I’ve seen a bunch of web companies recently who talk about their site membership activities as “audience development”. I’ve always preferred “community development”.

Choosing to use the term “audience development” vs. “community development” betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of social media. Anyone who thinks of their social media asset as an “audience” is missing the point. Audiences are at things like concerts, movies, and sitting in traffic in front of a billboard. Communities are thriving, engaged, and organic. They talk back. When was the last time you saw someone at a movie talk back at the film?

Don’t take the “social” out of “social media”.