#01 Developing Community and Culture

Looking for a Web3 community management strategy? In this article, you'll discover how to develop Web3 community and culture.

Why Community Development Matters More in Web3 Than in Web2

In Web3, community is made of the people who invest time and/or money in your project.

One of the biggest missteps Web2 natives make when they begin a Web3-based project is treating their community—the people who invest in or buy into the project—as customers who’ve paid for a product.

While there’s a customer element involved when someone invests in your project, the culture of Web3 transforms the position of holder into something more than a customer. Holders are vested in what you’re building.

If you don’t take your community’s emotional and psychological attachment to your project seriously, if you don’t communicate with them, if you don’t listen to what they’re telling you… you risk alienating the very people who believe most in you and can help you achieve what you’re trying to build.

How Community Can Benefit Your Web3 Project

In the early days of social media, the role of managing a community on social was critical. A human was responsible for responding to customers’ comments and inquiries across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms or forums.

As social media matured, the focus on person-to-person communication shifted to reaching mass numbers of people. The size of a brand’s Web2 community now matters more than its individual customers.?

Web3 is bringing that focus back to smaller, tight-knit communities of hundreds or thousands of people, rather than millions.?

How to Develop Community

Schedule Open Office Hours and One-on-One Meetings

Open office hours every Friday (it can be another day sure) and takes up to five meetings with community members. Any community member can be able to use Calendly to book a 30-minute meeting with you or your community leader.

By meeting with people, you’ll be able to put a name to a face or an NFT. You’ll recognize them as individual human beings. You’ll learn firsthand how long they’ve been in the community, what ideas they have for your team to consider, and what they’re working on or excited about.?

Maybe they’re launching their own project and want to give your community an allow list. You might have an application process for these types of collaborations in place but hearing someone speak about their project lets you experience their passion. And aren’t you more excited to retweet or share something after that type of interaction?

Become a Voice for the Community

Spending time on Twitter isn’t scalable but it’s incredibly important to Web3 communities.

Carve out time to recognize and engage with community members on an individual level and make sure you’re tweeting with your wider community as well. Retweet your members, share what they're working on, and make sure to welcome and highlight new community members.

Support Collaborations With Community Members

Most Web3 projects have an official application process for vetting and officially partnering with other Web3 projects but that should be balanced with support for your community.

As your project grows, the number of people inside your community who want to collaborate with you will increase. Especially when you consider that some people will buy one of your NFTs solely to reach your community about their own project.?

Community collaboration still has base requirements to ensure viability and quality but allows you to highlight smaller projects within the community with the caveat for each member to “do your own research.”

Keep Communications Positive

Just about every Web3 community is diverse. The larger you grow, the more likely it is that less than 100% of your community is happy with the decisions that are made.

It’s a fact.?

When you note a negative sentiment growing in your community, avoid becoming defensive and remember that people sometimes have a psychological need to vent when they’re upset, especially on the internet.

Community managers should stay confident and remind people of the vision for the project because that’s what guides all decision-making.

Finally, highlight your successes and celebrate when you’re meeting goals.?

to be continued..