still do.
What are you thoughts about the future of online real estate communities?
Click here to participate in the "Real Estate Online Communities and Networks: Novelty or Necessity?" discussion.
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Submitted by Stefan Swanepoel on July 10, 2008 - 12:43pm.
OK, so back to Online Communities.
It’s clear that online communities, discussion groups and blogs have changed the way and who can say what and when. The Web as a whole is no longer about idly surfing and passively reading or watching. It is now a dynamic form of creative expression.
But what are the benefits the real estate industry can drive from it?
Is it the socializing and the sharing...or is it more?
How can we as an industry use online communities to collaborate and create a better industry, better real estate professionals, better associations….etc, etc.
And above all how can we truly provide the consumer a better real estate service through, with or because of an online community. If so, what is the real potential of an online community?
Submitted by Brian Columbus on July 10, 2008 - 12:46pm.
Online communities of every category are in their infancy stage. It's not ALL about conversations and dialogue. Business models will continue to develop around this media shift and we most certainly will see prosperous commercial communities rather than just online watercoolers.
Brian Columbus
Founder & CEO
HomePerks.com
Submitted by Diane Cohn on July 10, 2008 - 6:08pm.
I have found that quality conversation generated on my blog makes everyone who reads it smarter, including me. I have been in a declining bubble market for three years, and those consumers who have taken the time to comment are the ones who've helped me see the truth, keep my head on straight and ultimately do better in a declining market for myself and my clients versus some of my colleagues who weren't so in touch with reality as early as I was.
I write for the consumer, and my comment quality is extremely high. Feel-good, rah-rah, the-sun-will-come-out-tomorrow comments are not a part of my world. I get the cold, hard, unfriendly truth from anonymous internet users, but their wisdom is often spot-on. And if not, they fight it out amongst themselves until the truth emerges. And truth is what enables us to make smart decisions about what to do in a volatile market.
Generating this level of interaction is not easy, but it's well worth it.
Diane Cohn, Realtor
Chase International
www.renorealtyblog.com
www.chasenation.com
Submitted by Desiree Daniels on July 11, 2008 - 12:20pm.
A necessity. With the majority of Real Estate offices being full of "secret agents" these on line communities have led to a vast amount of sharing and networking with everything being able to benefit.
I personally having been in sales for almost 2 decades, and have learned more from social networking on sites like Active Rain, Twitter etc., then any class or training.