The Community Here Era. It's here.

I've been sitting on an uncomfortable feeling recently.

So, as I do, I made this little gif as a distraction. (I used Claude to make it, in case you're interested, but that's not the point. I also like to insert random commentary these days, just as a reminder that I don't use AI to write these posts.)

I then expanded my community mind with another holy sh*t reality moment. I imagined what the future would be like if everyone truly invested in the idea of community everywhere. And it only filled me with existential dread.

So I blurted it out, on a platform where I have 22k+ followers, but as always, engagement was low. No surprises there. (But sure, let's go continue to believe that community everywhere is good).

You could accuse me of being old and grumpy, I don't mind. I bought a Grumpy Care Bear t-shirt the other day, so maybe I'm qualified.

But also, let's get real, it's a real mess out there. Sure, we can point at data and show growth in this or that. That we can't deny the trends.

• Does that mean that is what is best?
• Does it mean that this is what brings real value to people and businesses?
• How is it good if so much of it is anonymous?
• How is it good if big tech change things according their own internal desires and destroys our business along the way?
• How is it good, if there is AI slop, absolutely f*cking everywhere?
• How is it good that we spend our time wondering if what we're reading is true, or not?
• How is it good if we hand over everything to the broligarchy who will do things that are never in your favour?
• How is it good if it simply puts the tech companies in such a powerful place that they make it impossible for good, valuable and normal businesses to arise?

And also, how dare the assumption be made that participating in the sea of social and AI slop is something that the average person really wants to do. Most of us do not want that. And most of us lose from it as a result.

Just because something is the way it is, it doesn't mean it is the way it should be.

Let me say that again, just incase it's not clear: NO ONE REALLY WANTS IT (but also most people don't really know it because they've not lived anything different)

We were not born into this world to scroll our lives away. We can do better than that. But we lack imagination. I get it. No judgement. Everything feels hard.

What's the way forward?

The Community Here Era.

If Community Here is the ying. Community Everywhere is the yang.

Maybe to some extent, they need each other. There are some good parts to social, I won't deny that. But for me, it's not at the expense of building beautiful community (without being bullied into using social for engagement sake).

I mean, maybe, it's just a really good idea to leave social to marketing, and allow us to focus on building community that truly benefits the whole business. The point is, of course, we need to use other platforms, even if it's just for research. But relying on them as a community strategy is not something I would ever recommend. It's too risky, and also, quite a depressing path to fall into.

What is Community Here? It's building at home. Right here. In a place that you can tend and nurture to. It's building in a place that you own. That you invest in. That you own the data for, not to manipulate your people, but more to build sustainability and with efficiency. The everywhere version of this is building on a highway.

Community Here is you setting the rules. With layers of care. With consideration for you staff and the people you serve. It's about realising that you actually need very little moderation. It's about saying no to fake news and AI slop (and actually being able to act upon it). And that you have the freedom to create boundaries that simply work. The everywhere version of this is living your one life, consuming slop or being harassed.

Community Here is building what works for you. It's about knowing the processes and identifying ways to build in the things that you need. It's about independence, being able to do the things that need doing. It's knowing that you can make efficiency gains, every day. And then one day you'll look up and be proud of what you've built. The community everywhere version of this is dependence on their social systems.

Community Here is adapting to the people and the needs of the community. Not the people adapting to the algorithm. Not making money at the expense of people and society. The huge social platforms will always make you feel inadequate. They want you to feel like life will always be easier if we just spent a bit more time there. You are a square peg, that shouldn't be fitting into their perfectly round circle. The community everywhere version of this is that you will, at some point, be basically fucked and wished you had built Community Here.

With Community Here we focus on the now. We need to close our eyes and focus on the now and what we can do with what we have. Comparing ourselves to social platforms will always make us feel inadequate. But we can do things our own way. It will look and feel shit, probably for quite a while, but it can get so much better. The community everywhere version of this are false promises.

Community is not beautiful, yet.

There are so many things that should be easy to do. We get stuck on the simple things. If we could just do those things easily, it's truly transformational.

It's only in the past 6-12 months that I've felt this energy of calling our community work beautiful. And yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For me, it shows up as progress through in innovation, efficiency, value, joy and that real feeling of community. (And welp, this is me, 20 years into building communities!)

It means owning data, and discovering the many amazing things that can be done with it.

It means efficiency gains.

It means segmenting and messaging takes 5 minutes.

It means setting up an Ambassador program should feel easy and bring joy.

It means community could be your CRM.

It means spinning up a Chapter could be a 1 hour job.

It means finding partners, funders and customers is simply part of the process and system.

It means discovering possibilities, ideas and innovations that the social platforms hide from you.

It means not getting stuck with old ways of doing things (like old school forums that don't like they use to, though it doesn't mean they don't have value).

And so much more. But none of this can be done on social platforms (and even many of the restrictive older community platforms). So why would you even sign yourself up to that? It doesn't make community or business sense.

But it's easy for you to say this Rosie!

No it isn't. And I won't pretend it's easy.

We're a small independent business. No outside funding. Fighting against a crazy market. I'm going against the grain. It's often felt impossible. I've wanted to give up, so many times. I've never been sure where we would end up, I still don't.

But it's worth it because it's possible for it to be beautiful. And with beauty, I know it sounds cheesy, but innovation is everywhere. (And also, innovation is what the community world is lacking so much of right here, right now). I am optimistic more people could build community with a similar mindset.

Here's the reality, of course people won't come back if your community platform hasn't been invested in for years. If the tech that supports it is clunky. If there is a lack of visible support. If it's withered because decisions don't get made.

The problem is not Community Here.

The problem is lack of care (which is probably the number one killer of communities).

The problem is not having the continued investment.

The problem is not changing with the times.

The problem is lack of innovation.

The problem is the distraction of the shiny things.

The problem is equating engagement with value.

Part of Community Here is accepting that our community will always be adapting and evolving. And that is THE POINT.

I build with a Community Here mindset, as a result, I've "seen things", and because of that, this is the only way I believe it is worth it to build community.

But there's something about right now. It feels more important than ever to be bold and brave. It's a stupid mess out there. Things aren't working. In chaos and mess, there are opportunities. I'm seeing them every day by building a beautiful community, right here, right now.

I'll end this with an appropriate song recommended by my good friend and work colleague.