The third edition is finally shipping, just in time for Christmas I’ve uploaded all the project files to my web site. You can download the .zip file here. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on the previous two editions, to help make this one better.

Jakob Nielsen’s latest alertbox article discusses the “participation inequality” that undoubtedly fuels most online communities. Although this concept has been studied on the web for many years, I’m sure it’s also found in offline communities… which is why I added “no big surprise” to the title of this post.

When I became pregnant with my first child eight years ago, I joined an online community for moms-to-be with due dates in the same month as mine. I posted to the site almost daily, and fed off the comments and advice provided by my virtual friends. I eventually became involved in the maintenance of the community, once people found out what I did “for a living.” In doing so, I first realized how true participation inequality is. We had over 100 members, but less than a quarter posted at least once a week. Why? I think the answer is pretty simple — some members had stronger support systems offline, to help with the impending birth, while others (myself included) lived away from family and were the first among our offline friends to get pregnant. We sought a support system online because we couldn’t find one offline in our physical communities.

I think most online communities are the same — those who are most involved tend to lack that type of support/friendship offline. For example, I am a freelancer who works mostly from home. So which community am I most active in right now online? One that brings together others with similar work situations. I no longer am active in an online mom’s group, because I’ve built up a strong offline support group through my daughters’ friends’ families, our church, and so on.

Anyway, I realize at this point I am rambling, but that is the point of a personal blog, right?