Understanding how to create a community is something that I hear more and more businesses and marketing companies talking about as though it is a simple tactic that they can list on their business spreadsheet. They act as though the building blocks of a community can be quantified and if they take certain steps that they will create a successful and profitable community, but real communities grow naturally and organically from the members that they attract.
To create a real community, your objective should be to fill a void and cater to your own needs. If people are interested in joining your community, make them feel welcome, but if you are forcing a community, it will eventually shut down as the work that needs to go into sustaining any community, especially a “forced” one, grows exponentially as more people are brought into it and if the people involved aren’t passionate, and willing to give of their own time, knowledge and energy, the community will eventually degrade and die off.
Far too many businesses don’t understand this fact, and they assume that communities will eventually become self-sustaining, but I haven’t ever been part of a community that wasn’t lead by one or more strong characters that were passionate about the topic or niche that the community was focused on.
If you want to create a real community, my best advice for you is not to try to build a community, but instead, build a place that you enjoy and share your passion and insights with others that decide to join you. The best communities I have been part of were all started by a group of friends that eventually attracted others to their site.
