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"But qualitative researchers now face some a similar challenge. Running a successful community is not just asking a barrage of questions, but being able to start conversations (more in the style of a salon than a focus group). Plugged In talk about:
“One of the hardest things for me to learn initially was the idea of letting go of control of the conversation. As moderators we want to “ask, ask, ask,” but in communities it is really important to listen to the community and circle back on topics of interest. If there is a particularly interesting comment or user generated discussion, incorporating it into a future activity (and acknowledging the member that posted) reinforces the fact that you are listening to what the members are saying. Also, this approach is much more effective for “probes” and follow-up questions. Creating a new discussion and engaging the community as a whole is oftentimes more effective than trying to follow up inline with individual members …”
