It's Sunday morning and I'm answering emails, and private messages from members and moderators asking questions. Online communities don't rest because its the weekend: they don't rest at 5pm, and they don't rest on public holidays, or at Christmas. As an online community manager you have to commit to managing your community 24/7, this role is not 9-5 Monday – Friday.
I've been doing this for almost 10 years so for me it's no big deal. In fact, I love what I do. I am passionate about online communities and enjoy immensely interacting with people in the virtual world, so it's no hardship for me to monitor my site everyday from early morning to very late at night. This means that if an issue arises I can react quickly to resolve them, which is what the majority of online community members expect. They don't want to have to wait until the next business day for someone to sort out their problem: they want it dealt with now. So even if you are not actively participating within your community during the "off-hours" you need to make sure that you are, at a minimum, monitoring it. Otherwise come Monday morning you may find your email in-box full of complaints and issues, and the next thing you know you are apologizing and putting out fires left, right and center.
If you are new to community management you really need to consider the amount of hours you are willing to dedicate to the job. It's not a 9 – 5, forty hour a week gig. At the end of the day, you get out what you put in. In other words your members and readers will notice, and appreciate a community manager who is there for them when they need them.
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