Understanding Web3 Communities

When evaluating a web3 project, investors often look for a strong community as a sign of potential success. However, defining and measuring the strength of a community can be challenging. But what exactly is a community and how do you measure the strength of a community?

What is a community?

A community is more than just a group of people in a Discord server, Telegram chat, Twitter followers, or email list. It is a group of individuals who share common interests, values, and goals.

A community is a group of people aligned by shared beliefs, interests, and a common goal.

A community can be based on a geographical location - i.e. Bankless Africa, Bankless Brasil, or distributed globally - i.e. BanklessDAO. It can be based on asset ownership - i.e. Friends With Benefits, CryptoPunks, or it can be based on work interests - i.e. Raid Guild, LexDAO.

Measuring community strength

Measuring the level of engagement within a community is important but can be defined in different ways. A naive definition of engagement is the number of members actively sending messages in a Discord server which can be easily gamed by chatbots, a lesson learned from NFT summer. Gaming projects measure engagement with the number of members that are actively participating in challenges or earning specific assets. DAOs measure engagement via governance participation. Social communities use the attendance of meet-ups or participation in community projects. Each community should define its own measures of engagement in accordance with its goals.

Pareto Principle - Breakdown of a community.

A community usually follows the Pareto Principle where 80% of the work is done by 20% of the group. The core team provides the backbone for each community, followed by contributors, lurkers, and new members.

Core team - coordinates the day-to-day operations and ensures that the community can function.
Contributors - project leaders and community supporters that help build the community.
Lurkers - community members who are unable to participate in activities on a regular basis but want to remain connected to the project.
New members - people new to the community who are curious about the project.

A strong onboarding program can help new members transition from new members into contributors. Members will move fluidly between being a contributor and a lurker depending on their life situation.

What do great communities do?

Have a defined and clearly articulated vision. Good communities have a vision statement. Great communities have a vision statement that each member can clearly articulate.
Have a smooth onboarding system. Remove any obstacles that prevent engagement and knowledge transfer. Being able to transition new members to contributors as quickly and easily as possible is the goal of increasing the number of contributors and the growth of the community.
Create positive incentive mechanisms to encourage desired behaviors. Tokens, recognition, exclusive access, and special benefits can be used as rewards to motivate members and to align community and member interests.
Understand what members want. Communication between members and the core team is essential. Surveys, meet-ups, and public squares provide opportunities for community members to share their opinions and their wants.
Empower members by supporting leaders and community-led initiatives. Help members develop skillsets that enable them to become better contributors. Provide the resources that allow members to achieve their goals.
Develop a culture through rituals, routines, or activities. Rituals and routines should encompass community values and strengthen bonds among community members. Community culture should celebrate and promote desired behaviors and member milestones.
Create shared experiences online and in real life. Reinforce member bonds with in-real-life meetups and allow members to build their networks. Reward experience participation to gamify the community and encourage achievements.