Today, while running through my feeds, I came across two very good, very interesting articles on community management. One, by Lee LeFever, compares communities to a party. The other, by Matthew Haughey (via Darren), offers up “seven tips on how to run a successful community”. I agree with the vast majority of what they said and both are well worth reading. I hadn’t really heard of Mr. Haughey before, but I’m going to subscribe to the blog now.

My brother was talking about what TV character I’m like and he was talking about “Drake and Josh” (TV show on Nickelodeon… I enjoy it). Anyway, he said I was Drake, but then I said… well, Josh has a job, so I’m like Josh, too. And then he says (as best as I can remember):

And he’s serious. LOL. :)

So, my latest site, BadBoyForums.com is launching in a few days.

The idea behind this site is a little crazy. And, come May 6, we are going to see how the plan works. If you know me, you know I don’t want vulgarities or inappropriate content on my communities. Nothing of a sexual nature, nothing related to illegal activities. We allow you to say crap, hell and freaking, but nothing above that. If we don’t allow a word, we don’t allow you to self censor it or to abbreviate it (for example f*** and wtf – excuse my language and please don’t use them in the comments – are both not allowed on my communities). Respect required. No politics, no religion (not related to the subject matter). For the most part, this fits. With BadBoyForums.com, it doesn’t. At least, not by default.

BadBoyForums.com is a fan community for Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group. They have 3 main, public businesses. Bad Boy Films and Television (Making the Band 2, 3 and 4, Run’s House, Taquita & Kaui and more), Sean John and, perhaps most importantly, Bad Boy Records. The record label that is home to Diddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Danity Kane, Yung Joc, Mario Winans, Cassie and many others and has previously been home to Faith Evans, 112, The Lox and others.

Anyway, if you are familiar with the music of Diddy, Biggie, Yung Joc, Mase, etc. – you know, there is cursing and there is plenty of what I’d generally refer to as inappropriate subjects in their lyrics. Not all of Bad Boy’s music, but certainly a lot of it. Alright then, how can we have a fan community and not let fans quote song titles, lyrics and interviews? The answer is: we can’t. So, what do we do? I mean, I want to have a generally (extra, extra stress on generally) family and work friendly community here. Obviously, we won’t be able to do it all the time.

What I’ve decided is this: when it comes to inappropriate or vulgar words or terms that are included in song titles, lyrics and interviews – we will allow them to be quoted if it is relevant to the discussion. But, they must be self censored or abbreviated – always. This is the only time that this may happen. These words may not be used in any other context on the site – self censored or otherwise. And they cannot be placed in anything but posts (not in signatures, profiles, avatars, etc.). I imagine that probably sounds a little mad scientist to some.

Another thing is that we will not allow the illegal distribution of copyrighted materials or the promotion of such activities. For me, this is a no brainer. I already do it on every site I manage and it’s not that big a deal. What’s different here is that I would venture to say that at least “a lot” of hip hop related communities out there allow their members to illegally distribute audio in one way or another. We’re not going to tolerate it at all. Personally, I’m against it (if that’s even really a choice to make). But, beyond that, if you support the artist – you support the artist. You don’t steal their music. There is absolutely no excuse. “The record label sees all the money, the artist doesn’t.” No, no, no excuse. And that doesn’t even make sense. I always have to laugh and shake my head whenever I see someone that thinks they somehow have the choice of “buy or steal”. You’re choice is “buy or not buy” and we’re gonna make that a reality at BBF. We’re here to help sales as fans – not hurt them.

Besides, we want to be on good terms with Bad Boy, it’s artists and their management companies. We don’t want them wishing our site didn’t exist because we’re pickpocketing them. We want them to be glad we’re there. We’re fans and it’s a fan site.

One thing’s for sure: BBF is going to be different from anything that is out there, by far. Fans are going to respect other fans. Biggie fans better respect Jordan McCoy fans. Yung Joc fans better respect Cassie fans. Diddy fans better respect B5 fans. No strong vulgarities, no inappropriate content, no illegal distribution of copyrighted materials. Or they are not going to be on the site for very long. Very simple. Will it be the most heavily moderated site I’ve ever undertaken? Perhaps. I definitely think it’s a little crazy. But, I do think it’s, at least, fairly well crafted. It does something specific – something that will appeal to a specific group out there, a group that will be into it while the rest probably won’t. It’ll take someone dedicated. That’s me. I am very involved in the day to day operations of all of my communities. I’m also a huge Bad Boy fan and between the established readerbase I have at Bad Boy Blog and my contacts at and related to the company that have vowed to help me promote the site – the time is right. We’ll see. But, wish me luck. :)