AOL Community Leader Program
| Company type | Volunteer program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online community management |
| Founded | early 1990s |
| Defunct | 2005 |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Kelly Hallisey, Brian Williams (notable former volunteers) |
| Products | Chat room moderation, message board management, download repository oversight, customer support, online class instruction, forum content generation |
| Owner | America Online (AOL) |
The AOL Community Leader Program (AOL CLP) consisted of a vast network of America Online volunteers responsible for overseeing chat rooms, message boards, and download repositories.
Tracing its roots back to the volunteer "guides" from AOL's predecessor, QuantumLink, in 1985, the program was formally launched in the early 1990s and concluded operations in 2005. At its height, the program included approximately 14,000 volunteers, among them 350 teenagers under the age of adulthood.
Responsibilities
Community Leaders were tasked with moderating chat rooms, managing message boards and file libraries, delivering customer support, instructing online classes, and generating forum content. As the program approached its conclusion, their primary focus shifted to supervising chat and message board activities. In return for their efforts, AOL provided complimentary service along with special accounts (known as Price Index 77 or Overhead Accounts), which enabled leaders to mute disruptive users, conceal inappropriate messages, and access exclusive areas such as the Community Leader Headquarters (CLHQ).
Role
Although occasionally subject to criticism, the Community Leader program played a crucial role in AOL’s rapid expansion during the mid-1990s. Selected from active users deeply engaged in specific forums, these leaders helped elevate community interaction and professionalism, thereby enhancing AOL’s appeal compared to the less organized early Internet environment. They also ensured knowledgeable moderation of forum content.
Department of Labor investigation
In May 1999, former Community Leaders Kelly Hallisey and Brian Williams initiated a class action lawsuit asserting that AOL volunteers performed work equivalent to employees and thus merited compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The plaintiffs emphasized requirements such as an extensive three-month training period, mandatory shift tracking via timecards, minimum weekly hour commitments, and detailed work reporting. Initially, AOL charged users by the hour for access; volunteers benefited from free service access—a factor complicating their classification as employees.
The U.S. Department of Labor conducted an inquiry but closed it in 2001 without reaching a definitive conclusion. Subsequently, AOL curtailed volunteer responsibilities; by 2000 most Community Leaders had lost authority over content editing and no longer provided customer service or technical support. Supervisory staff also eased paperwork and shift obligations.
In February 2008, a court granted class action status to the lawsuit and ordered AOL to supply contact details for former Community Leaders so they could join the case. A preliminary $15 million settlement between AOL and the Community Leaders was approved in February 2010, with final approval following in May 2010.
End of Program
The investigation by the Department of Labor—partly responsible for AOL’s decision to reduce Community Leader duties—posed operational difficulties. Without unpaid volunteers, AOL had to employ paid staff to manage online content and communities previously overseen by Community Leaders. Around the time of the AOL Time Warner merger, limited resources hindered investment in community growth. The company’s shift toward advertising revenue—initiated in 1996 when hourly subscriber charges were replaced by a flat monthly fee—diminished incentives to monetize community forums.
Confronted with the DOL probe, member decline, and reduced demand for managed communities, AOL decided to terminate its volunteer program. In May 2005, Community Leaders were informed their positions would end on June 8. As compensation, AOL granted volunteers twelve months of free service. While many departed, some continued contributing informally to community development.
See also
- Virtual management
- Virtual volunteering
- Wikipedia community (including Wikipedians)