In recent months, we’ve seen a massive increase in the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots such as ChatGPT, which reached 100 million users in just two months after its launch.
Tools like this can take a simple prompt and create a response that comes across as human, and this naturally begs the question: ‘Will this technology be able to replace my job in the future?’
Our answer? Probably not. While tools like ChatGPT are fascinating in what they’re able to do and powerful when used correctly, there is a limit to what they can do without human input and fact-checking.
Of course, there will be regular updates to what they can learn and improve on, such as the recent algorithm update by OpenAI (the startup that made ChatGPT) called GPT-4. But, there are still issues that crop up with its use such as providing incorrect information, showing problematic social biases, and the potential for rude or disturbing responses when given certain prompts.
With these limitations, and without a human capable of knowing whether the content offered by ChatGPT is correct or adequate in whichever context it’s needed, ChatGPT cannot be used as a total replacement. So, it’s better to reframe this question to “How can I use ChatGPT to become more effective in my role?”
In this article, we’re going to explore:
- What ChatGPT is,
- What ChatGPT is capable of,
- How to use ChatGPT as a Community Manager (CM),
- Other AI tools CMs can use to streamline their work
Let’s get into it!
What is ChatGPT?
To answer this question, we’ve gone straight to the source. We asked ChatGPT!
Here's the response we received:
“The GPT architecture is based on the Transformer model, a neural network architecture that has significantly advanced the field of natural language processing (NLP) by providing state-of-the-art performance in various tasks such as machine translation, text summarization, sentiment analysis, and question-answering.
“ChatGPT is trained on a diverse range of text data from the internet, which enables it to generate contextually relevant, coherent, and informative responses in a conversational format. It can be used in a wide range of applications, such as customer support, content generation, virtual assistants, and more.
“However, it is important to note that ChatGPT is not perfect and can sometimes generate incorrect or nonsensical answers. Additionally, it may be sensitive to the input phrasing or susceptible to producing biased responses. Ongoing research and development aim to address these limitations and improve the performance and safety of models like ChatGPT.”
Within seconds of asking ChatGPT to explain what it is, it responded with a comprehensive breakdown of what it is, who created it, and what it’s designed to do. It even had the capability to outline its own flaws and address what the team behind is doing to resolve these issues.
Essentially, ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot designed to respond with natural dialogue-like responses to queries and prompts. When equipped with intelligent, highly descriptive prompts, it’s capable of writing rich and detailed articles, and can even write code for software developers.
As ChatGPT itself acknowledges, there are gaps in what it’s able to do. As we mentioned earlier on, there are instances of flat-out incorrect information in the responses it provides and even biased or insensitive responses. On top of this, the knowledge and training data used by ChatGPT are limited to information up until September 2021 - it will be able to provide general information based on what it knows, but it won’t have the full picture.
Still, there’s so much potential with this tool and how it can be used to streamline existing processes. It can help to significantly reduce the amount of time spent searching for information and at the very least, can offer a great starting point for a wide range of tasks that we’re going to detail in this next section.
What is ChatGPT capable of?
Before we get into some specific examples of how Community Managers can use ChatGPT to enhance their roles, it’s important to outline the wide range of capabilities that ChatGPT has.
Conversational AI
ChatGPT can engage in human-like conversations, which makes it a useful tool for chatbots, virtual assistants, customer support systems, or figuring out a way to adequately respond to a query.
Text summarization
It has the ability to accept and process large amounts of text and provide concise summaries which capture the main points and details. It can also rephrase and reword significant portions of text, or even turn them into longer-form pieces.
Content generation
ChatGPT can generate a varied range of creative content such as blog posts, articles, social media posts, or marketing copy, provided the prompt details enough information on what is required. It can be useful in this instance to provide a starting point and help mitigate a creative block by offering up some ideas of what a content piece could look like.
Answering questions
When asked a question, ChatGPT takes only seconds to provide largely accurate and informative answers to factual, opinion-based, or advice-seeking questions. For example, if you were looking for a film to watch and you could list a few films you’d loved, it’ll be able to give you a couple of suggestions for something you’d enjoy watching next.
Data extraction
Much like its ability to summarize text, ChatGPT can also look at an unstructured piece of text and pick out relevant information as requested. So if you had a large amount of information and you only needed names and dates, you can ask it to extract exactly what you need and save yourself the time of scouring through the text itself.
Code generation
As we noted earlier, ChatGPT can even generate snippets of code or assist with programming tasks. When specific requirements are outlined, it can help to write code in various programming languages. However, the capabilities here may vary depending on the complexity of the task and there should always be a review of the generated code to ensure its correctness.
With all of these capabilities, the potential of getting the best possible output lies in the prompt. The more detail and specificity provided in a query, the better equipped ChatGPT will be to provide the ideal response.
It can be useful to keep note of what works best in each prompt provided and use that information to build a log of prompts to ensure the best outcome is achieved with each use, and that less time is spent asking and re-asking to get the wanted answers.
Ways to use ChatGPT as a Community Manager
Community and content moderation
Community Managers can use ChatGPT to automate content moderation by training it to identify and filter out inappropriate content, such as spam, offensive language, or harmful information.
Community and content moderation are key to maintaining a healthy and safe environment for community members, but as a community begins to scale it can become a lot harder to keep up with each instance of unwanted content. Utilizing ChatGPT in this way can significantly reduce the manual workload for Community Managers.
ChatGPT can be integrated with existing moderation tools or used to develop custom solutions tailored to the specific requirements of the community. For example, Slack now has a ChatGPT app that can kick-start this automated process.
If integrating ChatGPT into your community hosting platform isn’t something you can factor in right now, you can still use it to help with conflict resolution or to moderate what’s being shared.
Here’s an example prompt: “Write a warning message to a community member who has shared sales content that violates our community guidelines.”
“Write a warning message to a community member who has shared sales content that violates our community guidelines.”
ChatGPT’s response:
Subject: [Community Name] Guideline Violation: Sales Content
Dear [Member's Name],
I hope you're doing well. I'm reaching out to you today as a community manager for [Community Name] to discuss a recent post you shared in our community.
It has come to our attention that your post promoting [Product/Service] violates our community guidelines, specifically the rule prohibiting sales content. We understand that you might have valuable offerings to share, but we kindly request that you adhere to our guidelines to maintain a positive and relevant experience for all members.
To refresh your understanding of our guidelines, please take a moment to review them here: [Link to Community Guidelines]
As a warning, we'd like to remind you that continued violations of our guidelines may result in further actions, including temporary or permanent removal from the community. We value your participation in our community, and we'd like to work together to ensure a respectful and enjoyable environment for everyone.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to help and support our community members.
Additionally, if you're looking for a suitable platform to share your sales content, we recommend checking out [Alternative Platform/Channel] as a more appropriate place for such posts.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We look forward to your continued positive contributions to [Community Name].
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Community Manager, Community Name]
With a relatively simple prompt, ChatGPT was able to provide a comprehensive, and - dare we say it - thoughtful response to a potential violation of community guidelines.
This response may not be appropriate for every type of warning, for instance, if the violation comes from a first-time offender, they may only need a gentle reminder rather than a stronger warning such as this.
However, this provides a great starting point if you’re stuck on what to say or the type of tone to take. It can even be used as a template in itself for a team of Community Managers to work with that ensures consistency across the board.
Jade Warne
Similarly, it can help to break down the right way to respond to any type of guideline violation.
Here’s another example prompt:
“A community member has been sharing sales posts that violate our community guidelines. Can you tell me what I should do, and what steps I should take, as the Community Manager to resolve this situation?”
ChatGPT’s response:
To resolve the situation with a community member sharing sales posts against the community guidelines, you can follow these steps:
Review the posts: Before taking any action, carefully review the posts in question to ensure that they indeed violate the community guidelines.
Document the violations: Keep a record of the offending posts, including screenshots or links, as evidence of the guideline violation.
Reach out to the member privately: Contact the member through a private message to discuss the issue. Be polite and respectful in your approach, and explain that their posts are in violation of the community guidelines. Share the specific guidelines related to sales posts and remind them of the importance of adhering to the rules.
Offer a warning: Give the member a warning, stating that continued violations may result in further actions, such as temporary or permanent removal from the community. Be clear about the consequences, but also be open to listening to their perspective.
Suggest alternative channels: If appropriate, suggest alternative channels or platforms where the member can share their sales posts. This demonstrates your willingness to help and your understanding of their intentions.
Monitor the situation: Keep an eye on the member's future posts to ensure that they comply with the community guidelines. Be prepared to take further action if necessary.
Remove violating posts: After addressing the issue with the member, remove the violating posts to maintain the integrity of the community and prevent further confusion.
Review and update community guidelines: Periodically review your community guidelines to ensure they are clear, concise, and visible to all members. If necessary, update the guidelines to address any ambiguities or loopholes that may have contributed to the issue.
Encourage reporting: Remind your community members to report any content that violates the guidelines, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and collective moderation.
Be transparent: Share a brief, anonymized update with the community, explaining that a guideline violation was addressed, reinforcing the importance of following the rules, and promoting a respectful community environment.
By addressing the issue professionally and respectfully, you can resolve the situation while maintaining a positive relationship with the community member and reinforcing the importance of adhering to the community guidelines.
ChatGPT’s response here is clear and concise - with actionable steps to take in any instance of guideline violation. These steps can be used to inform the process followed by a community team in these situations and can help identify appropriate actions to be taken by the Community Manager.
Event planning and promotion
ChatGPT can assist in the act of ideating, organizing, and promoting community events. It has the ability to generate event descriptions, draft invitations, and create promotional content and marketing copy.
Let’s imagine you run a community of AI professionals, and you’re looking to form an event that will excite and engage them. Why not ask ChatGPT for some help?
“Can you help me with planning a community event? Please give me an example of an event for AI professionals and how I could execute this as a Community Manager.”
ChatGPT’s response:
Certainly! Here's an example of an AI-focused community event and a plan for executing it as a Community Manager:
Event: AI Innovation Showcase & Networking Mixer
Description: The AI Innovation Showcase & Networking Mixer is an event aimed at bringing together AI professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts to share their latest innovations, discuss cutting-edge developments, and foster connections within the AI community. The event will feature presentations from industry experts, a showcase of innovative AI projects, and ample networking opportunities.
Execution Plan:
Define event goals and objectives: Clearly outline the goals and objectives of the event, such as fostering collaboration, promoting AI innovation, and expanding participants' professional networks.
Set a date, time, and location: Choose an appropriate date and time for the event, ensuring that it does not conflict with other major industry events or holidays. Determine whether the event will be held in person, virtually, or as a hybrid, and select a suitable venue or platform accordingly.
Create a budget: Develop a detailed budget, considering costs such as venue rental, catering, marketing, and event technology.
Develop an event agenda: Outline the event schedule, including presentations, panel discussions, showcase sessions, and networking breaks. Consider inviting keynote speakers or panelists who are well-respected within the AI community.
Promote the event: Leverage your community channels, such as newsletters, social media, and forums, to promote the event. Reach out to relevant industry groups, partners, and influencers to help spread the word.
Call for showcase submissions: Invite community members and other AI professionals to submit their innovative projects for inclusion in the showcase. Create a submission form and establish a deadline for entries.
Manage registrations: Set up an event registration page that allows attendees to sign up, provide their contact information, and, if applicable, pay any registration fees.
Coordinate logistics: Ensure all logistical aspects of the event are well-coordinated, including venue setup, audiovisual equipment, catering, and attendee check-in.
Engage attendees during the event: Encourage attendee interaction and engagement by incorporating Q&A sessions, live polls, and icebreaker activities. As a Community Manager, be present and available to address any questions or concerns and facilitate meaningful connections among attendees.
Gather feedback: After the event, gather feedback from attendees through surveys or informal discussions to assess the event's success and identify areas for improvement in future events.
Follow-up communication: Send post-event communication to attendees, thanking them for their participation, sharing event highlights, and providing information about upcoming community activities or events.
By planning and executing a well-organized AI Innovation Showcase & Networking Mixer, you can create a valuable experience for AI professionals, promote innovation within the community, and strengthen connections among members.
This response not only provides an idea for the basis of an event but also a succinct description of what that would look like and the steps to follow in building and executing it.
Since ChatGPT’s ability to understand current interests and trends is limited up to 2021, this idea may not be the best one to go ahead with as it may not reflect what AI professionals are looking to learn about at this current time.
It’s a great stepping stone to begin formulating ideas for event topics and agendas. A Community Manager could take this format, and update it to suit the needs of their community at the present time. A CM should take it with a pinch of salt, and look into the community to understand what the AI current trends are and what’s really interesting to a group of AI professionals, then use that knowledge to inform the content of events.
It can even be taken a step further by creating promotional materials, like social media posts or email invitations.
Here’s an example:
“I would like you to write an email invitation for an AI event. This will be sent to a community of AI professionals and the event agenda will include a happy hour networking mixer, presentations from leading AI experts, and a jobs fair. It will be September 8th at 9 am, at The White House in DC.”
ChatGPT’s response:
Subject: Join Us for the AI Innovators Summit: Networking, Expert Talks & Job Fair on September 8th!
Dear [Recipient's Name],
We are thrilled to invite you to the AI Innovators Summit, a premier event designed exclusively for AI professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts. The summit will take place on September 8th, starting at 9:00 AM, at The White House in Washington, D.C. This full-day event promises to be an exciting and informative experience, featuring a happy hour networking mixer, presentations from leading AI experts, and a jobs fair.
Event Highlights:
- Kick off the day with a welcome address and an insightful keynote presentation from a renowned AI expert, setting the tone for the day's discussions.
- Attend a series of expert-led talks and panel discussions, covering the latest trends and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science.
- Connect with fellow AI professionals during the happy hour networking mixer, where you can share ideas, discuss projects, and forge valuable collaborations.
- Explore the jobs fair, where top AI companies and organizations will showcase current job opportunities and discuss their vision for the future of AI.
- Wrap up the day with a closing address and a chance to win exciting raffle prizes.
- Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to learn from industry leaders, network with like-minded professionals, and discover new career opportunities in the rapidly evolving world of AI. To secure your spot, please register for the AI Innovators Summit by visiting [Registration Link].
We look forward to welcoming you to The White House on September 8th for a day of learning, networking, and inspiration. If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to contact us at [Event Email] or visit our event website at [Event Website Link].
See you there!
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Title, Community Name]
[Your Email]
[Your Phone Number]
As you can see in this response, ChatGPT has given more than enough inspiration for the contents of an email invitation.
However, it has also added its own ideas for what the agenda may contain, having included an event with “raffle prizes” and stating that the latest trends and breakthroughs will be explored - despite these not being detailed in the prompt.
There are two takeaways from this prompt:
- It wouldn’t be wise to copy and paste this invitation example into an email without thoroughly checking and rewriting it to make sure it follows the actual plan for the event it discusses.
Without this, it would run the risk of falsely advertising what the event would include and won’t accurately reflect reality. - While ChatGPT has added its own flair to the event invitation and agenda with things such as “raffle prizes,” it can serve as even more inspiration for what an event could entail.
If you didn’t actually have a prize-based feature in your day, but like the sound of including one - that’s a bonus! You’ve now got a new idea to run with and ChatGPT has helped you to get there.
Ultimately, it’s another great starting point for an invitation as long as whoever uses the response makes sure to thoroughly evaluate it and update it with the correct information.
Community engagement
As was explored in our previous email example, ChatGPT can create engaging community content. This could look like blog posts or articles, social media posts, newsletters, email campaigns, or discussion prompts. It can even create memes! (Although we’d argue that its ability to be funny is questionable…)
Imagine you were running a community of Community Managers (meta, we know!) and you wanted to create some social media content to address a trending discussion topic you were seeing such as how to re-engage a community.
Your prompt could look a little something like this:
“Please write a social post for LinkedIn that describes 5 ways in which community managers can re-engage a community.”
ChatGPT’s response:
🔥 5 Effective Ways for Community Managers to Re-engage their Community 🔥
As a Community Manager, it's important to keep your community engaged and active. If you've noticed a decline in participation or interaction, here are 5 proven strategies to re-ignite the spark and bring your community back to life:
💡 Host virtual events: Organize webinars, workshops, or virtual meetups centered around topics relevant to your community. These events can foster connection, encourage knowledge sharing, and reignite members' interest.
🚀 Launch community challenges or contests: Create fun, community-focused challenges or contests that encourage member participation. This not only promotes engagement but also helps showcase members' talents and expertise.
🌟 Spotlight members: Recognize and highlight the achievements, projects, or stories of your community members. Showcasing their contributions and accomplishments can inspire others and strengthen the sense of community.
📣 Solicit member feedback: Actively seek input from your community members about the direction, content, or activities they would like to see. Incorporating their feedback can increase member satisfaction and engagement.
🤝 Encourage collaboration and networking: Facilitate opportunities for members to connect with one another, collaborate on projects, or offer mentorship. Strong relationships within the community can help drive long-term engagement.
Re-energizing your community takes effort, but by employing these strategies, you can create a more engaging, collaborative, and meaningful experience for your members. Let's bring our communities back to life! 💪
#CommunityManagement #CommunityEngagement #CommunityBuilding
For someone who may be new to community management or social media marketing, this is a great way to ease into the tone of social media in this context and understand what might be expected.
However, the example given is quite wordy and is definitely way over the recommended 100 characters for the best engagement. To remedy this, you could turn it into a selection of graphics for a carousel post, or even ask ChatGPT to rewrite it but with the preferred character amount.
If you wanted to have a bit of fun with it and create a meme instead, you could ask ChatGPT to do the following:
“Create a funny and relatable meme about community re-engagement for Community Managers.”
Image description: A two-panel comic-style meme featuring a Community Manager.
Panel 1:
Caption: "When you try to re-engage your community"
Image: A Community Manager enthusiastically waving a giant flag that reads "Community Re-engagement!" with a hopeful and excited expression on their face.
Panel 2:
Caption: "Community members' reaction"
Image: A group of community members with confused and indifferent expressions, holding up signs that read "Who are you again?" and "What's in it for us?"
Text below the meme: "The struggle is real! 😂 Keep calm and re-engage! #CommunityManagerLife"
Now, we’ll leave it up to you to decide how funny that one is. But, it’s a great way to cut down some of the thinking time required to create a meme on your own!
Resource curation
ChatGPT can compile useful resources, such as articles, tutorials, or tools, to support community members in their learning and growth.
It can also be a great aid for new Community Managers to help discern which materials might help them to settle into their new role.
Here are some example prompts:
Example 1: “What are some of the best resources I can use as a new community manager to learn about my role?”
Example 2: “Can you recommend some books that I should read to help improve within my role as a Community Manager?”
Example 3: “I run a community of AI professionals. Can you compile a list of useful online courses for people new to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science?”
Analytics and reporting
Community Managers can also use ChatGPT when it comes to their analytics and reporting. ChatGPT can help to analyze the effectiveness of community strategies by identifying key metrics, tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), and even generating reports.
Identifying key metrics can be made a lot easier by letting GPT know what your goals are for your community.
For example, if you wanted to increase your community engagement rate, you could ask ChatGPT to do the following:
“I want to increase my community engagement. What metrics should I be tracking for this?”
Likewise, if you’re managing a team of Community Managers and need to identify some KPIs for them to meet, you can ask ChatGPT for help on that too.
You could ask:
“I am supervising a Community Manager who oversees a community of 250 AI professionals. I would like to make sure that the community grows steadily, stays engaged, and contributes consistently. What are some of the KPIs I should set for this Community Manager?”
Finally, as ChatGPT is an AI language tool, it cannot directly create any visualizations you may want to use in a report. But, it can help to decipher what a change in data represents and can even suggest how to format a graph or chart that can display this information visually.
Here’s an example prompt:
“In January, I had an 8.9% engagement rate. In February, I had a 17.4% engagement rate. In March, I had a 24.5% engagement rate. What are the percentage increases between these figures and how can I display that visually to my team alongside a projected average for April?”
Why stop there? More AI tools for Community Managers
While ChatGPT is definitely at the top of the list right now when it comes to trending AI-powered tools, there are a number of others out there that can help to boost aspects of community management processes.
Here are a few examples:
Social media scheduling
Platforms like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social are designed to help anyone using social media to schedule, analyze and optimize their social media posts. These tools often include useful AI-driven features such as content recommendations and suggestions for optimal posting times.
Social listening and sentiment analysis
Tools like Brand24, Mention, and Brandwatch can help to analyze the sentiment of the user-generated content being produced and shared within your community. This can provide insight into overall member satisfaction and identify potential areas for improvement.
Beyond this, they can be used to scope out trending topics and discussion points among your target audience by scanning through public sources like social, news, blogs, forums, video, and more. This is a great way to keep track of what’s being said about competitors, or identify what you should be talking about to entice new members into your community.
Marketing automation
Tools like Mailchimp, HubSpot, or Marketo offer AI-driven features for email marketing, lead nurturing, and segmentation, which can help Community Managers effectively communicate with their members and drive engagement.
For example, many marketing platforms like these can automatically segment your community managers based on their behavior, interests, or demographics. A community manager can then use this information to inform what they send to each segment and this can lead to an increase in engagement levels because people receive the information that is most relevant to them.
They can also help to perform A/B tests on different email features like subject lines or call-to-action buttons, so you can determine what’s the most effective and use this to optimize future campaigns.
Content curation tools
Finally, platforms such as Curata, Scoop.it, or ContentStudio use AI to curate relevant content from various sources. This can be a great way to easily compile and share valuable information with community members.
Other tools, such as Writesonic and Copysmith can be used for more content creation, with specific templates, guides, and tools for creating ad copy, press releases, and more.
To recap
It's important to remember that while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for Community Managers, it should not replace the need for human interaction and judgment.
Integrating ChatGPT into community management processes can help streamline tasks, but the human touch is still essential for fostering genuine connections and maintaining a vibrant and engaged community.
Many of the best features of popular community management tools are powered or helped by AI, and their purpose is to help streamline the workload as much as possible - not to work against it.
So, there’s no need to fear an AI takeover just yet, but embracing it in your role can come with so many more opportunities for learning, growth, and development.
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