We can try to create or manage an online or offline community around a purpose, a product or a particular service. In fact it?s an almost lost cause if you don?t focus on who these products (services, etc.) are aimed at. It is indeed highly necessary to know the target community in its psychology, its culture and above all through its history.
Let?s take for example two types of communities that we know a priori quite well: a French community and American community. Apart from an obvious difference in language, we say a priori that they are not so different from each other. In fact, the French consume everyday American products such as Coca Cola, television series and Starbucks coffee. The Americans meanwhile are always fascinated by the French lifestyle, gastronomy as well as their beloved French landscapes (mainly C�te d?Azur).
But that?s only the tip of the iceberg, and the differences in communities lie beneath.
1.��� The differences between French and American communities
Let?s take a closer look? When you read the American press, you always see headlines that leave us skeptical but which are highly revealing such as ?As U.S. Becomes more diverse, Hispanics flourish? (Reuters 21/12/2010). By considering the ethnic minorities in their statistics, the United States have already established or created communities.
You?ve probably already noticed in these television series where the hero is attending to a seminar presented (or should I say animated) by a man in a suit and tie, usually handsome with a microphone attached to his ear,as if he had a Bluetooth headset? Have you ever noticed that the crowd was highly motivated and got involved through the messages of those ?preachers?? Everyone wouldrepeat the same motto, applaud each word of the preacher, er sorry, the moderator I should say.
Have you ever seen such fervor about any cause in France or Germany (except for sports events, including international ones, where the French have a good level)? I suppose not!
We all know that there are in the Suburbs of the United States, some neighborhood associations that ensure the safety of the neighborhood, and organize barbecues in spring and summer, manage to look after the neighborhood children, etc? I am very skeptical about the too recent creation of the ?neighbors? Day? in France.
However I can still see a certain capability of the French people to unite and to get mobilized around events affecting their social achievements such as: latest example, pensions.I do not wish to controversy, I am just quoting current events; I might as well include a movement which marked my studies which are demonstrations against the CPE (Contrat Premi�re Embauche), in 2006. (It was about the creation of a new work contract that would allow management to lay off an employee without advance notice for two years giving the employee a very insecure status. These demonstrations lasted for around two and a half months and in the end the French state had no choice but to cancel this work contract.)
What is the difference in all this? You will probably tell me maybe that this is anecdotal! Should I be exhaustive, the list would be only too long. That said, the difference between French and American Communities id enormous.
American and French societies have virtually nothing in common except the ability to unite, one sporadically but massively (French), and the another to rally in smaller numbers, but over time (American).
2.��� The basis for these differences
I can give you a hint why the French can mobilize themselves only occasionally but massively in parallel to Americans who are not ashamed to belong to smaller communities, which nevertheless last in time.
And this answer comes straight from the seventeenth century, from a guy I really like, who is called Alexis de Tocqueville. This dear Alexis, a pioneer in many areas, highlighted certain aspects of society which are inherent in France and the United States. He lived in the aftermath of the French Revolution and did not hesitate to describe the world in which he lived; a time of which he remained the heir through his work.
In the Old Regime and the Revolution (1856), Tocqueville strove to denounce Lechapelier Act of 1791 which prohibits any community in France to unite. This law has had the effect toruin what was still standing after the Revolution; that is to say all the horizontal solidarity, where all vertical solidarity had been vanished. These communities/groups had always been there to enable their members to get support and advice. Without them, French citizens have become creatures whose only referent was the French state, making each citizen mistrust its neighbor.
We had to wait until 1901 for associations and other groups to be tolerated by the Stateon the French territory. Therefore you can see that two centuries have been enough to break the de facto solidarity between the French. In addition, secularism advocated by the State as a founding principle of the Constitution, thereby stressing the principle of equality between citizens, prevents today issuing ethnic statistics, which prevents the formation of officially recognized ethnic communities in France (very common in the U.S.).
In parallel, in the United States, Tocqueville discovered a fledgling nation which he describes in Democracy in America (1835-1840). He discovered a wonderful profusion of vertical and horizontal solidarities as well, which led to associations. Over time these associations led to the creation of real communities, real lobbies which have acquired considerable power today. This represents a real constituted con-power of influential groups, each of those communitiesat its scale. Similarly, there is no constitutional principle of equality (as it is in France) in the United States? Constitution. Therefore, ethnic statistics have always existed and it does not shock anyone that such studies exist. That said, this lack has led to serious abuses such as segregation, which is nothing but a legacy of past slavery.
However, as a Community Manager, you will certainly not blame the U.S. history in creating the concept.
Conclusion
Thus we can seethroughout the history and political history in particular, that the American society is more mature than the French society as far as the community concept is concerned (except for communitarianism) .The Americans have communities everywhere and for everything! The French still rely on the state to solve their problems. And it is not only noticeable in the concept of community. It can also be seen in the propensity of Americans to create, to invent, to live their American dream of ?self-made man?and of the conquest of the Wild West! It is the idea of ?I am making (building) myself, I ask nothing to anyone, if I need help, I can ask my community, it would never cross my mind to askassistance to the State which is only there to protect the country and not to dictate my life?. In France we do not know anything else but the Revolution (concept of large popular movements). But after the storm has passed ? What do we do? That?s actually one of our biggest problems.
Therefore, leading a community in France can be very complicated when you have to involve its members on a regular basis. We have to deal with the following issues: how to make my fans to be more active on the fan page (Facebook or others) since I am the administrator? Who can I encourage? What else? Increase the visibility of my business, my product, my service, of course, but to what end? Especially if you deal with the French.
For those who are fortunate enough to manage international communities, what are the opportunities? Does this mean it will be easier?
That said, as Community Manager, I do not see this Revolutionary propensity as a disadvantage, but rather as an opportunity for the French nature and culture to be able to get mobilized around powerful symbols in order to make the most of this propensity. Because therein lies the strength of French culture. I remember the slogan ?Impossible is not French? (Napoleon Bonaparte). Well let?s grab this chance!
What do you think?
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