Open or Closed—Who Can Participate?

If your community is completely open, anyone can see everything, post anything, and participate as a full member of the community. If your community is completely closed, only people with special permission may see or post content and participate. In most cases, private online communities operate best when they have a mixture of open and closed spaces.

Pros and Cons of Open Spaces
Open spaces have the power to attract users and draw them deeper into the community. When people can easily see what’s going on, they’re more likely to jump in.

PROS
● Community appears more active.
● New members can participate immediately without having to join closed groups.
● Value of the community is self-evident, since anyone can see the topics and depth of discussion.
● Search engines can index posts and traffic from search can lead to more people participating.

CONS
● Some conversations may not be appropriate for a public forum. For example, board debates or committee work.
● Too many posts that are irrelevant to an individual user can make the community appear less valuable.
● Some members of the community may feel less comfortable participating in such a public way.

When to Use Open Spaces
• Your community is less than 6 months old.
• Your members want to raise awareness about a specific topic or issue.
• Your members would like to get outside feedback and perspectives on a specific topic or issue.
• You need to improve your SEO and increase your traffic from search engines.
• You have fewer than 50 very active members posting in your community.
• You need to create greater transparency in your organization.

Pros and Cons of Closed Spaces
Closed spaces give people a sense of privacy—they sometimes feel more comfortable participating in a smaller, more controlled environment.

PROS
● Members feel more secure in expressing their opinions in a closed, controlled space.
● Members can focus their participation in just the closed spaces they are most interested in.
● Groups can conduct sensitive business or work projects without outside interference.

CONS
● Members’ experiences can be inconsistent, since some might belong to very active closed groups while others might belong to groups that are languishing.
● Managing many closed spaces can be a huge challenge and a strain on resources.
● Closed groups limit intellectual diversity and can be intimidating to new members.

When to Use Closed Spaces
• Your community has reached a maturity phase.
• Groups of members wants to discuss complex issues that appeal to only a small segment of members.
• Your members would like to discuss association business.
• You have more than 50 very active members posting and your content is beginning to feel cluttered.
• You have one or more very active groups who have requested a closed space for discussion.

How have you decided whether to be open or closed? Please share in the comments.

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