All Things Community: The Who, What, and Why

What's new with you digital community peeps? ??

This week, we're talking about what community means, how important community is (in its many forms), and how do we create community for ourselves!

Just a few, very small, things.

As you get to know me in this thread of all things community, you'll find out that I love a big concept or problem. Community is one of those things that I am constantly thinking about because 1) my job is very much related to keeping people engaged with each other and 2) I've found it to be significantly important in my life.

Without my people, I am just a gal with a bunch of dogs. Which is fun and all, but not as fun as it is with my people.

So, what is community?

The definition of community is: a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common?attitudes, interests, and goals.

That pretty much sums it up, but what gets left out of the community conversation is how our differences also make up our communities and create new opportunities that wouldn't come to life without them.

Here's how I see it (and have witnessed it in my work):

Community happens when you find one thing (or many things), big or small, that connect you with another person or group of people. You could be a Buckeyes fan and you are already welcomed into the masses at The Ohio State University without question, but within that big and great community you'll find there are many different versions of people inside of it. They are parents, students, people who have moved from out of state or live outside of Ohio, really...they could be anyone.

And even though this is a community, true and great community is not only built on commonalities but differences as well. There is more to be said, things to stay curious about, and lots of ways to engage with one another because there are endless differences that keep that community turning and spinning.

There are have been many instances in history where communities only built on commonalities have led to great disasters and tragedies. With massive groupthink, you often run into major issues including but not limited to the "blinder effect" where you only see what's in front of you and not what's actually going on around you.

With or without differences, the power of community is far greater than we give it credit for. The community you choose and create is more important than we like to think these days with all of our TikToks and streaming...Couldn't we do it all alone? Stay in our cabins, watching The Office on repeat until the next meal, without a single soul who would know? Wouldn't we be just fine??

Can we live without community?

In theory, many have lived without true community in their lives. But community, in some form or another, has always been a necessity for most. In the beginning, we were in tribes and groups to survive. One wrong turn, injury, accident, or sickness could be the end for a person if they were left to their own devices.

We have since sophisticated ourselves so much that we believe we could do it alone. We've been through times, like COVID, where many of us had to live without our communities close to us. But we also suffered greatly.

Like most humans, when things go sideways we tend to create an even bigger mess for ourselves when we are left to watch the paint dry with nothing to do. There have been bigger and deeper divides since we lost that feeling of community in our lives only a few short years ago. Community has been harder to come by, but I have a feeling that as time passes we will continue to come out of our shells and reach out again because we need it in our lives.

You can live life without community, but you truly won't live life without it. So many of our best experiences and memories in life come from being around others that I know have changed me for the better. Very rarely have I binge watched another season of Stranger Things in a dark room and felt like my life was changed for the better.

But community makes everything richer, greater, and more impactful. So from my perspective, to truly live, you must have your people along for the ride.

How do we create community?

It's easier to start a community now than it was before. You can type "hiking group near me" into Google or find like-minded individuals in Facebook groups with a few clicks.

If only it was that easy.

We've continued to think that we can create connections with ease, when as humans we are inherently built to make things more complicated. We have a barrier to enter into our lives, a protection mechanism and instinct in many ways, that makes connecting in a digital community difficult. There are more hoops to jump through than just a click to join a group.

When you create or enter into a community, you have to be willing to do the work. It's not easy and requires a lot of mental and emotional effort. But here are a few things I think helps create community when you're first getting started.

1. You have to make entering the community accessible (at some level). No one wants to feel like they are trudging up a hill to be a part of something. Accessibility makes it easier for people to open up and create true connections. Gatekeeping does not.
2. You have to be willing to share and be vulnerable. No one wants to connect with a brick wall. You should be willing to talk about things at the surface level, but also dive deeper to relate to your people. Most people can smell an inauthentic community miles away.
3. Be willing to carry the load for a while. Like I said, creating a community is not easy work and when you first get started you will have to carry the load to gain some traction. Creating engagement and driving your people to take actions (no matter how lame it feels posting your 3rd post of the week with no engagement) matters. No one will interact if you won't.
4. A small, but engaged community, is better than a big community that doesn't care. I've learned that the size of your community doesn't matter as much as your connectivity with it. Without engagement and connection, you won't have a community.
5. Understand your why behind your community. Why do you want to build a space for people to come together? What value can you provide if you start a community? You need to sit down with these questions and figure out why you're building a community. Is it to create an impact on the world or just to make new friends? Not every community has to be serious or majorly impactful, but you do need to find your why so you can clearly articulate it and find your people. No one wants to join a community that doesn't have a clear message or communication about what you're trying to achieve.

And those are my top five tips for creating community based on what I've learned so far in community building. There are so many things you can do, but these are the tried and true that have helped me in creating, connecting, and growing community spaces.

Other Digital Community News

Last week, COMMUNITY, the TV show that has left a hole in my heart, announced that they're making a movie with their surprise #SixSeasonsAndAMovie campaign. As someone who loves COMMUNITY (and community), this was a rallying cry to get well prepared for the movie which has been long awaited. This is community it it's digital art form!

You made it! ??

Another week, another newsletter down. Let's see what's on docket for next week, shall we?

Next week, we'll cover...

• The Power of Storytelling in Community
• How to Create Community in Remote or Hybrid Work Environments
• How I'm Prepping + Staying Connected for My Return to Van Life

And any other old thing I have in my noggin by this time next week. Have questions about the digital realm, marketing, or just about anything else? Send me a note here on LinkedIn or email me [email protected]?to have your question featured in future newsletters.