What's one-third social secretary, one-third referee and one-third organizer of all discussion topics under the sun? An online communities manager.

Online communities are one of the Web's killer apps. So let's take a look at what online community managers do and how this field is changing.

The Job

Most staff community managers are really uber-managers. They delegate much of the day-to-day supervision of individual forums, including chats, message boards and other interactive media, to the volunteers who have traditionally been heavy users who performed these tasks for free. This leaves them free to tackle larger issues.

Kathleen Wallace is the senior community manager of communications at iVillage.com and has been working in online communities for four years. “I deal with people who have created problems in the community,” says Wallace. At iVillage and nearly all major online communities, managers like Wallace work continuously to contain flame wars and other antisocial behavior.

One of Wallace's favorite parts of the job is promoting interactions between iVillage communities and real-world organizations and events. An example is iVillage's collaboration with Race for the Cure, a charity that benefits breast cancer research. “You get a strong sense that this is a community, not just anonymous members who chat online,” she says.

The Requirements

What skills and talent are required to become a community manager? Successful candidates for entry-level positions are typically very Web-savvy and have years of experience as participants in and volunteer leaders of online communities.

They have superior communication skills, a keen sense of online social dynamics and “a lot of tact,” adds Wallace. Familiarity with online community technologies is a big plus. “It really helps to know what the tech department is talking about if something breaks.”

Communities Are Changing

A couple of developments are making waves in the online communities movement. The dotcom shakeout is giving Web sites reason to take a harder look at the return on their investment in online communities.

Lawsuits from volunteer community leaders who claim they are actually employees who have received much less than the minimum wage in compensation are profoundly reshaping online communities. To reduce their legal exposure, Microsoft, Yahoo! GeoCities and others “are actively dismantling volunteer programs,” says Amy Jo Kim, founder of community consulting firm Naima and author of Community Building on the Web. In some cases, this results in hiring more paid staff, though in much smaller numbers than the volunteers they replace.

“There are still a lot of paid jobs for community managers,” continues Kim. “Now you're seeing more online communities that say, 'We want community managers to work with our business development people to make things happen.'” In other words, the less tangible benefits of community, like user loyalty and stickiness, may no longer be enough to fend off the budget-slashers.

“More and more companies are looking to community to reduce costs and improve customer experience,” says Kim. Hardware and software makers are increasingly using message boards as a low-cost channel for providing technical support, for example. This phenomenon has increased the demand for techies with community savvy.

Even with all of this change and uncertainty, Kim is optimistic about the future of online community. “My clients see the work that we do together as an essential part of their product offering,” she says. So if you're considering a career in online community, this is a good time to speak up and join the virtual conversation.