Hello, it's Nakata Atsuhiko.
Let's begin the class.
I'm back with
"How to Use Online Salons: What is that?"
for this extreme modern society.
So it's about "How to Use Online Salons".
It's finally the day we learn about online communities.
You must've known already from the thumbnail that this would be about online communities.
I finally got to make a session about it.
I believe a lot of you would think that
I am finally showing my fraudulent self.
That is because "online community" is not a familiar term.
Plus, it is being taught by me.
Who else? Horiemon teaches it too.
Akihiro Nishino as well.
"They must be frauds!"
"For sure!"
We may seem like fraudulent and cunning people to you.
Some of you in online salons may also be watching this.
For those who aren't using online salons yet,
I will explain to you thoroughly about what they are.
I will also teach you how to properly use online salons for people who are using them
but do not know how to properly use them.
I am finally gonna make a best session on online salons.
I was honestly worried people may not understand no matter how much I explain.
I thought that it would be easier to try it out themselves.
However, I believed that I had no more time to waste
the number of online salons are increasing rapidly.
It has already been 5 years since the famous Akihiro Nishino of Kingkong
started his online salon in 2015.
It must be about the same period for Horiemon's as well. Mine is about 2 years old.
I'll teach you things I've learned for those 2 years.
Plus, this book is really fun to read.
"How to Use Online Communities"
It was written by a woman who started her online community
quite early on. This book is very easy to read.
I know this book is good because I have run an online community for 2 years.
I was able to deeply relate to it basing on my experiences
so I recommend it to those who want a deeper understanding.
Let me first explain what online communities are.
The term itself may sound unfamiliar to you.
You may not know the term "online" or "community".
It's a newly coined term as a combination of these two words.
In short, it is a community that is separate from firms, districts, and families.
What does that mean?
We all have human relationships.
This term can be called human relationships as well.
Your relationships can be mainly categorized into three things.
For familial relationships, there are parents, children, and perhaps siblings.
So here you have a community called family.
There's another community called district.
The neighborhood meeting, elementary school meeting, and middle school meeting.
They are communities based on the district. There are regional meetings as well.
Next, you have the company.
For students, this is equivalent to school.
School or company, district, and family.
There are various people in companies such as the department head, boss, and CEO.
Haven't you ever wanted to have a different kind of relationship aside from those mentioned?
That's the thing.
It's difficult to break out of your character once it's settled.
For example, if you are thought to be a hardworking person who does people favors often,
you tend to hide your lazy sides
and you cannot show what you enjoy in your school or company.
We may also have stereotypes for our family members.
This means it's hard to change our character.
It's sometimes hard to show a different side of ourselves.
Thus, we want different relationships. That's when we enter another community.
However,
it may sound like it's nothing special.
There may be people among you who take flower arrangement classes
because you love arranging flowers as a hobby, or joined a violinist club because you like to play the violin.
You may think that this is the case.
Yes.
You're right.
Everyone would understand when given real-life examples.
There are a lot of academies for stringed instruments, math, and singing.
There are also culture centers.
They're the same thing.
Human relationships aside from work, district, family or school.
A place where I can be a different self.
Somewhere I can enjoy my hobbies more.
People will understand right away.
But why is this term so difficult?
Because it's online.
It feels unfamiliar because it's online.
But you can't help that.
Online things slowly pervaded humanity since its introduction.
Online things were suspected in the beginning.
Let's talk about offline activities.
For example, you would never think of the clerk in a convenience store to be a fraud.
"Can I trust this person?"
We sometimes give our card even before the price is shown on the screen.
We don't suspect that the calculation would be wrong.
That's because we trust things that are done offline.
Imagine the era when we all trusted offline payment and were suspicious of online payment.
Today, we have convenient Internet stores.
Some examples would be Amazon and Rakuten.
It's natural for us now to search for products in Amazon.
But in the eyes of you grandparents
they may be scared of buying things online.
"What if the wrong product comes?"
"What if I pay more than I'm supposed to?"
"What if it's a defective product?"
"I'm scared to type in my credit card number."
There are people who feel this way.
There are.
There are elders who are afraid of online purchasing and stick to offline methods.
Same goes for social media.
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
Everyone uses them today.
But not in the beginning.
No one understood blogs either.
"Why do they write their diary online?"
Blogs are online journals.
People must have been scared hearing that.
"No, I wanna write it on paper!"
"Why are they asking me to share my diary with the whole world?"
"Do you realize what you're doing?"
"Stop it! Don't you know that writing an online diary is a scary thing to do?"
"Diaries are meant to be written on paper and hidden. Give me a paper diary with a lock!"
"You're gonna reveal your embarrassing thoughts to the world!"
"Foreigners can see your diary!"
"What if they find out who you are and stalk you?"
"Stop writing on blogs!"
"Blogs are dangerous!"
The same happened to Twitter.
"Why do they keep mumbling and ranting to the world?"
"What if they find out who you are and stalk you?"
"Please, stop all these nonsense!"
But now, Twitter, blogs, Amazon, and Rakuten are frequently used.
You must remember that it took so long for people to use them this much.
It won't take long for online communities to pervade into our lives as well.
There have been people running them for 5 to 6 years and that figure is still increasing.
The demand is increasing because they are a great service
and they still exist because they function well.
Therefore, they will become a part of our lives sooner or later.
It took very long for being a YouTuber to be considered an occupation.
The society did not understand it at first.
People no longer think that it is a job wherein you upload weird videos and earn money in a weird way.
Who would've thought people would ask Kajisac for advice because they wanted to be a YouTuber?
There were a lot of controversies when Kajisac said that he would retire from his celebrity career
if his YouTube channel does not gain 1 million subscribers.
Today, everyone wants to collaborate with Kajisac.
They ask for his advice on getting more views.
So you can see there is a change in the era.
Online communities are thus being suspected just because they are online.
So for those who are using them or are planning to use them, don't worry.
It's a natural thing.
No need to feel offended by those who suspect online communities.
It's natural.
Looking back at the history, it's natural for people to suspect online things.
So first, relax.
Why should it be online?
Its value comes from the fact that it is done online.
Are you thinking that going to offline academics for string instruments, math, or golf is enough?
There are things only available when done online.
Have you wondered why Internet purchasing is convenient?
It's similar.
Let's say there's a store that sells a great product.
However, you're too busy to visit that store
because the branches are only in Tokyo and Osaka.
Even though you want this brand's clothes, their flagship stores are only in Tokyo and Osaka.
Not enough stores, you see.
It's hard to buy the product.
A lot of people used to feel this difficulty before.
Then came ZOZOTOWN.
All brands were able to create their online shopping mall.
That allowed consumers to purchase products from anywhere.
You can purchase them this instant.
You're no longer restricted by time or space.
Think of it this way.
It may be a waste of time to go out to shop.
That's why we use ZOZOTOWN.
That's why we use UberEats.
We can save time if we use UberEats.
The food gets delivered while we do something else.
Just tell them to leave it by the door and you'll later find freshly cooked soba.
In this situation,
even people who are too busy can participate in online communities.
How about offline communities?
They tell you the time and place of an event.
"Really? I won't be able to make it."
"I'm too busy with work."
"I do have time but it's too far away."
This won't be a problem for online communities.
Allow me to brag a bit. In my online community called PROGRESS,
there are members from all over the nation, including Okinawa and Hokkaido.
Moreover, there are people from other countries.
Southeast Asia, America, Europe, and Oceania.
Despite the diverse origins, everyone feels a sense of belonging.
That's right.
You can meet your friends anytime, anywhere.
So it's a great service.
However, it's not for free.
People will dislike that you should pay for it.
But think about it.
Are the string instrument classes free?
Are the soccer classes free?
You may compare it with Facebook and Twitter, which are free.
But they aren't the same things.
You should compare it with string instrument classes or golf clubs.
Offline communities make you pay membership fees, too.
It's usually paid per month.
How much do you expect for such offline classes?
It might start from a few thousand yen to over 10,000 yen according to the content.
We expect it to be about 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.
It's the same thing.
It's the same thing.
The price range differs greatly so some online communities require 10,000 yen.
Horiemon's community, HIU, has a membership fee of about 10,000 yen.
Yoichi Ochiai's community also costs about 10,000 yen.
But my salon and Nishino's salon cost about 1,000 yen.
It's about 1,000 yen.
So the community fees range from 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.
It's simple.
You might be wondering why Twitter is different from online communities.
Twitter and Facebook are where we connect with friends.
But don't you think the people whom you are related with
pretty much rely on these platforms?
It's connected with people from our family, district, work, and school.
You may want to be connected with people from a completely different group,
especially fields we're interested in.
For example, you may want to talk about rock music with others because you like rock bands,
or hone your business skills further.
When you want to make connections with people from a certain field,
the social media that you use for free would not help you.
Also, considering the fact that the content you want to learn are provided in online communities,
social media does not provide you such benefits.
You have no limit to time or place because it is done online.
For example, try considering the money it takes for you to travel, sleep, or transfer in order to learn something.
You can choose the time and place and even save money.
Some people also use three to four online communities.
That's because you can adjust freely the time and place.
This is all possible as it's done online.
Just like the supply of Internet shopping and UberEats,
these new communities use the advantages of things done online.
This is what you call an online community.
Is it now easier to understand?
I, too, believe that my explanation was amazing.
I was able to get it after running one for 2 years.
To be honest, I started it in the beginning only because it looked fascinating.
Anyway, that's how you can explain it.
Now that we know what online communities are, how can we use them?
You may have your own goals.
Maybe you want to become like the community owner
or those who are related to that community owner.
You may also want to be of support to the community owner.
But author Nakazato organized it into several steps.
Step 1, we should become eligible to become its user.
Most online communities are run via Facebook.
There are unique techniques and processes you should go through in Facebook.
The same goes for other communities.
They may require you a document or things to do to register.
There are various ways for you to register and become a member.
So you must first do that.
Next, you should make friends and become influential.
This may not be clear to those who have never been part of such communities.
But if you're a part of one, I bet you understand.
At first, you should just join.
You might worry if you could actually make friends
but after you make some friends gradually,
your ideas might turn into actual planning
for an actual event. Various things can happen.
This is really fun.
As your influence increases, people will have a certain image of you.
You can realize a new side of yourself,
build trust between the others, and use that at work or your life.
These are the three steps.
You may not fully understand what I just explained to you
so let's get into the details of these three blocks.
Become a member, be influential, and use it at work or in your life.
If you listen attentively,
these lessons would be of help to those who are just
beginners to online communities, and even those who've been members ever since
but weren't able to properly use the communities.
There are a lot of details here.
It really is an amazing book.
Let's get to it.
First, becoming a member.
We should carefully choose a community.
There are platforms for online communities like CAMPFIRE or DMM Online Salon.
There are also the kind of online communities that
make an independent site without using such platforms, just like mine and Nishino's.
So there are mainly independent ones, DMM Online Salon, and CAMPFIRE.
You will find a lot of online communities.
You can even see their ranks according to the number of members and popularity.
But if you do not know where to join,
there are five things to consider.
Knowing them can help you decide.
So what are they?
Firstly, the content.
Most online communities are run by famous celebrities.
Famous sports athletes, celebrities, YouTubers,
businessperson, fortuneteller, and many more.
There are also those run by master artisans.
What kind of content do these community owners provide?
That is the most noticeable charm.
In my case, I do an hour-long livestream everyday.
That's quite a long time.
I stream for an hour daily.
I do a livestream exclusively for the members, at the same time each day.
If you consider that I do this everyday at the same time,
I'm spending more time than Tamori from Waratte Iitomo!
It's a jam-packed content.
Members can also watch live via YouTube.
They can ask me questions real-time as well.
They can also watch me offline in my studio.
The newest WinWinWiiin became a hot topic.
Oops, I just bragged about it myself.
I'm glad it got positive feedback.
You can participate too if you'd like to come and watch WinWinWiiin.
To sum it up, you can watch my livestream,
come watch me offline, make a special visit for our program
and participate in various ways.
You can become my guest or staff on YouTube as well.
My staff and assistants who edit my YouTube college videos are also members of my community.
These relationships form from a content.
It may depend on the individual.
For example, Horiemon's community provides an event called Horie Banpaku
wherein you can participate as a consumer or staff.
In Nishino's community, there are articles that Nishino writes everyday.
You may want to get long articles daily that are worth reading.
It really depends on the person.
As far as I know, Yoichi Ochiai also does a weekly livestream in his community.
The content depends on the person.
Because the content greatly differs according to the community
you should check out their site description.
I bet a lot of people know about this already.
There are many more.
Secondly, you should look at the exchange meetings.
Quite a lot of communities have exchange meetings.
The difference between online communities and fan clubs is that you can get
the community owner's content and meet up with the other members.
Fan clubs back in the days used to require a yearly membership fee of 1,000 yen and gave out bulletins.
People knew about the recent news through pamphlets.
But compared to those days, communication between members became closer.
People can now meet up on Zoom or have online meetings.
They can also see each other in offline events.
You should check out if the community holds such events.
See if it's held by the community owner or solely by the members.
In this perspective, it may seem quite fascinating.
But it doesn't mean you must attend them.
If you want the content and not the meetings,
or if you want the meetings but not the content, it does not matter.
The next point is about upgrading your skills.
Can this community improve your skills?
Let's say this community allows you to practice, do presentations
and additionally get feedbacks from the members.
You should see if it makes you feel that you're improving.
This is another important thing to consider when choosing a community.
Rather than communities that do not make you feel like you're improving even though you are
doing your best in taking all the lessons,
communities that make you feel the progress would be better.
Because I'm a YouTuber, my community has a lot of members who are YouTubers as well.
There are also many who aren't YouTubers but want to upload things.
Recently, among livestreams, pictures, and videos
many people are interested in videos.
In our community, you can do livestreams
or upload prerecorded videos to collaborate with each other and share opinions.
Try to recall the ending of YouTube University's videos.
You may not know if you do not watch the videos till the end.
How can you watch them everyday but not the ending?
You'll see the various activities that my community members participate in.
So if it's okay with you, I hope you watch today's video till the end.
You'll see that there are various activties that you can do.
It's interesting how the members who were unskilled at first gradually improve.
You can see them grow.
The same goes for celebrities. There's a saying that they stay young because they're exposed to the eyes of the public.
People change when they are conscious that they are being watched.
For example, let's say you upload your first YouTube video or do your first Instagram livestream.
In reality, not many people would watch it.
That's because there are a lot of influencers with great content out there.
It's different to get the people's attention.
But if you join a community and make friends first before you begin,
they can watch your content and give you feedback.
That way you can improve your skills.
Don't you think such communities are great?
So instead of suddenly joining a soccer competition,
it's better to create a football club to first improve your skills.
Next is the properties of participants.
It's better to join a group with members who have similar personalities as yours.
We all know that if we join a pro wrestling club even if
we're not interested in that sport, we won't be able to communicate with the members.
But with people who has the same interests, it is easier to communicate with.
"Oh, you like this hobby too?"
This means the members' common interest is the community owner.
If you like Horiemon, you should join his community and mingle with the members there.
It's best to consider such characteristics because
it'd be easier to talk with members. You can join Horiemon's community after reading his book
or Nishino's community after reading his publication.
If you choose only based on the number of members or popularity of a community,
you may not be able to fully enjoy the experience because you can't relate.
Next is the size of the community.
This is important because there are new communities and active communities.
If there are lots of members, there are a lot of active ones as well.
According to data, active members in communities are about 20%.
So there'd be 200 if the total number of members is 1,000.
200 out of 1,000.
The other 800 members would just be watching.
But this is applicable to all kinds of communities.
Even in school, there are people who'd often speak in public or those who'd help quietly
but not everyone's like that.
80% of the people just do nothing.
Therefore, the active members are 20%.
This means you can meet 200 active members in a community of 1,000.
If there are 10 people, the active ones would only be 2.
That means the community shouldn't be too small.
If there are about 100 to 200 members, there'd quite a number of active members.
After choosing the salon with these check points, let's move on to the 5 ways to use them.
It will become more detailed now.
Those who are already part of a community would be able to relate to this.
Join the community and participate.
This means you should create a Facebook account.
Some people do not know how to use Facebook.
Facebook is very easy to use.
You'll find it easy once you start and get used to it.
Back in the days, some people refused to buy smartphones.
"I don't know about smartphones!"
"I only know feature phones!"
You know how to use feature phones.
You were able to adapt to feature phones, Father!
You were able to move on from rotary dial telephones.
You adapted to feature phones. Then why not smartphones?
It's the same thing.
Since you've adapted to smartphones, you can adapt to Facebook.
Moreover, in Facebook,
I deeply relate to what the author said. It's the fact that icons are important.
The profile pictures.
Profile pictures are important in order to make friends.
The author, Nakazato, warns you to avoid those with profile pictures of illustrations or pets.
He said they aren't necessarily bad but it'd be difficult for you to become close with them.
It's much better to be friends with those who use their real names
and profile picture as much as possible.
I really relate to this.
There are so much people with illustration or pet profile pictures.
"Someone drew this portrait for me."
I get it!
"It's a pet I've had since so long ago."
I get it!
They may seem cute to you.
But you should consider how others must feel to be greeted with no face.
You're basically greeting them with a helmet still on.
It's scary.
Although they understand that you just got off the bike to visit the convenience store,
you can be mistaken as a burglar!
They'll see that you're not holding a gun or a baseball bat.
However, you might be hiding it!
That's because you have a full face helment on in a convenience store.
There are various profile pictures like that
including illustrations, pet pictures, and photos taken from a weird angle.
It'll likely be more easier to make friends
if you take a picture under the sunlight
or artificial light with a smile on the face and use that as your profile picture.
So first, register an account and join.
It's important to make a Facebook account, upload your profile picture, and use your real name.
Then you should introduce yourself.
This is the key.
All communities require you to introduce yourself.
Some require you to introduce yourself through a document, while others pictures.
Some make you introduce yourself through a video.
In my community, there is a separate group where you upload a video of you introducing yourself.
You may not know how to introduce yourself. This is important.
I bet you would feel nervous to introduce yourself.
You wouldn't know what to say.
There is the kind of introduction wherein you
tell the people about your whole life.
I once introduced myself for 2 hours in YouTube University.
But it'd be a problem if you did this in a community.
Then how should you do it?
There is a format.
It should start from past, present, and future.
The past refers to your motivation to join the community.
"I thought I should join after watching videos in Nakata's YouTube University channel."
"I was further convinced when I saw the ending in the videos."
"That's how I got interested."
This reveals that your motivation to join was watching a video.
Some would say they watched a video about business.
Others may say, "I joined because I really loved the literature video."
"I wanna be friends with those who love literature, just like me."
The past reveals your motivation to join.
Next, talk about the present.
What you're currently doing.
This is where you share what you are currently doing.
It's what people share the most.
Lastly, talk about the future.
What do you wanna do after joining this community?
I'll tell you why you have to talk about the past, present, and future.
There are many people who only mention their present activities.
"Hello, I'm Atsuhiko Nakata."
"I'm currently a YouTuber."
"I wanna get to know you all. Nice to meet you!"
Only those who are interested in becoming a YouTuber will be interested in me.
The others wouldn't want to get to know me.
However, it'd be different if you share why you joined.
They'll see your motivation to become a YouTuber and would want to support you.
"I used to be a comedian on TV for 15 years. But the show didn't do well than I'd expected"
"so I decided to become a YouTuber after struggling for a while."
"So today, I make educational videos."
"I talk by myself and teach the viewers."
"I also carry out various content, like XENO and WinWinWiiin."
"I'm trying my best thinking that I'm doing things I wasn't able to do on TV to achive my dream."
Then wrap it up by talking about the future.
"After joining this community,"
"I'd like to get to know many people, make YouTube content"
"and make many friends."
"I wanna get to know various people."
"I'd like to be friends with people"
"who are interested in thinking about YouTube content, wanna appear in my channel, and make music."
"I also want to get to know people who want to watch my videos!"
Talking about your future this way would make them interested in you.
So make sure to introduce yourself starting with the past, present, and future.
Why did you join? What do you currently do? What do you wanna do in this community?
It'd be great if you follow these guidelines.
One more thing.
You should expose yourself more.
If you honestly talk about the problems or weaknesses you have, there'd be many people to help you out.
This is really amazing.
Hence, what does it mean to be connected to someone else in a community?
Being connected with another means
that you expect the other person to do things for you
but to also want to help that person.
You wish that the other person needs you.
There are way more people who wish they could help the others out instead of just receive help.
I bet you are that kind of person.
So if someone is struggling, they could notice that and help him or her out.
Don't stay quiet in the water and let yourself drown.
If you signal that you're drowning, someone will come help you.
Allow yourself to get help from the others.
Everyone would feel sad to see anyone drowning on his or her own.
It's important that you let the others know that you need help
because you are drowning. Tell them you'd like to get to know them.
The third one is also realistic and important.
Make others like you, not dislike you.
This is interesting.
What we most commonly think about when joining a group is to wish people would like us.
"I wanna be a popular person."
"I want to get the spotlight."
You want a positive image.
You want others to like you.
You want them to welcome you but that doesn't happen in reality.
This author explained this is an interesting way.
There's apparently an important stage before getting liked by the others.
This stage is when you aren't disliked by the others.
Humans naturally tend to dislike the unknown or unfamiliar.
That's the point. Why, you ask?
"Online community? What's that?"
"I can't trust those. Don't do it."
"Nakata? He won't last."
"Don't do it. He doesn't seem nice."
"You're always watching Nakata's videos these days. You're weird."
"You're being tricked."
"It's as if it's a religion."
This is how we react to the unknown.
People dislike what they don't know about.
We dislike unfamiliar things. We can't suddenly like it.
So it's important not to get disliked.
What should you do in order not to be disliked?
There are certain actions that people hate.
Being expressionless, blank, and too quiet.
What does this mean?
For example, in meetings,
you can see each other's profiles when we do online meetings like in Zoom or livestreams.
Being expressionless here makes you look scary.
This is similar to the illustration or pet profile pictures I mentioned earlier.
Let's say you have a blank, dark expression.
"Hello."
"I'm new here."
Don't I look scary? I look like I would commit a crime or something.
But if you add a little warm grin, it makes it a whole lot better.
But that's really difficult.
I bet you would think that we should obviously not have an expressionless face.
But I've been running my online community for 2 years already.
I already have about 3,500 members. I've seen many people's introductions.
And a majority of the members show an expressionless face.
That's because they're nervous.
They're nervous when they introduce themselves and when they set their profile picture.
There weren't great pictures among the ones you asked me to choose.
They weren't good.
There were no expressions.
So they looked scary.
Don't ask me if it looks fine because it's so dark that I can't see what you took.
Plus, the gaze.
It means you're looking at something.
Having no gaze at all is
similar to when we make videos and upload them.
Instead of looking down at the script or looking elsewhere because you're nervous,
you should look at the viewers.
You get a lot of feedbacks when you become a YouTuber.
You should always look into the camera, at the viewers.
You should keep this in mind because you should be thankful to have someone watch your content.
You shouldn't avoid asking qusestions because it's a meeting.
Let's say you introduced yourself and joined the next gathering.
No one responded to your introduction in the Zoom gathering.
No one asks questions either. That would feel as if they don't care about you.
This means everybody wants all members to pay attention to them.
That must be why they joined the community.
But the people who strongly wish for the others' attention
fail to see that everyone wants the attention.
This happens often because we get nervous.
But if you show interest in them first, you'll become popular.
Let's ask ourselves.
Ask yourself if you're looking at the others with a warm look.
You must've thought that online communities are similar to offline communities.
That's right.
It's the same as our human relationships in real life.
You may think that online communities have their own regulations
but just like online and offline shopping, online communities are similar to their offline equivalents.
It's where you can join after you understand the others and think about your image in order to make friends.
[Next episode – Increase your influence and use it in your life]
"What do you do for a living?"
"I make steamed buns."
"What do you mean, steamed buns?"
"I'll bring it. Try some."
"I'll pay."
"It's fine, just taste it."
"It's good. I'll pay next time then."
This is what happens.
Imagine that you're simply entering another village.
"That's the same as offline gatherings!"
Exactly. It's great because that can be done online!
A web community, PROGRESS.
[Atsuhiko Nakata's online community PROGRESS, 3,700 members, 980 yen per month]
[Watch YouTube University]
[Introduction (Introduction of members)]
[Theater (Videos uploaded by members)]
[TV (Livestreams by members)]
[Monthly Zoom Gatherings]
[Home Room (Daily livestream)]
We can be anything, anytime.
It's your turn.
Let's begin the class.
I'm back with
"How to Use Online Salons: What is that?"
for this extreme modern society.
So it's about "How to Use Online Salons".
It's finally the day we learn about online communities.
You must've known already from the thumbnail that this would be about online communities.
I finally got to make a session about it.
I believe a lot of you would think that
I am finally showing my fraudulent self.
That is because "online community" is not a familiar term.
Plus, it is being taught by me.
Who else? Horiemon teaches it too.
Akihiro Nishino as well.
"They must be frauds!"
"For sure!"
We may seem like fraudulent and cunning people to you.
Some of you in online salons may also be watching this.
For those who aren't using online salons yet,
I will explain to you thoroughly about what they are.
I will also teach you how to properly use online salons for people who are using them
but do not know how to properly use them.
I am finally gonna make a best session on online salons.
I was honestly worried people may not understand no matter how much I explain.
I thought that it would be easier to try it out themselves.
However, I believed that I had no more time to waste
the number of online salons are increasing rapidly.
It has already been 5 years since the famous Akihiro Nishino of Kingkong
started his online salon in 2015.
It must be about the same period for Horiemon's as well. Mine is about 2 years old.
I'll teach you things I've learned for those 2 years.
Plus, this book is really fun to read.
"How to Use Online Communities"
It was written by a woman who started her online community
quite early on. This book is very easy to read.
I know this book is good because I have run an online community for 2 years.
I was able to deeply relate to it basing on my experiences
so I recommend it to those who want a deeper understanding.
Let me first explain what online communities are.
The term itself may sound unfamiliar to you.
You may not know the term "online" or "community".
It's a newly coined term as a combination of these two words.
In short, it is a community that is separate from firms, districts, and families.
What does that mean?
We all have human relationships.
This term can be called human relationships as well.
Your relationships can be mainly categorized into three things.
For familial relationships, there are parents, children, and perhaps siblings.
So here you have a community called family.
There's another community called district.
The neighborhood meeting, elementary school meeting, and middle school meeting.
They are communities based on the district. There are regional meetings as well.
Next, you have the company.
For students, this is equivalent to school.
School or company, district, and family.
There are various people in companies such as the department head, boss, and CEO.
Haven't you ever wanted to have a different kind of relationship aside from those mentioned?
That's the thing.
It's difficult to break out of your character once it's settled.
For example, if you are thought to be a hardworking person who does people favors often,
you tend to hide your lazy sides
and you cannot show what you enjoy in your school or company.
We may also have stereotypes for our family members.
This means it's hard to change our character.
It's sometimes hard to show a different side of ourselves.
Thus, we want different relationships. That's when we enter another community.
However,
it may sound like it's nothing special.
There may be people among you who take flower arrangement classes
because you love arranging flowers as a hobby, or joined a violinist club because you like to play the violin.
You may think that this is the case.
Yes.
You're right.
Everyone would understand when given real-life examples.
There are a lot of academies for stringed instruments, math, and singing.
There are also culture centers.
They're the same thing.
Human relationships aside from work, district, family or school.
A place where I can be a different self.
Somewhere I can enjoy my hobbies more.
People will understand right away.
But why is this term so difficult?
Because it's online.
It feels unfamiliar because it's online.
But you can't help that.
Online things slowly pervaded humanity since its introduction.
Online things were suspected in the beginning.
Let's talk about offline activities.
For example, you would never think of the clerk in a convenience store to be a fraud.
"Can I trust this person?"
We sometimes give our card even before the price is shown on the screen.
We don't suspect that the calculation would be wrong.
That's because we trust things that are done offline.
Imagine the era when we all trusted offline payment and were suspicious of online payment.
Today, we have convenient Internet stores.
Some examples would be Amazon and Rakuten.
It's natural for us now to search for products in Amazon.
But in the eyes of you grandparents
they may be scared of buying things online.
"What if the wrong product comes?"
"What if I pay more than I'm supposed to?"
"What if it's a defective product?"
"I'm scared to type in my credit card number."
There are people who feel this way.
There are.
There are elders who are afraid of online purchasing and stick to offline methods.
Same goes for social media.
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.
Everyone uses them today.
But not in the beginning.
No one understood blogs either.
"Why do they write their diary online?"
Blogs are online journals.
People must have been scared hearing that.
"No, I wanna write it on paper!"
"Why are they asking me to share my diary with the whole world?"
"Do you realize what you're doing?"
"Stop it! Don't you know that writing an online diary is a scary thing to do?"
"Diaries are meant to be written on paper and hidden. Give me a paper diary with a lock!"
"You're gonna reveal your embarrassing thoughts to the world!"
"Foreigners can see your diary!"
"What if they find out who you are and stalk you?"
"Stop writing on blogs!"
"Blogs are dangerous!"
The same happened to Twitter.
"Why do they keep mumbling and ranting to the world?"
"What if they find out who you are and stalk you?"
"Please, stop all these nonsense!"
But now, Twitter, blogs, Amazon, and Rakuten are frequently used.
You must remember that it took so long for people to use them this much.
It won't take long for online communities to pervade into our lives as well.
There have been people running them for 5 to 6 years and that figure is still increasing.
The demand is increasing because they are a great service
and they still exist because they function well.
Therefore, they will become a part of our lives sooner or later.
It took very long for being a YouTuber to be considered an occupation.
The society did not understand it at first.
People no longer think that it is a job wherein you upload weird videos and earn money in a weird way.
Who would've thought people would ask Kajisac for advice because they wanted to be a YouTuber?
There were a lot of controversies when Kajisac said that he would retire from his celebrity career
if his YouTube channel does not gain 1 million subscribers.
Today, everyone wants to collaborate with Kajisac.
They ask for his advice on getting more views.
So you can see there is a change in the era.
Online communities are thus being suspected just because they are online.
So for those who are using them or are planning to use them, don't worry.
It's a natural thing.
No need to feel offended by those who suspect online communities.
It's natural.
Looking back at the history, it's natural for people to suspect online things.
So first, relax.
Why should it be online?
Its value comes from the fact that it is done online.
Are you thinking that going to offline academics for string instruments, math, or golf is enough?
There are things only available when done online.
Have you wondered why Internet purchasing is convenient?
It's similar.
Let's say there's a store that sells a great product.
However, you're too busy to visit that store
because the branches are only in Tokyo and Osaka.
Even though you want this brand's clothes, their flagship stores are only in Tokyo and Osaka.
Not enough stores, you see.
It's hard to buy the product.
A lot of people used to feel this difficulty before.
Then came ZOZOTOWN.
All brands were able to create their online shopping mall.
That allowed consumers to purchase products from anywhere.
You can purchase them this instant.
You're no longer restricted by time or space.
Think of it this way.
It may be a waste of time to go out to shop.
That's why we use ZOZOTOWN.
That's why we use UberEats.
We can save time if we use UberEats.
The food gets delivered while we do something else.
Just tell them to leave it by the door and you'll later find freshly cooked soba.
In this situation,
even people who are too busy can participate in online communities.
How about offline communities?
They tell you the time and place of an event.
"Really? I won't be able to make it."
"I'm too busy with work."
"I do have time but it's too far away."
This won't be a problem for online communities.
Allow me to brag a bit. In my online community called PROGRESS,
there are members from all over the nation, including Okinawa and Hokkaido.
Moreover, there are people from other countries.
Southeast Asia, America, Europe, and Oceania.
Despite the diverse origins, everyone feels a sense of belonging.
That's right.
You can meet your friends anytime, anywhere.
So it's a great service.
However, it's not for free.
People will dislike that you should pay for it.
But think about it.
Are the string instrument classes free?
Are the soccer classes free?
You may compare it with Facebook and Twitter, which are free.
But they aren't the same things.
You should compare it with string instrument classes or golf clubs.
Offline communities make you pay membership fees, too.
It's usually paid per month.
How much do you expect for such offline classes?
It might start from a few thousand yen to over 10,000 yen according to the content.
We expect it to be about 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.
It's the same thing.
It's the same thing.
The price range differs greatly so some online communities require 10,000 yen.
Horiemon's community, HIU, has a membership fee of about 10,000 yen.
Yoichi Ochiai's community also costs about 10,000 yen.
But my salon and Nishino's salon cost about 1,000 yen.
It's about 1,000 yen.
So the community fees range from 1,000 yen to 10,000 yen.
It's simple.
You might be wondering why Twitter is different from online communities.
Twitter and Facebook are where we connect with friends.
But don't you think the people whom you are related with
pretty much rely on these platforms?
It's connected with people from our family, district, work, and school.
You may want to be connected with people from a completely different group,
especially fields we're interested in.
For example, you may want to talk about rock music with others because you like rock bands,
or hone your business skills further.
When you want to make connections with people from a certain field,
the social media that you use for free would not help you.
Also, considering the fact that the content you want to learn are provided in online communities,
social media does not provide you such benefits.
You have no limit to time or place because it is done online.
For example, try considering the money it takes for you to travel, sleep, or transfer in order to learn something.
You can choose the time and place and even save money.
Some people also use three to four online communities.
That's because you can adjust freely the time and place.
This is all possible as it's done online.
Just like the supply of Internet shopping and UberEats,
these new communities use the advantages of things done online.
This is what you call an online community.
Is it now easier to understand?
I, too, believe that my explanation was amazing.
I was able to get it after running one for 2 years.
To be honest, I started it in the beginning only because it looked fascinating.
Anyway, that's how you can explain it.
Now that we know what online communities are, how can we use them?
You may have your own goals.
Maybe you want to become like the community owner
or those who are related to that community owner.
You may also want to be of support to the community owner.
But author Nakazato organized it into several steps.
Step 1, we should become eligible to become its user.
Most online communities are run via Facebook.
There are unique techniques and processes you should go through in Facebook.
The same goes for other communities.
They may require you a document or things to do to register.
There are various ways for you to register and become a member.
So you must first do that.
Next, you should make friends and become influential.
This may not be clear to those who have never been part of such communities.
But if you're a part of one, I bet you understand.
At first, you should just join.
You might worry if you could actually make friends
but after you make some friends gradually,
your ideas might turn into actual planning
for an actual event. Various things can happen.
This is really fun.
As your influence increases, people will have a certain image of you.
You can realize a new side of yourself,
build trust between the others, and use that at work or your life.
These are the three steps.
You may not fully understand what I just explained to you
so let's get into the details of these three blocks.
Become a member, be influential, and use it at work or in your life.
If you listen attentively,
these lessons would be of help to those who are just
beginners to online communities, and even those who've been members ever since
but weren't able to properly use the communities.
There are a lot of details here.
It really is an amazing book.
Let's get to it.
First, becoming a member.
We should carefully choose a community.
There are platforms for online communities like CAMPFIRE or DMM Online Salon.
There are also the kind of online communities that
make an independent site without using such platforms, just like mine and Nishino's.
So there are mainly independent ones, DMM Online Salon, and CAMPFIRE.
You will find a lot of online communities.
You can even see their ranks according to the number of members and popularity.
But if you do not know where to join,
there are five things to consider.
Knowing them can help you decide.
So what are they?
Firstly, the content.
Most online communities are run by famous celebrities.
Famous sports athletes, celebrities, YouTubers,
businessperson, fortuneteller, and many more.
There are also those run by master artisans.
What kind of content do these community owners provide?
That is the most noticeable charm.
In my case, I do an hour-long livestream everyday.
That's quite a long time.
I stream for an hour daily.
I do a livestream exclusively for the members, at the same time each day.
If you consider that I do this everyday at the same time,
I'm spending more time than Tamori from Waratte Iitomo!
It's a jam-packed content.
Members can also watch live via YouTube.
They can ask me questions real-time as well.
They can also watch me offline in my studio.
The newest WinWinWiiin became a hot topic.
Oops, I just bragged about it myself.
I'm glad it got positive feedback.
You can participate too if you'd like to come and watch WinWinWiiin.
To sum it up, you can watch my livestream,
come watch me offline, make a special visit for our program
and participate in various ways.
You can become my guest or staff on YouTube as well.
My staff and assistants who edit my YouTube college videos are also members of my community.
These relationships form from a content.
It may depend on the individual.
For example, Horiemon's community provides an event called Horie Banpaku
wherein you can participate as a consumer or staff.
In Nishino's community, there are articles that Nishino writes everyday.
You may want to get long articles daily that are worth reading.
It really depends on the person.
As far as I know, Yoichi Ochiai also does a weekly livestream in his community.
The content depends on the person.
Because the content greatly differs according to the community
you should check out their site description.
I bet a lot of people know about this already.
There are many more.
Secondly, you should look at the exchange meetings.
Quite a lot of communities have exchange meetings.
The difference between online communities and fan clubs is that you can get
the community owner's content and meet up with the other members.
Fan clubs back in the days used to require a yearly membership fee of 1,000 yen and gave out bulletins.
People knew about the recent news through pamphlets.
But compared to those days, communication between members became closer.
People can now meet up on Zoom or have online meetings.
They can also see each other in offline events.
You should check out if the community holds such events.
See if it's held by the community owner or solely by the members.
In this perspective, it may seem quite fascinating.
But it doesn't mean you must attend them.
If you want the content and not the meetings,
or if you want the meetings but not the content, it does not matter.
The next point is about upgrading your skills.
Can this community improve your skills?
Let's say this community allows you to practice, do presentations
and additionally get feedbacks from the members.
You should see if it makes you feel that you're improving.
This is another important thing to consider when choosing a community.
Rather than communities that do not make you feel like you're improving even though you are
doing your best in taking all the lessons,
communities that make you feel the progress would be better.
Because I'm a YouTuber, my community has a lot of members who are YouTubers as well.
There are also many who aren't YouTubers but want to upload things.
Recently, among livestreams, pictures, and videos
many people are interested in videos.
In our community, you can do livestreams
or upload prerecorded videos to collaborate with each other and share opinions.
Try to recall the ending of YouTube University's videos.
You may not know if you do not watch the videos till the end.
How can you watch them everyday but not the ending?
You'll see the various activities that my community members participate in.
So if it's okay with you, I hope you watch today's video till the end.
You'll see that there are various activties that you can do.
It's interesting how the members who were unskilled at first gradually improve.
You can see them grow.
The same goes for celebrities. There's a saying that they stay young because they're exposed to the eyes of the public.
People change when they are conscious that they are being watched.
For example, let's say you upload your first YouTube video or do your first Instagram livestream.
In reality, not many people would watch it.
That's because there are a lot of influencers with great content out there.
It's different to get the people's attention.
But if you join a community and make friends first before you begin,
they can watch your content and give you feedback.
That way you can improve your skills.
Don't you think such communities are great?
So instead of suddenly joining a soccer competition,
it's better to create a football club to first improve your skills.
Next is the properties of participants.
It's better to join a group with members who have similar personalities as yours.
We all know that if we join a pro wrestling club even if
we're not interested in that sport, we won't be able to communicate with the members.
But with people who has the same interests, it is easier to communicate with.
"Oh, you like this hobby too?"
This means the members' common interest is the community owner.
If you like Horiemon, you should join his community and mingle with the members there.
It's best to consider such characteristics because
it'd be easier to talk with members. You can join Horiemon's community after reading his book
or Nishino's community after reading his publication.
If you choose only based on the number of members or popularity of a community,
you may not be able to fully enjoy the experience because you can't relate.
Next is the size of the community.
This is important because there are new communities and active communities.
If there are lots of members, there are a lot of active ones as well.
According to data, active members in communities are about 20%.
So there'd be 200 if the total number of members is 1,000.
200 out of 1,000.
The other 800 members would just be watching.
But this is applicable to all kinds of communities.
Even in school, there are people who'd often speak in public or those who'd help quietly
but not everyone's like that.
80% of the people just do nothing.
Therefore, the active members are 20%.
This means you can meet 200 active members in a community of 1,000.
If there are 10 people, the active ones would only be 2.
That means the community shouldn't be too small.
If there are about 100 to 200 members, there'd quite a number of active members.
After choosing the salon with these check points, let's move on to the 5 ways to use them.
It will become more detailed now.
Those who are already part of a community would be able to relate to this.
Join the community and participate.
This means you should create a Facebook account.
Some people do not know how to use Facebook.
Facebook is very easy to use.
You'll find it easy once you start and get used to it.
Back in the days, some people refused to buy smartphones.
"I don't know about smartphones!"
"I only know feature phones!"
You know how to use feature phones.
You were able to adapt to feature phones, Father!
You were able to move on from rotary dial telephones.
You adapted to feature phones. Then why not smartphones?
It's the same thing.
Since you've adapted to smartphones, you can adapt to Facebook.
Moreover, in Facebook,
I deeply relate to what the author said. It's the fact that icons are important.
The profile pictures.
Profile pictures are important in order to make friends.
The author, Nakazato, warns you to avoid those with profile pictures of illustrations or pets.
He said they aren't necessarily bad but it'd be difficult for you to become close with them.
It's much better to be friends with those who use their real names
and profile picture as much as possible.
I really relate to this.
There are so much people with illustration or pet profile pictures.
"Someone drew this portrait for me."
I get it!
"It's a pet I've had since so long ago."
I get it!
They may seem cute to you.
But you should consider how others must feel to be greeted with no face.
You're basically greeting them with a helmet still on.
It's scary.
Although they understand that you just got off the bike to visit the convenience store,
you can be mistaken as a burglar!
They'll see that you're not holding a gun or a baseball bat.
However, you might be hiding it!
That's because you have a full face helment on in a convenience store.
There are various profile pictures like that
including illustrations, pet pictures, and photos taken from a weird angle.
It'll likely be more easier to make friends
if you take a picture under the sunlight
or artificial light with a smile on the face and use that as your profile picture.
So first, register an account and join.
It's important to make a Facebook account, upload your profile picture, and use your real name.
Then you should introduce yourself.
This is the key.
All communities require you to introduce yourself.
Some require you to introduce yourself through a document, while others pictures.
Some make you introduce yourself through a video.
In my community, there is a separate group where you upload a video of you introducing yourself.
You may not know how to introduce yourself. This is important.
I bet you would feel nervous to introduce yourself.
You wouldn't know what to say.
There is the kind of introduction wherein you
tell the people about your whole life.
I once introduced myself for 2 hours in YouTube University.
But it'd be a problem if you did this in a community.
Then how should you do it?
There is a format.
It should start from past, present, and future.
The past refers to your motivation to join the community.
"I thought I should join after watching videos in Nakata's YouTube University channel."
"I was further convinced when I saw the ending in the videos."
"That's how I got interested."
This reveals that your motivation to join was watching a video.
Some would say they watched a video about business.
Others may say, "I joined because I really loved the literature video."
"I wanna be friends with those who love literature, just like me."
The past reveals your motivation to join.
Next, talk about the present.
What you're currently doing.
This is where you share what you are currently doing.
It's what people share the most.
Lastly, talk about the future.
What do you wanna do after joining this community?
I'll tell you why you have to talk about the past, present, and future.
There are many people who only mention their present activities.
"Hello, I'm Atsuhiko Nakata."
"I'm currently a YouTuber."
"I wanna get to know you all. Nice to meet you!"
Only those who are interested in becoming a YouTuber will be interested in me.
The others wouldn't want to get to know me.
However, it'd be different if you share why you joined.
They'll see your motivation to become a YouTuber and would want to support you.
"I used to be a comedian on TV for 15 years. But the show didn't do well than I'd expected"
"so I decided to become a YouTuber after struggling for a while."
"So today, I make educational videos."
"I talk by myself and teach the viewers."
"I also carry out various content, like XENO and WinWinWiiin."
"I'm trying my best thinking that I'm doing things I wasn't able to do on TV to achive my dream."
Then wrap it up by talking about the future.
"After joining this community,"
"I'd like to get to know many people, make YouTube content"
"and make many friends."
"I wanna get to know various people."
"I'd like to be friends with people"
"who are interested in thinking about YouTube content, wanna appear in my channel, and make music."
"I also want to get to know people who want to watch my videos!"
Talking about your future this way would make them interested in you.
So make sure to introduce yourself starting with the past, present, and future.
Why did you join? What do you currently do? What do you wanna do in this community?
It'd be great if you follow these guidelines.
One more thing.
You should expose yourself more.
If you honestly talk about the problems or weaknesses you have, there'd be many people to help you out.
This is really amazing.
Hence, what does it mean to be connected to someone else in a community?
Being connected with another means
that you expect the other person to do things for you
but to also want to help that person.
You wish that the other person needs you.
There are way more people who wish they could help the others out instead of just receive help.
I bet you are that kind of person.
So if someone is struggling, they could notice that and help him or her out.
Don't stay quiet in the water and let yourself drown.
If you signal that you're drowning, someone will come help you.
Allow yourself to get help from the others.
Everyone would feel sad to see anyone drowning on his or her own.
It's important that you let the others know that you need help
because you are drowning. Tell them you'd like to get to know them.
The third one is also realistic and important.
Make others like you, not dislike you.
This is interesting.
What we most commonly think about when joining a group is to wish people would like us.
"I wanna be a popular person."
"I want to get the spotlight."
You want a positive image.
You want others to like you.
You want them to welcome you but that doesn't happen in reality.
This author explained this is an interesting way.
There's apparently an important stage before getting liked by the others.
This stage is when you aren't disliked by the others.
Humans naturally tend to dislike the unknown or unfamiliar.
That's the point. Why, you ask?
"Online community? What's that?"
"I can't trust those. Don't do it."
"Nakata? He won't last."
"Don't do it. He doesn't seem nice."
"You're always watching Nakata's videos these days. You're weird."
"You're being tricked."
"It's as if it's a religion."
This is how we react to the unknown.
People dislike what they don't know about.
We dislike unfamiliar things. We can't suddenly like it.
So it's important not to get disliked.
What should you do in order not to be disliked?
There are certain actions that people hate.
Being expressionless, blank, and too quiet.
What does this mean?
For example, in meetings,
you can see each other's profiles when we do online meetings like in Zoom or livestreams.
Being expressionless here makes you look scary.
This is similar to the illustration or pet profile pictures I mentioned earlier.
Let's say you have a blank, dark expression.
"Hello."
"I'm new here."
Don't I look scary? I look like I would commit a crime or something.
But if you add a little warm grin, it makes it a whole lot better.
But that's really difficult.
I bet you would think that we should obviously not have an expressionless face.
But I've been running my online community for 2 years already.
I already have about 3,500 members. I've seen many people's introductions.
And a majority of the members show an expressionless face.
That's because they're nervous.
They're nervous when they introduce themselves and when they set their profile picture.
There weren't great pictures among the ones you asked me to choose.
They weren't good.
There were no expressions.
So they looked scary.
Don't ask me if it looks fine because it's so dark that I can't see what you took.
Plus, the gaze.
It means you're looking at something.
Having no gaze at all is
similar to when we make videos and upload them.
Instead of looking down at the script or looking elsewhere because you're nervous,
you should look at the viewers.
You get a lot of feedbacks when you become a YouTuber.
You should always look into the camera, at the viewers.
You should keep this in mind because you should be thankful to have someone watch your content.
You shouldn't avoid asking qusestions because it's a meeting.
Let's say you introduced yourself and joined the next gathering.
No one responded to your introduction in the Zoom gathering.
No one asks questions either. That would feel as if they don't care about you.
This means everybody wants all members to pay attention to them.
That must be why they joined the community.
But the people who strongly wish for the others' attention
fail to see that everyone wants the attention.
This happens often because we get nervous.
But if you show interest in them first, you'll become popular.
Let's ask ourselves.
Ask yourself if you're looking at the others with a warm look.
You must've thought that online communities are similar to offline communities.
That's right.
It's the same as our human relationships in real life.
You may think that online communities have their own regulations
but just like online and offline shopping, online communities are similar to their offline equivalents.
It's where you can join after you understand the others and think about your image in order to make friends.
[Next episode – Increase your influence and use it in your life]
"What do you do for a living?"
"I make steamed buns."
"What do you mean, steamed buns?"
"I'll bring it. Try some."
"I'll pay."
"It's fine, just taste it."
"It's good. I'll pay next time then."
This is what happens.
Imagine that you're simply entering another village.
"That's the same as offline gatherings!"
Exactly. It's great because that can be done online!
A web community, PROGRESS.
[Atsuhiko Nakata's online community PROGRESS, 3,700 members, 980 yen per month]
[Watch YouTube University]
[Introduction (Introduction of members)]
[Theater (Videos uploaded by members)]
[TV (Livestreams by members)]
[Monthly Zoom Gatherings]
[Home Room (Daily livestream)]
We can be anything, anytime.
It's your turn.