An online community is the digital equivalent of your office coffee machine around which individuals gather to discuss topics of mutual interest. It gives the target user a central place to gather and interact with other users on a common topic.

Adobe Experience Manager Communities allows businesses to create customized online communities that promote personalized, direct contact with their customers. These communities allow those who want to learn with those who are enthusiasts or more knowledgeable about those topics.

They play a dual role:

• Enhancing the knowledge of community users through blogs, FAQs, event calendars and file sharing
• Gaining a better understanding of community users through user generated content—their comments, forum posts, activity feeds, and detailed user profiles