Either you radically gatekeep your community to ensure it only allows people discussing topics you find interesting and watch it die as newbies get turned away while stalwarts leave for whatever reason, or you welcome "new blood" with their own interests which are not always completely aligned with your own and watch the community change around you.
And it's not just forums, it happened in usenet, it happens in social circles and friendship groups, it happens in suburbs or neighbourhoods. I'm pretty sure it happened around campfires and caves 50 thousand years ago.
I’m super interested in this topic of “how to keep a community alive”, (1) introducing new blood - with the risk mentioned above - at a regular pace, and (2) keeping existing members as alive/active/connected as possible.
Would anyone here have good reads linked to that topic, I’m interested to share - writing this, I just realize I should’ve asked my friend Copilot too.
One interesting framework linked to this I found a couple years ago and still refer too frequently is the Orbit model (https://orbit-model.vercel.app)
You want everyone to gain a little more than they give up, then your logistics bring people into interaction with your value proposition and the community grows.
Either you radically gatekeep your community to ensure it only allows people discussing topics you find interesting and watch it die as newbies get turned away while stalwarts leave for whatever reason, or you welcome "new blood" with their own interests which are not always completely aligned with your own and watch the community change around you.
And it's not just forums, it happened in usenet, it happens in social circles and friendship groups, it happens in suburbs or neighbourhoods. I'm pretty sure it happened around campfires and caves 50 thousand years ago.