How do you define a community? The word is used in so many different contexts.
A community is a web of relationships that are created because members are united by an interest in a common topic or cause.
Do my Instagram or Twitter followers count as my community?
The strength (and therefore value) of a community is measured by its level of engagement. A group of people with poor interaction is not a community.
We certainly see social media platforms as foundations for communities, united by their interest in you or your brand. However, there are two requirements for communities that social media. platforms do not fulfil:
- The strongest communities are created when members interact with each other and create content that keeps the community engaged and active. The brand or owner could seed content in the beginning, but if the community relies solely on content created by another source, then that is NOT a true community.
- The relationship of your social media followers with each other is tenuous and limited to engagement via comments on these platforms. Their primary motivation is to interact with you / your brand and not each other.
So an active Facebook group would be a much stronger community than a Facebook page.
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I really liked the clarity you offer about community . It’s the distinction between contact and connection . Beautifully expressed and explained by you .