What is the effect of pandemic on communities in India?
Before the COVID19 outbreak smacked our faces, many communities were operating in the offline space and hosting physical meetups were their only means to facilitate member interactions. Personally I feel, travelling to different locations to either attend / deliver talks were one of the most exciting things about communities and served as a getaway from our regular lives.
When the pandemic hit our homes, the venues for these meetups were forced to shift from co-working spaces, parks, conference halls etc to platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, Airmeet etc. As people were all caged inside their homes, the demand to feel belonged and stay connected beyond these events also grew exponentially.
As a matter of fact, among the 180 community builders who participated the State of Indian Community Management Report 2021, 23% shared that their communities were born during the pandemic while according to 59% of them, their communities were growing rapidly or at the same rate.
So, what has life actually looked like for communities during these times? Let’s find out together.
- Communities have become the new oxygen for organisations. 68% of the participant community builders who are managing communities owned by brands shared that their leadership teams are viewing communities as a more important part of the business. Infact, for 42% of such respondents, the investments in community programmes have increased and for 40% the team size has grown.
- Given that today where most communities are operating in the online space, for any person to participate in them, geographical boundary is no longer a limitation. Suddenly as a member, you are exposed to too many content resources and events from multiple communities. As a result, webinar fatigue among community members is on the rise. 55% of the participant community builders shared that their members are experiencing exhaustion in attending webinars and other virtual community events post the pandemic hit.
- While 78% of the communities are hosting at least one online event in a month, due to the rise in webinar fatigue, retaining members until the end of the event and ensuring that a respectable number of them attend the event are proven to be top greatest challenges for community builders. On that note, 47% of the participant community builders shared that they only witness 10–40% of average turnout from the total RSVPs for their events.
- Most importantly, communities have saved lives during the pandemic. 51% of the community builders who took part in the State of Indian Community Management Report 2021, were proud to share that they supported the nation during this difficult times through various resources such as- providing mental health checkins and resources, hospital and other medical care resource leads, financial aids and job hunt.
What are the predictions for the coming days?
- Hybrid communities are our future. 85% of these community builders shared that they are planning to continue to partially or fully operate in the online space once things go back to normal.
- Community Management is the next big thing. According to 48% of the participant community builders, community building will become a dedicated role in every organisation in India in the next 2–5 years.
- If you are looking to grow your career in the Community Industry, Empathy, Leadership and Communication skills are three most important skills to work on and as a Community professional your role would primarly include — Community Moderation, Event Management, Community Operations, Decision Making and Growth in any organization.
I helped in creating the State of Indian Community Management Report 2021! This is the first and largest documentation of the Indian Community Industry. Read on to find more such interesting insights on the growth and impact of online communities in India.
