Online communities reflect the broader social and political environments around them. They can foster positive connection, learning and belonging, but they can also become spaces where harassment and hate speech spread quickly if left unchecked. 

Artificial intelligence, in combination with digital platforms and algorithms, is amplifying the speed and reach of hate speech. As we head through 2026, Quiip and our Australian clients and partners have been observing a steadily rising tide. 

For community managers, handling hate speech is essential to protecting communities and managing risk. It’s also an ethical imperative. Setting clear standards for participation in online spaces, combined with strong moderation practices, helps establish behavioural expectations, supports online safety, and reduces harm before it escalates.

Recent changes to Australia’s hate speech and hate crimes legislation have added another layer to this work, reinforcing the importance of robust moderation, governance and risk management practices.

Ahead of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech this month, we take a look at what hate speech is, why it matters, and what community managers should know about Australia’s updated legal landscape.

Note: This article provides general information only and should not be considered legal advice.

What is hate speech?

Broadly speaking, hate speech refers to language or behaviour that attacks, threatens, degrades or dehumanises people based on attributes such as race, religion, gender, sexuality, and disability.

In online communities, hate speech can range from explicit slurs and threats, through to coded language and harassment or targeting of marginalised groups. Not every offensive comment meets a legal definition of hate speech, however harmful conduct can still damage communities without crossing into unlawful territory. For community managers, the focus needs to be on community impact, as opposed to legal risk identification alone. 

Why acting (quickly) on hate speech matters

When hate speech in an online space is left unchecked, it is perceived as tolerated and can become normalised. Left with a hostile environment, targeted individuals and communities inevitably disengage, feeling unsafe and unwelcome – due to both the hate speech itself and the lack of protective moderation.

Strong moderation sets expectations for behaviour, helps maintain environments where community members can participate safely, and plays a critical role in reducing harm within online spaces. It also plays an important role in governance, reputation management and long-term community health. 

What has changed in Australia’s hate speech laws?

Two bills were introduced and passed by the Australian Federal Parliament between 2025 and early 2026:

• Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2025
• Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026

These laws aim to strengthen Australia’s response to hate-motivated behaviour and extremist activity.

Although they’re often described as “hate speech laws”, they are more accurately hate crimes legislation, because they introduce criminal offences and stronger penalties linked to conduct that promotes or incites hatred or violence.

These laws don’t require community managers to police every offensive comment, but they do raise the stakes around how harmful content is handled.

How do the updated laws impact online communities?

Impact matters more than intent

Previously, enforcement often depended on proving an intent to incite hatred or violence. Under the updated legislation, the focus shifts to whether the conduct is likely to incite hatred, regardless of what the person claims they meant.

Moderation decisions should therefore be based on the potential impact of content, not solely on the intent behind it.

Closed communities may still be considered public

Many hate-related offences depend on conduct occurring in a public context. But the meaning of “public” becomes complicated in online environments. Closed or gated spaces that can feel “private”, such as Discord servers or private groups, may still be considered public if members of the general public can join through a standard sign-up process. 

Moderation and governance should be applied consistently, to minimise risk.

Prohibited symbols and hate organisations

The updated legislation also strengthens rules around prohibited extremist symbols and organisations listed under Australia’s terrorist organisation framework.

For community managers, this reinforces the importance of monitoring harmful or extremist activity within online spaces and applying moderation policies consistently.

A broader perspective on harm

Previously, Australian courts used a “reasonable member of the community” standard when assessing whether speech could incite hatred. For particular offences, including the display of prohibited symbols, the test now considers whether “a reasonable member of the target community” would perceive the conduct as inciting hatred.

What community managers should do now

The fundamentals of good community management remain the strongest safeguard. If your organisation hosts or manages online spaces, consider the following steps:

1. Review and update your community guidelines

Ensure community guidelines clearly define unacceptable behaviour, including hate speech, harassment and extremist content. Your guidelines should reflect how your community operates and be easy for members to understand.

3. Document moderation decisions

Keep clear records of moderation actions, including why content was removed or accounts were banned. This helps demonstrate consistency and reasonable care. 

4. Apply policies consistently

Consistency builds trust with communities and demonstrates that governance processes are meaningful rather than symbolic. Inconsistent enforcement can undermine community trust and your ability to demonstrate good governance.

5. Be aware of risks

Stay informed about organisations listed by the Australian Government and ensure they are not being platformed within your communities. 

5. Treat moderation as governance

As the legal landscape evolves, moderation increasingly sits at the intersection of community safety, organisational reputation and regulatory compliance. 

6. Ensure regular, frequent and human moderation

Human moderation matters. Platform-level moderation has significant limitations and, while automated tools can help with detection, they can’t fully interpret nuance, intent, or cultural context. 

Community managers bring strategic thinking, contextual awareness, empathy and ethical reasoning to moderation decisions. These qualities are essential when navigating complex issues like discrimination, satire, activism and cultural context. 

In other words, the role of community professionals is not becoming less important as regulation evolves. If anything, it is becoming more critical.

What this means for community managers

The legal landscape around hate speech will continue to evolve, but the foundations of good community management remain consistent: clear standards, thoughtful moderation and well-defined governance processes.

Community managers are not expected to act as legal experts. However, the recent changes reinforce how closely moderation is tied to community safety, organisational reputation, and compliance.

Most well-managed communities already follow practices that align with these laws. The key is to ensure that they are clearly defined, consistently applied and documented, and supported by escalation pathways.

As online communities continue to evolve, so too will expectations around moderation and governance. Organisations that invest in clear frameworks, skilled moderation and community safety practices will be better positioned to build healthier and more resilient online spaces.

If you’re reviewing your community guidelines or moderation processes in light of these changes, Quiip can help. Get in touch with our team to learn more.

The post Managing hate speech: An update for community managers appeared first on Quiip.

When did you join Quiip and what led you here?

I’m currently based in Sydney (on Gadigal land) and joined Quiip in March 2026.

I was drawn to work at Quiip as I’m passionate about working for organisations that promote sustainability and ethical values, two aspects that really jumped out to me when I came across Quiip. I also enjoy working as a freelance designer and the nature of Quiip being online and remote really stood out to me.

My professional background is in graphic design and I’ve been working in the industry for eight years now. For a large portion of those years, I worked in the fashion industry both as a textile designer and as an in-house graphic designer. I am also currently completing a diploma in conservation and ecosystem management and have a deep interest in ecology and environmentalism.

What do you enjoy about working with Quiip?

I really enjoy working at Quiip as I get to work with a team of like-minded people who share similar beliefs and values about the future of creating and managing safe online communities. What has really stood out to me working at Quiip is how dedicated the team is in supporting and nurturing people’s interests and finding space to incorporate them in the organisation’s professional space. 

What are some of your favourite places on the internet?

I really enjoy finding interesting articles, interviews and comics on the Believer Magazine website. I also spend a lot of time drawing design inspiration and staying up-to-date with contemporary artists and designers on Itsnicethat.com

What does remote work enable you to get up to outside of work?

For me, I really enjoy the flexibility of being able to dictate my own hours and decide where I get to work. I enjoy being able to work as a freelance graphic designer and Quiip’s model is very supportive and encouraging of this mode of work. I also love catching up with teammates who live in different parts of the country (or the world!) and hearing their unique working experiences which you don’t always get to experience in other workplaces with different models.

Tell us something about your life outside of work.

I play a lot of stringed instruments! At the moment I mostly play guitar but I also dabble on the banjo and mandolin. Music is a huge part of my life and has given me the opportunity to play in numerous bands over the years.

Do you have a question for Sally or the Quiip team? We’d love to hear from you! If you’re interested in joining our team, explore current opportunities on our jobs page.

The post Meet the Team: Sally Hull appeared first on Quiip.

Reddit’s influence extends beyond the platform itself. Posts and comments are increasingly prioritised in Google search engine results and are frequently cited in AI-generated answers. For brands, this means conversations on Reddit are shaping discoverability, perceptions, consumer decision-making, and action.

For businesses and organisations, this raises the question: should we be on Reddit?

For community managers, a key question should be: what role could Reddit play in our community management strategy?

The answer is not as simple as creating an account and publishing content. Reddit operates on a fundamentally different model to other social platforms. Participation in Reddit is earned, communities are self-governed, and self-promotion is shunned just as much as authenticity is expected and rewarded.

Understanding how Reddit functions as a platform is critical if you are deciding if and how your organisation should be present, whether as a tool for social listening, reputation management,  engagement or participation.

What is Reddit and how is it different? 

Reddit is a forum-style social media platform made up of thousands of individual communities, known as subreddits, each with its own focus, tone, and rules. Subreddits are moderated by platform users, rather than by brands, and each subreddit has its own rules, norms, and expectations in addition to those of the platform itself.

Reddit’s core content is user-generated posts. Users can share content by posting stories, links, images and video. They can also comment on other posts and upvote or downvote content, impacting a post’s visibility on the platform.

As a result, Reddit can be considered less like a channel you manage and more like a collection of communities you may or may not be invited to or welcome in. 

Reddit rewards contributions that feel useful, authentic, and grounded in real experience. As a platform, it’s quick to reject anything that feels overly polished, insincere, or promotional and hostility to these qualities can fluctuate between different subreddits. This makes Reddit  incredibly valuable to brands, yet significantly increases the risk of getting it wrong.

Strategic approaches to Reddit

Right now, most businesses and organisations fall into one of two camps when it comes to strategic use of Reddit. 

Reddit as a visibility channel (search and AI)

In this approach, Reddit is treated as part of a broader SEO or AIO strategy. Posts and discussions are seen as opportunities for a brand to surface in Google search results and in answers generated by AI tools. This approach is typically driven by marketing or growth teams and focuses on reach, relevant topics, keywords, and traffic.

Reddit as a community environment

This approach focuses on understanding existing conversations and participating strategically,  where appropriate. It leverages opportunities to build relationships with customers, grow awareness and deepen engagement, while respecting the unique nature of Reddit communities and the platform’s member-to-member culture. 

Both approaches are valid, but for brands interested in community building and customer insights, the second model is the more relevant starting point.

Reddit as a source of community insight

Unlike other social platforms like LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram, Reddit is not driven by polished content or brands driving engagement. It’s driven by authentic discussion, often candid, sometimes critical, and usually more detailed.

People use Reddit to ask questions and seek advice, compare products and services, share frustrations, and to connect with others. While this is true to most communities, it’s important to note that Reddit users, known as Redditors, tend to express themselves with less filtering than on most other public platforms. This makes Reddit a valuable source of customer insights, often more honest than surveys and other feedback channels.

Start with listening, not participation

The safest and most effective way for businesses and organisations to approach Reddit is to begin by listening. Conversations relevant to your brand or industry are often already happening, with or without your knowledge or input. 

The first step is to understand where and how these conversations are happening. Look for spaces in which your brand or industry are being discussed. 

These may be in:

• Large subreddits (e.g. r/Australia, r/AskAnAustralian/)
• More niche communities (e.g. r/AustralianBirds, r/4x4Australia, r/MelbourneVegans)
• Threads discussing competitors
• Conversations where your organisation is referenced indirectly.

By mapping and monitoring these spaces, you will start to understand:

• How people talk about your industry or category
• Patterns of common frustrations, misconceptions, or concerns
• Sentiment towards your organisation or competitors
• Whether your presence would be welcomed or resisted

Before you even consider active participation, this listening phase can also be used to inform: 

• Risk identification
• Messaging and content
• Product or service research and development
• Customer care responses

Participation is earned

Participation on Reddit comes with constraints that don’t exist on most other platforms. Many subreddits restrict or limit contributions from new or low-karma accounts, particularly to reduce spam and low-quality content. As a result, newly created accounts are often either unable to post or are subject to closer scrutiny by moderators, the community, and the platform itself.

Reddit’s reputation system is known as karma. Each account has a karma score, which reflects how other users have responded to their contributions over time. Accounts with little or no karma are more likely to be filtered, downvoted, or ignored, and are not even able to contribute to subreddits with a minimum karma threshold.

So brands can’t – and shouldn’t – simply create an account and begin engaging immediately. A more effective approach is to establish a presence early and spend time observing and slowly building karma. Reading discussions, upvoting relevant contributions, and engaging occasionally in low-risk ways helps build familiarity with the platform and signals legitimacy over time.

From there, participation becomes a more considered decision.

If you’re considering contributing

Quiip’s internal “Reddit test” can help you decide whether it’s worth contributing to a topic:

• Is the conversation genuine?
• Is there a clear opportunity to add value?
• Has the question already been answered?
• Would a brand response support the goals of the user and the community?
• Can we contribute without appearing as though we are promoting ourselves? 
• Does the tone of our response align with the community? 

In many cases, the right decision may well be not to engage. If a question has already been answered, the best course of action is simply to upvote the best answer. Consider replying only if you have something meaningful to add (e.g. a small clarification, update or nuance). Simply affirming a response that’s already been provided can often be seen as purely an attempt to gain karma and will often be downvoted.

What participation can look like

Where engagement actually does make sense, our most common recommendation is to participate by contributing to existing discussions: answering questions, clarifying information, and supporting responses already shared by the community. 

Structured formats such as AMAs (Ask Me Anything) can also be effective, particularly when they feature real people such as subject matter experts or educators. These work best when they are transparent, unscripted, and aligned with the norms of the community.

Some organisations may choose to establish a more visible presence through a brand account or subreddit. However, this requires a clear purpose and a commitment to ongoing content and moderation, and this is not the right starting point for most teams.

Beyond organic participation, Reddit also offers paid and platform-supported options. These include promoted posts, sponsored AMAs, and tools such as Reddit Pro, which allow organisations to monitor conversations, manage their presence, and access audience insights.

These approaches can support visibility and scale, but they operate within the same cultural constraints. Content must still feel native to the platform, and trust and credibility remain necessary for meaningful engagement.

A practical starting point for brands 

A simple starting framework might look like this:

Create an account

Create a Reddit account that clearly represents your organisation. This doesn’t require immediate activity, but allows you to begin observing the platform, understanding how it works and gradually building familiarity. 

Lurk, listen and learn

Each distinct community has its own purpose, norms, and rules. Taking the time to read, scroll, and observe how discussions unfold across the platform and particularly in subreddits relevant to you is essential before considering participation.

Look beyond direct references to your brand. Pay attention to how your sector, competitors and related topics are being discussed. Notice patterns: repeated questions, frustrations, or misconceptions often provide more value than individual comments.

In some cases, subreddits about your organisation may already exist. These may be community-run, actively moderated or inactive. Understanding how these spaces are currently used is an important step before deciding whether to participate or establish a formal brand presence.

Assess where, and whether, to engage

Not every subreddit, thread, or topic requires a response. Consider whether your organisation can add meaningful value, and whether engagement aligns with the expectations of that specific community. 

Start with light interactions

Once you have a strong understanding of the environment, transition to light interactions such as upvoting and occasional low-risk contributions to help build karma and establish credibility. Remember that transparency is critical on Reddit and be clear about the company you are representing. Track feedback and metrics, and explore third-party tools as needed.

Avoid a traditional sales and marketing approach 

Reddit users value authenticity first. Ensure your engagement isn’t characterised by brand-first messaging, a sales approach, or generic marketing messaging. Users are much more likely to respect a brand’s participation if it is helpful, delivers expertise, value or solutions, and answers their questions. 

Consider broader engagement options

Participation on Reddit does not have to be limited to organic engagement. Depending on your goals, options such as paid advertising, AMAs and partnerships with credible voices,may be appropriate. These should be considered as part of a broader strategy, not as a shortcut to visibility.

Approach Reddit with intent

Reddit’s influence on how people understand brands, products, services and issues will continue to grow. For businesses and organisations, this often creates pressure to participate. However, Reddit is not simply another channel to activate without careful consideration.

For brands and community managers the priority is understanding first where Reddit adds value, how it fits into a broader marketing and communications strategy, and when engagement is appropriate.

Exploring how Reddit fits into your community strategy? From identifying relevant conversations to monitoring sentiment and managing engagement, get in touch to learn how Quiip can help your team get started.

The post Getting started with Reddit: a guide for brands appeared first on Quiip.

With the rise of customer review platforms and their growing influence on purchasing behaviour, review management can no longer be regarded as optional for brands.

Customer, product and app reviews have moved beyond peripheral measures of customer satisfaction. They have evolved into a primary mechanism through which consumer trust is built, buyer risk is evaluated, and brand credibility is assessed.

In this environment, online reviews function as a public, “always-on” conversation” – a highly visible barometer of customer satisfaction. Brands are participants in this space whether they choose to engage or not. For community management professionals, this presents a unique opportunity to elevate review management as a core pillar of customer care.

Our review management experience and research underscores one key point: silence is not neutral.

In the eyes of the consumer, a lack of response is frequently interpreted as brand disengagement or a lack of accountability and transparency. Ultimately, brand silence creates a significant barrier to trust.

Reviews are the new public square 

In an era of increased consumer expectations, brand mistrust and cost-of-living pressures, the way we make purchasing decisions has fundamentally changed. At Quiip, we’ve watched online reviews evolve into a high-reach form of social proof that influences the early stages of the buyer journey. Rather than serving as informal opinion sharing, reviews now actively guide and shape consumer decision-making. 

Our front-line observations are reflected in industry research. Forrester research suggests that over two‑thirds of US online adults rely on ratings and reviews to evaluate products and services prior to purchase. Recent global data also indicates that reviews have become a key research component in the buyer journey. GWI data, published by Data Reportal, ranks “consumer reviews” as the third top channel for online brand research – trailing only search engines and social networks. Essentially, crowd-sourced feedback is now being consulted at scale.

Academic research is equally compelling. A 2024 study published in Data and Information Management – which synthesised findings from 156 studies across multiple markets – concluded that online reviews exert a statistically significant influence on purchase intention. While this is a key takeaway for businesses in general, the study also highlights the four most impactful factors: 

• Review valence (overall positive or negative sentiment; often reflected in ratings)
• Usefulness
• Credibility
• Source homophily

For those of us building communities, source homophily – an individual’s tendency to connect with people perceived to be most like themselves – may be one of the most fascinating factors. It’s this peer-to-peer connection that elevates the importance of customer reviews. While advertising is doing the heavy lifting of building brand awareness, customer reviews are providing the social proof that validates those claims.  

Beyond the star rating: reading between the lines

While platforms such as Google Reviews, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Facebook, Amazon, Glassdoor and the Apple and Google Play app stores have long been key considerations for reputation management, the digital landscape is continuing to evolve.

Review-specific sites such as Trust Pilot (with over 60 million monthly active users globally) and ProductReview.com.au (citing 4.5 million visitors per month) have reported consistent traffic growth. In parallel, customer communities on Reddit, Facebook Groups and online forums have become influential spaces for customer interaction, information exchange, feedback, complaints and brand advocacy.

Alongside this, online consumer behaviour has continued to mature.Importantly, customers are no longer relying solely on aggregate star ratings. Instead, they are increasingly looking for patterns in customer reviews.

Cues utilised by prospects include consistency, volume, review recency, tone of voice, and the presence or absence of brand responses. Mature online consumers are also on the alert for “fake” or incentivised reviews and evaluating the trustworthiness of a source.

What silence can signal to your audience

From a consumer psychology perspective, silence is rarely interpreted favourably. At Quiip, we’ve seen across countless online channels that brand responsiveness itself functions as a powerful signal – a cue that consumers use to infer a business’s accountability, legitimacy and concern for its customer base.

One of the most overlooked risks of brand silence is the cumulative effect. Online reviews are persistent, grow in volume, surface recurrent themes, and can achieve heightened visibility through social sharing, search engine optimisation (SEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO).

Leaving negative feedback unaddressed is a significant brand risk. Reviews characterised by low ratings, negative feedback and repetitive themes have been widely demonstrated to have a detrimental impact on purchase intention, including new customer acquisition, repeat purchases and customer retention. 

Silence as a response can also reinforce perceptions that a brand is “not listening” or does not value its customers. At Quiip, we’ve seen brand silence interpreted as an unwillingness to improve products or services, and even an indicator of business instability.

Ultimately, review responses are about more than just reputation defence. Active engagement involves building community and participating in the discourse around a brand. It also ensures the ability to provide context and corrective input.  

Responding as a trust-building mechanism

As we head into 2026, we’re seeing a clear shift in how leading brands approach review management. Instead of regarding online reviews as a “problem to be solved,” businesses are leveraging these spaces to build trust and engage with their communities in real-time. 

Active review engagement enables brands to:

• Manage customer complaints; including mitigating escalation and amplification risks
• Resolve complex customer cases
• Identify and action positive customer retention opportunities
• Strengthen brand advocacy
• Communicate brand values and a commitment to customer success
• Uncover unmet consumer needs 
• Generate insights to inform product or service development
• Influence the future review ecosystem.

For most businesses, the question is no longer whether to respond, but how to do so effectively. While “showing up” is the first step, both response quality and tailoring are critical and have been demonstrated to make a difference to the future review environment.

A 2025 study in Electronic Markets – analysing historical data from Trip Advisor and Yelp – highlights how different response strategies can impact the dynamics and quality of the review space. The researchers found that more frequent business responses and response diversity (defined as varied text length) influenced the length of future reviews and increased their perceived helpfulness. Additionally, personalised responses resulted in subsequent reviews with more information, causal language and logical reasoning. Finally, using similar language to that of the reviewer suggested relationship building and resulted in more emotional and expressive language.

Who should lead the conversation?

The responsibility for online review management currently varies across organisations. Depending on the business, it may sit with marketing, customer care, product teams or external partners. As the complexity of the review landscape grows, considerations include: platform prioritisation; review volume, frequency and complexity; team resources; and capabilities and skill-sets. 

At Quiip, our experience suggests that community management professionals are uniquely positioned to lead high-quality review engagement. Community management professionals can leverage their understanding of community dynamics and building trust, along with expertise in online reputation management and risk mitigation.

One of the most significant benefits of a community-led approach is the delivery of human-centred, tailored responses delivered in a consistent brand voice. While AI is rapidly becoming an integral part of many customer service frameworks, Quiip’s listening activities continue to highlight its constraints – especially when it comes to community building and sensitive customer acquisition or retention moments.

Conclusion: The case for active brand engagement

For any brand seeking to build genuine loyalty, community and long-term value, review engagement has moved from a tactical task to a strategic necessity. It is now a structurally embedded component of consumer decision-making and needs to be integrated into strategic communications and customer experience frameworks.

In summary:

• Online customer reviews shape trust and purchase decisions at scale.
• Non-response can amplify the impact of negative feedback
• Positive reviews represent opportunities to deepen brand loyalty
• Brand responses can influence not only individual perceptions, but the overall quality and dynamics of review communities
• Silence signals disengagement and increases perceived consumer risk.

In the age of customer reviews, brands may be judged not only by what customers say – but by whether they “show up” and join the conversation. 

Exploring review management solutions? Reach out to Quiip for a review site audit, action plan or hands-on review management support. We’d love to help shape your future customer voice.

The post In the age of customer reviews, silence becomes a brand risk appeared first on Quiip.

Community management enables organisations to meet these expectations in a strategic, considered and safe way. Done well, it enables meaningful engagement and risk management, and keeps online spaces constructive rather than reactive. Without community management, opportunities to build trust are missed, complaints can go unanswered, misinformation can spread unchecked, and valuable insights are lost.

Whether an organisation invests in community management or not, conversations about its products, services and reputation are already happening online. The key question is whether those conversations are being managed intentionally – with clear ownership, resources and goals – informally, or not at all.

This guide outlines why community management matters and how to build a strong business case for investing in it.

What stakeholders need to see in a business case for community management 

Stakeholders need clarity on why investing in community management matters and how its effectiveness can be understood.

A business case for community management should demonstrate the following eight capabilities: 

1. The scope and purpose of community management

Start by providing a short overview or definition of community management. This will assist senior executives who are involved in decision making, but may be further away from marketing and communications strategy and operations. 

Community management is the intentional, ongoing practice of building, engaging, protecting and governing online communities. This includes social media channels, social media groups, enterprise communities, online forums, live events and customer review platforms. 

Bringing together community engagement, content moderation, risk management and customer care, community management is about maximising online engagement, while minimising risk. It ensures that digital spaces associated with a business or brand are safe, constructive, engaged, and aligned with an organisation’s values and goals.

When done well, community management contributes to brand awareness, communicates key messages, supports campaigns, builds loyalty, protects reputation, and turns member interactions into valuable insights.

2. Alignment with business and organisational goals

Community management should be positioned in a way that supports an organisation’s key strategic objectives. Ideally, it should also be aligned to annual business plans and goals.

Goals might include: 

• Building brand awareness, reputation, trust or credibility
• Reaching new audiences and engaging existing audiences 
• Customer acquisition and retention
• Driving positive change, including social impact, education and behaviour change
• Campaign effectiveness and growth
• Risk management, governance and compliance.

3. Effective brand engagement 

People expect to be able to engage with businesses and organisations online. Customers, users, supporters, members and audiences are more likely to trust and engage with brands that respond quickly, consistently, respectfully, and with transparency.

A strategic approach to community management also supports constructive and effective community participation, and improves the quality of discussion for government, purpose-led, or not-for-profit organisations. 

Leading social media platforms, in particular, place a key emphasis on community engagement and audience interaction. Community management is critical for achieving reach and visibility through platform algorithms. In this section, explain that investing in social media without community management will hinder communications reach and social media success.

4. Risk management

Proactive community management plays a crucial role in the early identification of risks and mitigation of issues and incidents before they escalate. Through moderation, effective escalation pathways and best practice engagement, risks and issues can be addressed quickly and professionally.

Indicators of effective risk management:

• Issues are identified and managed as they arise
• Online reputation management
• Resolution times for high-risk issues
• Reduced escalation to senior level, marketing, media or legal teams
• Online safety, community health and positive engagement
• Misinformation managed.

5. Customer care

Social media is more than just a place to engage with content. It’s also seen as a direct way to contact a brand or organisation. People frequently use social platforms to raise concerns, ask questions, or express dissatisfaction with their customer experience – particularly if other customer care channels are slower or harder to access. Ignoring social media as an extension of the customer care process can create frustration, escalate issues, and erode trust.

Delivering customer care via social media enables organisations to:

• Acknowledge and respond to questions and concerns in public-facing spaces
• Reduce customer case volume through FAQS and issue management
• Identify customer retention opportunities
• Redirect people to appropriate customer care channels where required
• Identify product, service or support issues as they emerge
• Ensure responses are consistent, accurate, and timely.

6. Actionable insights

Through direct interactions with target audiences, community managers are well placed to identify trends and insights. When shared regularly, these audience insights can inform decisions across other areas of business, such as product and service development, communications or customer support.

Examples of effective community insights:

• Identification of shifts in sentiment
• Recurring questions and customer pain points
• Emerging concerns or misunderstandings
• Reactions to new products, campaigns, or other activities
• Opportunities for clearer messaging.

7. The cost of inaction & resouce impacts

It’s equally important to highlight how the status quo could already be costing the organisation. This could include:

• Limited opportunities for growing audience and engagement 
• Comments and queries going answered
• Delayed, inconsistent, or inappropriate responses eroding trust and reputation
• Existing teams absorbing community management work without the necessary time, training or tools
• Increased staff burnout due to exposure to high-volume or harmful content
• Reactive crisis responses rather than proactive risk management
• Missed opportunities for audience insights.

Without dedicated community management resourcing, community-related work often falls to marketing, media & communications or customer services teams.  This can increase workloads, increase stress, lead to inconsistent decision-making and impact staff retention. Clear roles, processes, and escalation pathways help ensure issues are handled efficiently and consistently by people with the appropriate expertise, access, tools and context.

8. The value and impact of community

Demonstrating the value of community management and how you will measure its impact is critical. Quiip recommends a clear section summarising your planned measures of success.

These could include how community management will support:

• Strategic and business goals
• Organisational responsibilities
• Communication objectives
• Relationship building
• Reputation management
• Sales
• Customer care
• Audience insights.

Community management work is sometimes undervalued because much of its impact is also preventative. When it’s working well, the community operates smoothly, issues are resolved early, risk and harm are avoided, and a positive community culture is maintained.

Some ways to make visible the need for community management include:

• Mapping the volume of comments, direct messages or reviews not actively monitored
• Examples of unanswered questions
• Examples of sensitive issues, confusion, community conflict or misinformation 
• Noting instances where issues were handled reactively or ineffectively.

Addressing common objections or questions

“We haven’t had a crisis yet”

You haven’t until you do. Or perhaps you already have and it was absorbed and handled reactively by other teams or departments. If you can, highlight a case where a crisis arose and nobody was equipped to handle or escalate it smoothly. Or cite a recent example from a competitor or peer organisation.

“Can’t the Media & Comms or Customer Service team handle it?”

Effective community management requires specialist skills, professional experience, clear escalation pathways, and continued attention. When absorbed by other teams, the work often becomes fragmented and inconsistent or impacts team members whose expertise is in managing media & PR relations or other customer service channels. Risks then increase.

“It’s too hard to measure ROI”

Community building is not a short-term game. Similar to building brand awareness and growing reputation, it’s about building long-term value for your organisation. In addition to standard community metrics, select a key success metric or metrics directly aligned to business goals. Remember that not all value is immediate or directly attributable to a numerical value.

“Can’t we use AI to handle it?”

Automation and AI tools can support some aspects of moderation and reporting, but they cannot replace human judgement, contextual understanding or accountability, particularly in sensitive or high-risk communities. AI assistants and chatbots are a regular source of frustration and friction for customers with more complex issues requiring resolution or requiring more personalised support. 

Building the case now for future investment

Building a strong business case for community management helps ensure your social media and community engagement is adequately resourced, intentional and consistent, rather than reactive, fragmented and high risk.

Importantly, it also ensures your community is set up to strategically support your organisational goals and provides a safe, trusted, and positive space for meaningful brand engagement.

Interested in strengthening your approach to community management and need advice on building a business case? Get in touch with Quiip. We’re always happy to have a chat about how we can help.

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When did you join Quiip and what led you here?

I am currently based in Los Angeles, California. I was born in England and raised in a very English family but spent the majority of my life in Australia, between Cairns, Brisbane and Melbourne.

I studied music at university, but was heavily involved in online communities so slowly made my way into social and digital media. I worked on and off between various music, social and healthcare roles until 2016 when I joined Quiip. I spent six years with Quiip and was lucky enough to work with almost all clients and internal processes. After a short stint away from Quiip and a few re-locations I found myself drawn back by the team connections, the meaningful and genuinely impactful work, and the flexibility allowed to staff. 

What do you enjoy about working at Quiip?

I was lucky enough to work on the This Girl Can campaign for a number of years with VicHealth, as well as multiple reporting and investigative projects. On this project I was the Assistant Team Lead and often represented Quiip at events in Victoria. Everything about this campaign was overwhelmingly positive and impactful, to the target audience, to the surrounding people and to all organisations involved.

As a team member of Quiip, I’ve found the leadership to be exceptionally inspiring. From the employee share ownership plan to the B Corp accreditation and interpersonal relationships, I have never worked with a more inspiring group of leaders. The impact of Quiip on my life as a community manager is profound, however the impact on my personal life and career in music can not be understated. True freedom, flexibility and inspiration by the bucketload.

What are some of your favourite places on the internet?

As a millennial who grew up in chat rooms, forums and eventually the storied halls of MySpace, I’ve found myself losing interest and contact in traditional algorithm and ad revenue based social media. What I have found though, is that niche groups such as those found on Reddit can help to foster an incredibly tight-knit community while also allowing for a general-pop “How do i fix my leaky pipe?” type of interaction. Conversely, I also thoroughly enjoy YouTube for its free-for-all content. Anyone can truly build and promote a channel on anything – niche or not.

What does remote work enable you to get up to outside of work?

As mentioned earlier, I work part-time at Quiip around my heavy touring schedule in the music industry, which is notoriously difficult to penetrate and successfully land gainful employment in. Without Quiip’s support, flexibility and remote nature, I would never have been able to make ends meet or pursue opportunities in my earlier career.

Tell us something about your life outside of work.

I am a musician, photographer, and avid long distance cyclist. I’ve had a myriad of creative and weird hobbies but these seem to have stuck. You’ll find me trying, and failing, to keep my dogs attentive in the hills of Los Angeles. 

What do you think the future of social media and/or community management holds?

Ask someone young – I’m already getting tricked by AI! Soon I’ll be sharing boomer memes. In all honesty though, it’s hard to say – people will always find novel ways to engage, enrage, and seek community and shelter online.

Do you have a question for Dan or the Quiip team? We’d love to hear from you! If you’re interested in joining our team, explore current opportunities on our jobs page.

The post Meet the Team: Dan Stork appeared first on Quiip.

This year, an additional layer of complexity approaches as Australia’s social media age restrictions are to be implemented from December 10, requiring platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under the age of 16 from creating or keeping an account. Youth communities and communities affected by public reaction to the new legislation may experience an increase in activity and misinformation as people respond to the changes.

Good planning and preparation can protect both your community and the wellbeing of your community management team. Below is Quiip’s guide to ensuring you and your community are safe, supported and covered.

Carefully review scheduled content

Whether content is scheduled in advance or managed by a skeleton crew, the holiday period amplifies the need for careful review of upcoming posts. Knowing what’s ahead is important when considering staffing and allows you to anticipate and plan for risks and fluctuations in engagement.

• Double-check copy and scheduling for time-sensitive references and cultural sensitivities.
• Consider whether any upcoming campaigns could prompt an influx of questions or activity.
• Consider pausing or scaling back paid campaigns.
• Review any themes that have caused issues in previous years and adjust accordingly. Leaning heavily into specific holidays such as Christmas, for example, can be divisive or irrelevant to some communities and influence engagement.
• Consider a scheduled announcement that sets expectations for your community around slower support responses and suggest alternative resources.

Plan for fluctuations in engagement and anticipated risks

Community members can behave and engage differently during December and January. Using past insights can help forecast what may arise.

• If previous years indicate that you can expect peaks or lulls in engagement over certain days, prepare for these and ensure you have coverage and escalation procedures in place.
• Review recent community trends: are there any issues likely to escalate? Consider how you will manage community conflict and potential misinformation.
• Update any keyword filters or auto-responses in anticipation of specific risks.
• Consider whether the new social media age restrictions are relevant to your community. Anticipate and plan for any risks such as anxious parents seeking guidance or under-age users attempting to bypass the regulations.

Update coverage windows and escalation procedures

Reviewing content, anticipating risks, and identifying expected fluctuations in community behaviour will allow you to effectively plan for sufficient coverage and updated escalation procedures.

• Decide when and how often community checks will be done.
• Communicate any changes to availability of community support or other relevant services.
• Update internal primary, back-up and escalation contacts based on staff availability and make them easy to access.
• Ensure crisis and escalation procedures for low, medium and high-risk incidents are current and accessible.

Protect your team’s wellbeing

One of the leading challenges for community managers is the negative impact on personal mental health and wellbeing, as highlighted in the State of Community Management Report 2025.

This can intensify during busy or high-risk periods like December and January, when staffing levels are often reduced. It’s equally important to ensure that those working through the holiday period are supported as it is to allow those on leave to properly switch off.

• Ensure clear escalation procedures are in place and accessible.
• Set clear boundaries and realistic workloads around leave and public holidays.
• Ensure anyone working remotely or from new locations has access to platforms and tools, including verifying any two-factor authentication (2FA) processes.
• Consider enabling access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for support when managing distressing content online and encourage employees to take time out when needed.

Secure holiday cover

If you anticipate needing external community management or moderation support for overflow, increased engagement or risk, or full coverage for your team – Quiip can help. Our experienced team of community managers is equipped to handle busy, sensitive, and high-risk communities, 24/7.

Contact us to discover your options.

The post Community management guide for the holiday period appeared first on Quiip.

Quiip is delighted to share our Impact Report for FY2025. As Australia’s leading online community specialists – and one of the first 250 certified B Corporations in the country – we remain deeply committed to fostering safe, connected online spaces and contributing to a better future for people and the planet.

This year marks 15 years of Quiip and our biggest year yet as a business. As we celebrate this milestone, our mission remains unchanged: to connect and protect communities online and create meaningful impact through the work we do each day. 

From our earliest days, responsible business has been at the heart of Quiip. As a dedicated B Corporation, this also means ensuring we measure and evaluate the impact of our operations, learn from our experiences, and continuously strive for improvement.

Sharing our journey and progress continues to be a priority. Each year, we reflect on our learnings and achievements, refine our impact roadmap, and monitor the satisfaction of our clients and our team to ensure we remain aligned with our goals.

Our Top 10 impact highlights from FY2025: 

1. B Corp recertification: Improving our impact score from 104.2 to 108.9
2. Purpose-driven revenue: Achieving 54% of revenue from partnering with purpose-driven organisations, with discounts of $371,000 provided
3. Giving back: Donating $25,704 in FY25 to causes and not-for-profit organisations; bringing our total contributions to over A$145,000 since 2019
4. Client satisfaction: Maintaining a client “likelihood to recommend” score of 9+ out of 10
5. Team satisfaction: Achieving an outstanding overall employee satisfaction score of 9.3
6. Team growth: Welcoming Dr Allie Milfull as Marketing & Partnerships Director and Luke de Zilva & Kelly McParlane as Team leads 
7. Pro-bono support: Providing expertise to organisations including Comms Declare, Take 3 for the Sea and Hot House Magazine
8. Key purpose-driven projects: Working on projects including Mardi Gras coverage for ABC, improving democracy with Amplify Australia, encouraging respectful relationships with The Line/Our Watch, and supporting renewable energy projects with QLD Hydro
9. Sharing insights: Sharing our knowledge on topics such as misinformation, disinformation and social media outrage at industry events and conferences
10. Climate action: Continuing our carbon measurement journey with Trace, and engaging key suppliers to join our efforts.

As we continue to grow, we remain conscious of the complex challenges facing communities locally and globally. Our purpose – to connect, protect, and support people and organisations online – has never been more relevant.

We extend our warmest thanks to our dedicated team, valued clients, and trusted partners. Your collaboration and commitment make this impact possible.

Here’s to another year of community connection, progress, and purpose!

Curious about our impact, culture, or online community work?
We’d love to connect.

Download the full Quiip Impact Report 2025 (PDF 2 MB) to learn more.

The post Quiip FY2025 Impact Report: 15 years of connecting and protecting communities online appeared first on Quiip.

Online peer communities can be a lifeline, offering understanding, connection, and hope. They also form an important option for those who can’t easily access in-person services. Yet it’s important to choose safe and constructive spaces that are well-governed and adequately moderated. Below are some communities that offer exactly this kind of support.

Beyond Blue Forums

The Beyond Blue Forums connect people experiencing depression, anxiety, or other mental health challenges. Discussions cover everything from coping with everyday stress to managing relationships, family life, or big life changes.

The forums are free to access, moderated 24/7, and supported by community champions who help keep the conversations safe and inclusive.

SANE Forums

SANE Forums provide a uniquely supportive, anonymous space for those living with complex or persistent mental health issues and for their carers. With two dedicated forums (one for people with lived experience, another for families and carers), users can share honestly, knowing that health professionals are always on hand to moderate and keep things safe.

Counselling Online Community Forum – Turning Point

Mental health issues and substance abuse often go hand-in-hand. The Counselling Online community offers peer support for people impacted by alcohol and other drugs, whether directly or through a loved one. Moderated and confidential, it’s a space for people to share openly and find encouragement, alongside optional professional counselling also offered via chat or email.

Kids Helpline – My Circle

Young people face unique pressures. Kids Helpline’s dedicated online community, My Circle, was designed specifically for 12-25 year olds, offering a safe place to connect with peers, share experiences, and learn coping strategies. Active clinical moderation ensures the wellbeing and safety of community members.

Headspace Online Communities

Headspace is Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation, providing early intervention mental health services for 12-25 year olds. Their online communities offer themed spaces for young people to connect and share with others, including a community for those who identify as, are questioning, or are interested in learning about trans and gender diversity and/or sexuality. These groups are facilitated by trained Peer Moderators, who can collaborate with a clinician if they think there is immediate harm or danger.

Butterfly Foundation Online Support

The Butterfly Foundation provides support options for those experiencing eating disorders or body image concerns, including moderated online recovery groups. With specialist counsellors and peer-informed programs, it’s a trusted and hopeful place to connect.

Other support services

While these communities can be a powerful part of someone’s mental wellbeing journey, there’s also a need for one-on-one chat, a culturally safe space, or a crisis line.

• Lifeline Australia – 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention
  Call 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au/crisis-chat
• Suicide Call Back Service – 24/7 phone, chat, and video counselling service for anyone feeling suicidal, affected by suicide, or concerned about someone else
  Call 1300 659 467 or visit suicidecallbackservice.org.au
• Beyond Blue – 24/7 phone and online chat support
  Call 1300 22 4636 or visit beyondblue.org.au
• 1800RESPECT – 24/7 support for people impacted by domestic, family or sexual violence
  Call 1800 737 732 or visit 1800respect.org.au
• MensLine – 24/7 phone and online chat support for men
  Call 1300 78 99 78 or visit mensline.org.au
• ReachOut PeerChat – Free, anonymous peer support for 16–25 year olds, with trained peer workers available online.
  Visit au.reachout.com/peerchat
• 13YARN – A national, culturally safe helpline for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
  Call 13 92 76 or visit 13yarn.org.au

If you are in immediate danger or need urgent medical assistance, please call 000.

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Two years on from the introduction of our Employee Share Ownership Plan (ESOP) and with end-of-financial-year distributions underway, at Quiip we’ve been reflecting on what employee ownership means and why we believe more Australian businesses should consider it.

While in most traditional business ownership models, profit stays concentrated at the top, Quiip was keen to take a different approach and explore a way for success, and agency, to be shared with the people who help to create it.

As a certified B Corp, Quiip has always believed a more equitable and sustainable way of doing business is possible. By distributing ownership among eligible employees rather than maintaining a top-down model, we’re better aligning business success with our values.

Employees are integral to Quiip’s success, and I believe in the redistribution of profits. I’m proud to be doing something that not many companies undertake and energised that we’re leading the way as a B Corp. – Alison Michalk

How does it work?

While businesses vary in how they design, implement and maintain Employee Share Ownership Plans, we’ve applied the following framework at Quiip:

• Each year, the business is valued against an independent methodology that was adopted at the launch of the ESOP.
• After seeking independent advice, eligible employees can opt-in voluntarily and purchase a number of ‘units’ (similar to shares) in the business at the current valuation.
• Units can only be held by current employees. If an employee leaves, their share is bought back by Quiip at the share valuation at the time of departure.
• Profit-based returns are distributed annually.

Quiip’s ESOP entitles employees to collectively own up to 30% of the business, sharing in its profits. While employees benefit directly through ownership, business decisions remain unchanged; employee share owners do not gain influence in business decisions beyond their existing roles and positions.

While equity is a common part of your package in startup land, it’s rare to participate in an ESOP that is so thoughtfully designed to encourage collective ownership. For me, participation is a tangible shared commitment to Quiip’s success, and as a well run, profitable business, the returns are very welcome too. – Will Barber, Client Services Director and Employee Share Holder

How does it differ from other employee share programs?

​​Many businesses offer stock options or equity as part of a compensation package. While these tend to be tied to future events like an IPO or acquisition or act as benefits in lieu of higher salaries or bonuses, Quiip’s Employee Share Ownership Plan is backed by an already-profitable business, the units are directly owned (known as true ownership), and returns are paid out annually.

Would an ESOP be right for your business?

For Quiip, our Employee Share Ownership Plan has been a bold and values-driven step towards building a more equitable, purpose-driven business model. 

Launched in 2023 with two senior staff buying in and expanded in 2024 to include more team members, we’re now continuing our ESOP roll-out and inviting more employees to take part. 

If you’re considering ways to share your business’ success, we would always recommend seeking advice from legal and financial experts to explore whether an ESOP may be right for you.

Curious about our approach? We’re always happy to chat. Get in touch if you’d like to learn more.

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