People maybe wonder what a community manager does. I used to ask the same question, even before I apply for the position. So after joining Female Daily Network for over 4 months, I decided to spill the basic details about my life as a Community Manager in Female Daily.
What did I do before coming to Female Daily?
Believe it or not, I worked in a government financial institution for over 6 years; 3 years in HR division and 3 years in Corporate Secretariat. For people who know me well, they couldn’t help wondering how I can survive coming out of it alive. To be honest, it’s a mystery to me as well. In my free time I used to plan small parties or gathering and worked as a contributor for a newspaper or MC. So I guess the Community Manager job is a perfect fit for my lifestyle, it’s all the things I love to do wrapped up into one.
How did I first hear about Female Daily and the job opening?
I first hear about Female Daily from my best friend, Astrid, on 2008. I signed up immediately as member and never for one moment have I regretted it. Between my passion for bags, shoes, makeup, and (recently) my thirst of information about parenting, my love for Female Daily grew stronger. Turn out it was a mutual love (in Indonesia, it’s called ‘gayung bersambut’) because Female Daily was looking for the Community Manager and thought I have the capability on filling the position (I applied for Mommies Daily editor before I knew about this position). After learning more about the job description, I thought this is perfect!
What exactly does a Community Manager do?
This is always a difficult question to answer, because I believe different companies might define it differently. In Female Daily, the job description list out basic duties like interacting with the members, trying to answer questions in questions and suggestions for the forum, helping to promote contests and events, writing and sending newsletter, mingling with the members online and offline. Bottom line, trying to grow the community while still keeping it intact and tight-knit.
What is the favorite part of being a Community Manager?
The community or members, of course! If you don’t love people, addressing their needs, and acting as a go-between for both the audience and the people that run a website, you won’t dig the job of community manager. I read members comments in the forum every day, although maybe not all of them. It’s crazy if I have to read all because there are more than 4.000 posts in a day in the forum, but I try to read most of the comments. I try to get to know members as I read the comments. I recognized that some members only interested in beauty and some in parenting issues. There are also members interested in all topics in the forum as they post everywhere.I also love meeting new people and making new friends. But being a Community Managers, I get to do it every time Female Daily held an event. Therefore, I find the job very fulfilling because I believe I can learn a lot or get new perspective from new people.
What one myth or misconception about being a Community Manager?
That you can just jump into it with no technical skills or an understanding of the community you will represent. Think of the Community Manager role as a liaison between the tech, sales, marketing, AND the members (which is the most important client). The tasks are numerous and it is not really a glamorous job. Just because someone is handy with social media such as Facebook or Twitter, doesn’t mean that someone is cut out for being a Community Manager. There is so much of the work that is just tedious, and 80% of it goes behind the scenes.
