# P=ENTS Methodology for Community Building: Exploring the Narrative Tenets By [Lana Dingwall](https://paragraph.com/@lanadingwall) · 2023-10-05 --- The blockchain ecosystem offers us so much promise and opportunity. Yet, we often find ourselves trapped in a cycle of hype, noise, and echo chambers. How do we build for the interconnected, decentralized, open-source future we speak of while recognizing the very real realities of what will get in our way? Part of the solution is to build and use frameworks that don't exist in silos. Community growth and management is an integral and important part of the web3 landscape. However, outside of governance, not much time and energy have been spent on building public community frameworks. _In the same way, we fork and evolve code to build new things, so why not fork and evolve community-building methodologies?_ P=ENTS is an open-source community-building framework that's inspired by longstanding community-building knowledge. It was built with the realities of web3 in mind but can be used by any community in any industry. P=ENTS, which stands for Progress = Education, Native, Transparency, Structure, is a community-building methodology. ![P=ENTS logo](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/1f4125592e11ab2b5fc347a5eeb20bb7a9ba69af72882fe9f44a6bfaa521d6ac.webp) P=ENTS logo One of the most significant challenges is figuring out how to cater to your core audience—the community that truly desires to participate and provide support—while avoiding getting overshadowed by those who are solely focused on the token's value increase or receiving airdrops. ### Exploring the Narrative tenets In this article, I will be exploring the 10 tenets associated with Narrative, the N in the acronym of P=ENTS. Through this, we can see how stories help shape, motivate and drive a community. As Thomas King, a famous Canadian author says “_The truth about stories is that’s all that we are. We are a collection of stories told to us, about us and by us”_. Narratives shape who we are and have cultural relevance no matter where we are. Whether that be a country's identity, what being a sports fan of a particular team says about you, to who your favourite musicians are. Web3 is no different. Projects, protocols, and blockchains themselves, have a narrative around what it means to be a member of their community. Some of those stories are made by the projects themselves and others are organically created through the community themselves. Stories shape who we are and how we feel in relation to the communities we are a part of. Consciously recognizing the power of narratives will help any community builder on their journey. Pulling examples from active communities, you can see how these tenets are being used in real time (even if they don’t follow P=ENTS). While every community has its own goals, culture and vision for the future, the underlying structure is the same. These can be used as prompts to help you build your flourishing community, or repair one that needs tending to. The point of these tenets isn’t to be some checklist you mindlessly go through in order to have a ‘healthy community’. They are meant to be guiding ideas to help you attract, engage and highlight who your core community members are. They are the result of real-world community-building experience and can always be changed and adapted as the methodology gains awareness and use. If you’re building for everyone, you’re building for no one. Design your community structure with your ideal members in mind and know that in time you can turn degens into regens, who want to actively regenerate your community and project by contributing in positive ways. ### 1\. Embrace storytelling as a powerful means to communicate shared experiences, values and aspirations. Example: Arbitrum created an entire narrative with quests geared towards the community being able to place themselves within the community and be a part of it. Blue and orange hearts were put in people’s display names. These quests though exposed you to different projects and protocols within their ecosystem. While you were focused on exploration as an Arbonaut, you were also, in turn, learning more about the ecosystem. ![Arbitrum Odyssey](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/685f16af458f71f749c42d633631d4caa4de083b60d86c3bf75762074e0c844c.jpg) Arbitrum Odyssey ### 2\. Promote narratives that celebrate the beauty of tradition and heritage, instilling a sense of reverence for the wisdom and values passed down through generations. Example: Deadfellaz has built a community that routinely creates and shares derivative deadfellaz and other kinds of artwork, live streams together, games together and participates in many different campaigns the team runs. Last year they even did a short comic story with wrangler jeans and it was a choose-your-own adventure based on community voting. Deadfellaz and Wrangler Collaboration ### 3\. Highlight the importance of personal and collective narratives in shaping identities and fostering a sense of belonging. Example: Implementing quests, adventures, or other forms of engagement can be instrumental. Take Braavos Wallet on Starknet as an illustration; they focus on addressing the high gas fees associated with using DeFi on Layer 1 Ethereum while championing the idea of pioneering something novel. They leverage this narrative to encourage users to migrate their funds from Layer 1 to the Stark chain and engage in staking through Braavos' user-friendly in-wallet DeFi features. What's intriguing is that, even before introducing their limited-time high Annual Percentage Rate (APR), users were unknowingly prepared through a series of quests, enabling them to reap instant benefits. Braavos Starknet Journey Quest Map ### 4\. Preserve and transmit the community's cultural heritage through storytelling, ensuring the continuity of wisdom and traditions. Example: Lens is a web3 social platform that focused on an open-source protocol over building out a signature app which has created a flourishing community of builders and users. This also means though that users, aka the community, are left to explore on their own accord as there are many apps, features and ways to use the social protocol. They play on the narrative that Lens is a garden - which has helped in encouraging people to ‘plant’ and grow roots there. Part of this has led to community members building out and creating resources for other community members. There is a ‘this week on lens’ recap that is built out based on users’ comments and input. While it is a staple to the lens community, no official lens core team member has anything to do with it. It is a community-initiated project. They have also hosted art collecting festivals and other fund community events that are solely created and run by community members. ![Lens Protocol](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/834e51e1549ed8685bc03e2632374782b2d527590fdbf0771b91640201c2f94c.webp) Lens Protocol ### 5\. Encourage the creation and dissemination of narratives that uplift and inspire virtuous action. Example: Gitcoin does this very well with their new allo stacks and citizens round. As a dao they always encourage engagement on their forums but the creation of allo grant stacks allowed for anyone to spin up a quadratic funding round. Their citizen round was also created as a way to reward their most engaged supporters who go the extra mile by actively contributing to the ecosystem's success. Focusing on helping degens become regens, what Gitcoin ultimately does the best is help fund projects that deliver some kind of public good. Best known for funding public goods, Gitcoin not only encourages web3 users to donate to various projects, they also have created the tools to allow communities to run their own rounds. ![Gitcoin and ENS logo](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/154edd519ae50560f43121a7f734334be3927ffb1cd250c3a036e5d44f4e58e5.png) Gitcoin and ENS logo ### 6\. Use the Hero's Journey to foster a narrative of hope, emphasizing the potential for positive change and the pursuit of a better future. Example: Optimism is best known for RPGF (retroactive public good funding) and being a Superchain, which attracts all kinds of projects and community members. You’ve seen this with Base, and PGN using the OP stack to build out their blockchans and give back to the OP ecosystem by partaking in their governance, as well as supporting public goods. If you participated in the #onchainsummer you most likely were transacting on the OP stack, which ultimately reinforces Optimision's mission and vision. Optimism has set the precedent for not only being a hub for innovative technologies but being a hub that finds innovative ways to create a more regenerative ecosystem. ![Optimism Superchain](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/1f954fed1ea96cbed8c902bfb616aa97bf6fd3caa8f525997991f2ed061a6b41.webp) Optimism Superchain ### 7\. Counter-narratives that seek to promote hatred of what is objectively true, good and beautiful, nurturing narratives that promote unity and social cohesion. GreenPill, which at one point was a book and a podcast, has evolved into an action-oriented grassroots movement. After having read the book a community member, named Sejal stepped up and said there needed to be more. From there she helped create the first community meetup that has now inspired chapters all over the world. With the goal of battling Moloch, and creating a more positive sum, win-win world GreenPill plays on the Matrix's famous ‘red pill, blue pill’ narrative and offers a third option, the green pill. Taking the green pill means building a more positive sum world by leveraging blockchain technology to create a more regenerative economic system. ![GreenPill network state](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/e6371b86d82c6cb3e76e12beccb9d1699aa9fd3a42aad9ccd174097e911685cd.jpg) GreenPill network state **8\. Recognize the transformative power of narratives in shaping collective memory and cultural values.** Example: Taho (previously Tally Ho) has built out the first community-owned browser wallet extension. They lean into people being fed up with metamask and with their focus on being a community built and running a wallet, they have an active DAO and list of contributing community members. They have weekly town halls and run partnership quests often. Taho Wallet ### 9\. Embrace the use of symbolic devices to visually and audibly represent the community's values, history and aspirations. Example: Swell is doing this by showcasing a community goal tracker that then unlocks rewards, PEARLS, for everyone who participated. There is also a journey map that unlocks at various stages creating a fun and engaging experience for the community. ![Swell users collecting Pearls ](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ac210c9c7fe8dca4feccf12cc229e06801ad3d6d2c74bfacc3f565dc7281572e.png) Swell users collecting Pearls **10\. Reject the victim culture by valuing personal agency and resilience over perpetuating a mindset of powerlessness and dependency.** Example: This one is interesting because when things are going well, it's easy for the vast majority of the community to trust you. But what happens when strong turbulence comes in? This is when the trust of the community is most needed, and this requires strong leadership. The strongest communities are those that have people who are willing to take on personal agency and continue working/fighting no matter what the external circumstances. They are empowered, not powerless and dependent. [Crypto.com](http://Crypto.com) came under intense scrutiny following the FTX collapse and the ripple effects of it. There were public cries saying [Crypto.com](http://Crypto.com) was next and to get your money out ASAP. As we know this type of fear can create panic as you would see in a bank run. Kris Marszalek the CEO of [Crypto.com](http://Crypto.com) came out and publicly addressed his community. He did a live video Q&A and was publicly showing up everywhere he could to send the strong signal that [crypto.com](http://crypto.com) was going to make it through - and it did. While most of my funds are in a self-custodial wallet, I use [crypto.com](http://crypto.com) as my fiat ramp and left what funds I did have in [crypto.com](http://crypto.com) as a show of support and trust. CEO of Cryto.com AMA poster ### Moving forward with these tenets Following these tenets as guides for ways to engage your community helps shine a light on your high-quality community members. It is these people who will help you build in this frontier space as long as you give them the opportunity, guidance and tools to do so. Creating strong narratives allows people to feel a sense of connection to what you are building and helps them decide if they want to be a part of it. In the dynamic world of blockchain and web3, we often find ourselves overwhelmed by hype and noise. However, the potential for a decentralized, open-source future is real, and to realize it, we must break free from silos and embrace innovative community frameworks like P=ENTS. This open-source framework, rooted in community-building knowledge and adaptable to any community, can help us navigate the challenges ahead. We've explored the transformative power of narratives, recognizing that stories shape our identities and cultural relevance. They motivate communities, celebrate tradition, and inspire virtuous action. Remember that strong communities rely on engaged members who share a vision. By embracing these principles and narratives, we can build thriving communities, pioneering new ways of working and relating in the web3 space. For a deeper dive into P=ENTS, [visit their website](https://pentsmethodology.com/) or [explore their GitHub repository](https://github.com/P-ENTS/P-ENTS-Methodology), and let's shape a future where connected communities drive progress in the web3 ecosystem. P=ENTS logo --- *Originally published on [Lana Dingwall](https://paragraph.com/@lanadingwall/p-ents-methodology-for-community-building-exploring-the-narrative-tenets)*