Why Communities?

Nowadays, more than half of the planet’s population – 4.65 billion people – is on social media. Networks have completely transformed the way we relate, inform and communicate as a society.

Content creators, once criticized for being just teenagers sharing their lives as a hobby, are now at the center of great brands and building their own great companies.

For this reason, the job quickly went from something incomprehensible to something extremely desired. Today, we have over 2 million full-time content creators and, at every second, if you mention the word “content”, we bet more creators are being born somewhere.

The speed of this industry only accelerates, and everything can change overnight. Not only that, it is one of the most competitive out there, since you not only need to be original and reinvent itself all the time, you need to balance that with the arduous task to be relevant, and do it in a space where everyone ends up trying the same strategies, following the same trends, since the platforms reward that.

As always, this is about to change. Both creators and followers are tired of social networks as they are: realities that are no longer relatable, standards of life, of beauty, of success that are no longer accessible. Privacy policies, fake news, spam, bots, publis, launch formulas, info products and superficial courses, mental sales triggers, lack of vulnerability and a lot of free hate, we stop creating and having true human connections, to cultivate artificial relationships.

In this scenario, the future seems uncertain and many creators do not know what the next step is.

No problem, we tell you: The future will be made of communities.

“For creators, community is the new follower count.”- The Washington Post

We’ve calculated the relevance and influence of creators through their amount of followers. Yet, this does not mean what once it did. It has become increasingly easier to follow and unfollow someone. It isn’t a well thought out decision whether to do one or another. If you see something interesting once or twice, you might just hit follow. This means that you probably follow a lot of people that you barely consume any of their content, if at all. This is normal, it is how we were educated to behave on social media.

We need to reinvent that. Recycle how we behave on social media.

Up until recently, an influencer was able to reach a larger audience that perhaps even a tv ad. While still being able to be assertive and to connect in a direct way with potential consumers, something that tv ads have a hard time achieving it. Sadly, that isn’t the case anymore. Mainly because audiences are getting ever more fragmented and creators are being to either get over specific or try to please more segmented crowds.

This may be a loss for creators, however it is certainly a win for the big platforms.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though.

There is a way for us to take back internet’s original premise, which is to bring people close, instead of apart.

Ultimately, that’s what we’re all aiming for. It’s what keeps us close to the people we know, the people we follow, the people that inspire us, and even ith the products we want to use.

People want to be involved and inspired by things they weren’t before, like product development, other people’s lifestyles and their interests.

Creators feel the same way. Our experience has told us that they are increasingly isolated and lonely. This is the result of carrying the burden of being, ironically, the influence behind it all. Being an influence is a tiresome job. It demands fresh content on a daily basis, anytime, for everyone. Thinking, planning, recording, editing, promoting, interacting, monetizing, and dealing with bureaucracy. All of it usually solo and without a clear result perspective, as variables such as an algorithm or a trend may change it all unexpectedly.

Creators feel the same way. Our experience has told us that they are increasingly isolated and lonely. This is the result of carrying the burden of being, ironically, the influence behind it all. Being an influence is a tiresome job. It demands fresh content on a daily basis, anytime, for everyone. Thinking, planning, recording, editing, promoting, interacting, monetizing, and dealing with bureaucracy. All of it is usually solo and without a clear result perspective, as variables such as an algorithm or a trend may change it all unexpectedly.

Having said that, we get to the point of what wave content creation may surf: Communities.

Instead of building your world in a land where you have no control over the rules, you can lay ground on a space where you rule freely. Where you make the rules. Where the law is you. A Community with your true audience, in which you have access to every member and they have access to you. That’s what we have built with our platform.

By building Communities instead of a general audience, Creators don’t have to obsess with fishing followers in an ocean of people. They may be carefree from having to keep up with trends and constant algorithm changes. Thus, focusing on the people from the niche they like to create. This allows them to think less about getting more and more followers, and more about creating content for the people that are actually interested in what they do, in a more sincere way, creating a real connection between people.

Away from an environment that may be toxic and driven by absurd goals. Don’t let a passion of yours turn into fuel for people to bully and be mean to you. Instead, make sure that such passion is shared in a safe space, that promotes sharing, belonging and identity.

The real deal is to understand what your priority is: to have millions of people watching one of your videos or one hundred that watch everything you post consistently and will meet and greet you and buy your products?

Communities provide a more horizontal relationship, instead of a classic vertical one, in which a creator acts as the top of a pyramid and the audience and mere spectators. In this horizontal relationship, a closer exchange of ideas takes place, as well as more experience sharing and ultimately, more consumption of content.

So yeah, if you’re looking for a healthier and more conscious way of creating content, as well as a new pace a more controlled pace, and lifestyle, all of it while maintaining your creation relevant for your audience, you should try Communities.

Differences between having an Audience and having a Community

“A community is a group of people who agree to grow together.” – Simon Sinek

Having an Audience is different than having a Community.

If you are standing on a podium giving out a lecture in front of some people: that’s an audience.

Within that audience, there will people listening to you generally, and there will be people tat are there because they’re familiar with your agenda. People that are familiar with what you teach and offer, that perhaps even use a product that sold. That’s your Community.

Both the regular audience and the community members are interested in what you’re saying. However, the way you communicate with each group will differ.

Your audience is basically who you’re speaking to.

Your Community is who is responding to you.

How to notice such difference?

Audience is the number of people you’ve acquired throughout your journey. While a Community goes beyond the number of people consuming your content by themselves. A Community offers such consumption in a shared place, where people’s interest in the topic goes beyond that simply getting a taste of the product. It’s like the difference between someone that likes to listen to a certain band, and someone who is a die-hard fan who goes to concerts, buys their albums, books, shirts and so on.

In this case, another aspect rises, which is other members. Communities become social experiences as well. Where you meet like-minded people willing to spend time talking about it, sharing it, and promoting it together. As your community grows, everyone involved feels like they’re part of something bigger.

As this whole movement grows, the members of your community grow more involved, thus developing an identity.

Audiences aren’t as personal as communities may become. Communities recognize the importance of each individual and this gives them a space for them to express themselves and work with each other.

This is it. Communities unite people around you and your brand while allowing truthful interactions between members, creating a meaningful, quality experience.

How to Maintain a Community Consistently

Maintaining a Community is also fairly different that maintaining an Audience.

To grow and maintain an audience, there are technical tools that are widely known. Despite some of these also being applicable to communities, the latter requires other techniques a lot of work.

For a Community to succeed, you need to give it an identity. That means specific names, branding identity, rules, forms of communication, specific keywords, and jargon. Symbols that are used by you and spread out by members too. Lie rituals and traditions.

That’s what Communities have always been about: creating a culture and an environment with your content, instead of just blatantly seeing numbers.

Therefore, since your community depends on its members, their contributions and interactions must be recognized and celebrated. This will make them enjoy their experience even more. As well as feel more eager to engage and return to this environment.

A healthy Community shines beyond yourself, Mr Creator, beyond your platform, beyond any product.

Having an audience will always be crucial in this business.

Yet, it is the Community that will bring this relationship the value needed to make it ever-lasting.