Bringing IRL Online
Why Mara?
Mara Zepeda has a résumé that could make even the most accomplished person feel like an underachiever. Ivy League creds. Stints at National Public Radio. Co-founder and CEO of Switchboard, the online community building platform. Mara believes that generosity and altruism can thrive in the online space. It’s just a matter of building trust.
The challenge for Mara’s team at Switchboard was fostering that sense of trust in a strictly online community. People are hungry to connect, to help and be helped. But how much community building can you do if people never get together face-to-face?
Mara shares how Switchboard became a place where people can get what they need from people they trust. By limiting content and functionality. By making deliberate aesthetic choices. And by reaching out to community influencers in-real-life to foster a sense of trust between folks who might never meet face to face.