Serious Eats, the all-things-food blog and a place where I spend a lot of time online posed the following question to its readers (in a not too subtle homage to Jeff Foxworthy), You Might be a Foodie, If…
Answers varied and I most identified to those that mention thinking about another meal while in the middle of the current one. I also have a habit of doing that. I’ll make something at home and suddenly, I’m thinking about a) how I can improve the dish, b) how good this will be as leftovers, and c) what I’ll be cooking next.
The question posed on Serious Eats is actually a good example of how to create a thought provoking blog post that gets participation by its community. Having a conversation where you do all the talking, doesn’t work in real life or online. But posing a question where you’re both genuinely interested in the answers and that will also elicit opinions, is a pretty valuable approach to community engagement. We almost certainly know that people cannot help but add their own two cents on a certain issue. And people also cannot help but read what their peers have replied with.
Once you have built a thriving community, regardless of the size , it’s important to gauge what the group sentiment. If only to get an idea of what the current meme of the community is. It’s a wonderful way to listen to your ‘constituency.’ So go ahead and ask important questions to the group, stand back, let people generate whatever they want (within reason, natch), and then make sure to read what they have said (THIS IS IMPORTANT). In a e-commerce setting, this strategy is extremely important for listening to what your customer has to say about your product and service.
To paraphrase David Mamet, “Always Be Listening.”
Tags: david mamet, define foodie, food, foodie, foodies, grange hall media, serious eats, Social Media