Tasks of a community manager

Abstract or Introduction

The Internet has evolved in the last 15 years in such a speed and in such a mass that the world has changed dramatically. If in the year 1985 a normal West German student would have wanted to learn about new developments in the world he had watched news in the television or had read a newspaper. But if he wanted more specific information about something then there were no means left. Today at every minute of the day in every city of the world {with Iridium Satelite Phone coverage, it is possible to get an Internet connection at every point of the world} [www.iridium.com , accessed on the 18thof May 2005] every human being can receive every information she or he desires. We are in the information society!
That information we require can come from different sources. It can be trusted news service like CNN [www.cnn.com], a well known encyclopedia e.g. the Encyclopedia Encarta [www.encarta.com] or a rather informal source e.g. a virtual community like Well [www.well.com]... Wait a moment! You might ask yourself why after the most famous news network and the largest encyclopedia in the world I have mentioned a virtual community… The answer is clear the internet has evolved so much that today it is possible to get almost every answer you want from almost every specialist you want for free! [Concept from: Rheingold 1993, chapter 1]
What does it mean? It means that millions and millions of internet users are exchanging their thoughts and combining their knowledge for an exchange of information2. Declaration of my research question
As the subject of my paper is the “tasks of a community manager” I have thought which aspects of the work of a community manager would be an interesting subject for this study. Traditionally a management position is a position which requires academic knowledge; trust from the subordinates and a responsibility for the company and its employees. In the case of a virtual community manager, those three aspects are still the same. Since trust in virtual communities is part of another paper and erudite knowledge in the area of community managing is a very well spread area, the aim of the following 6 pages will be to answer my question:
“What are the responsibilities a Community Manager has to take care of?”. Classification of virtual communities