As a parent, coach, and board member of the local youth soccer league, even the remote possibility of an incident with a sex offender is one of my worst nightmares. Like many, there are precautions that we take as a family, team and a soccer board to eliminate this possibility as much as possible. That is why I am pleased to see that New York State is attempting to ensure that sex offenders can't access social networking sites while on parole. While it is one state, and a small step, I think it is an important one for child safety and for community managers and social network vendors/providers.

There have been some pundits that have registered legitimate concerns that it will be hard to prevent offenders from getting online from a range of devices, Internet cafes, etc. While we should make this legislation as strong as possible, I think that the key point is that this is an important first step that will make it more difficult for offenders to participate in social networks and the legislation can always be improved.

The lesson for Community Managers: Stay on top of sex offender, privacy and other relevant community legislation to further demonstrate that you value the welfare of your community members. There may be extra effort and expense, but it will pale in comparison to ignoring it.

-Colin

Last May, I experienced 3 of the most exciting, dramatic, heart pounding, and excruciating minutes of my life. Three minutes that would both intrigue me and haunt me for the next 9 months, leaving me with questions such as “Who was in the coffin?” “Are they really going to be rescued?” and “Who is Jack meeting near the airport?” If you have any idea what I am talking about then you are sure to have experienced some of the same rollercoaster of emotions in anticipation of season 4 of ABC’s LOST.

With LOST I instantly went from a casual viewer to a active participant of a large community of people searching, theorizing, and predicting just what the clues are to solve the question of where it all leads. Watching the televised program could not answer these clues alone; instead a little homework by the viewer was needed. As a result fan communities popped up all over the net discussing any and all news, views, and reviews concerning the show.

ABC nurtured the growing interest of the fan community by launching a number of online sites that kept even the most casual fans logged in and embraced well after the show was over. Cryptic messages, treasure hunts, and easter eggs served as an example of how media can expand a series content well beyond the televised broadcast. Sites such as Lost Theories act as a central knowledge center of ideas, discussions, and explanations generated by the viewers.

While LOST fans such as myself will continue to use the web as a support system, knowledge base, and forum for the remainder of the series. The lasting legacy of LOST may be remembered as how it pioneered online content and social media. It will be interesting to observe how future television series will be created, launched and nurtured knowing that there is a large community of participants willing to embrace additional content in this manner. As the last 3 minutes of last season’s finale can attest, if you raise questions to an enthusiastic fan community a series will thrive in the off season and be relevant year round. - Matt