Three Hallmarks of a Vibrant Community

In the past month or so, there has been a lot of talk about “community” in the WordPress space. There are lots of nuances that go into this subject that take more than a blog post to uncover. 

WordPress as a community has been both organic and official for about 20 years. Most of us have had some interaction with the WordPress community. You likely have been to a WordCamp near you which takes the work of those in the WordPress community to make happen.

I believe that Community is often used loosely in the online marketing world. People will talk about “their community” meaning those that interact with them on social media and via their email newsletter.

That is, indeed, a community. There is also the idea of an online, private community, often hosted on a platform such as Mighty Networks, Circle, or even a WordPress version such as Peepso.

A definition of community is as different as the entity defining the word. One can see that in this Perplexity search for the definition.

The use of community in WordPress falls in the realm of community for professional associations.

The good folks at Community Consultants Collective (which I am a member of) call it a “community of practice.”

I have advocated for some time to create a more clear boundary between what has historically been known as the WordPress dot org (or the Foundation) and the WordPress dot com (also Automattic). Recent events underscore this much greater.

There is a whole lot of stuff to unravel before we can create this boundary more clearly. 

But today, I want to discuss three hallmarks of a community that we should strive towards whether we are in an official WordPress community, a professional community, or a learning community. 

Community starts with Communication.

Years ago, I learned that the heart of the term “community” is communication. It made sense, really. If you can have communication, it is hard to have a community.

In fact, it is hard to have any kind of relationship without any communication. 

The words community and communication come from the Latin word “communis,” a word that means “common” or “shared.”

“Communication is an important unifying factor in community development activities in diverse communities in human habitats. Communication is the unifying apparatus of community development activities in different communities of society.” Source Development Report. Author: Ebenezer Asumang.

Inherit with communication is the ability to relate, deal with problems, transparency, handling diversity, dialogue and sharing. 

Read more about the roots of the word “community.”

One can write an entire book on communication strategies, but it is necessary to understand that communication is fundamental in creating and facilitating a community. 

Building Encouragement.

I’ve noticed something recently with my social media posts. When I post something really encouraging, it seems to get more engagement. But, I thought we were supposed to “drop value?”

Who knew?

Maybe this makes more sense than we realize. The fact is it can be hard to find encouragement and support in an ever increasingly fractured society. It’s way too easy to feel like we have found community online when, in reality, it is more like a mega game of comparison.

We compare how we look, how we sound, what our thoughts are about current events, what our income level is, what kind of clothes we wear, and more. It is comparison overload, and it is easy to feel like we aren’t measuring up!

That is making me realize I should be far more encouraging than anything else. We should be cheering each other on! 

We should build encouragement in others, especially those of us in our communities. 

Encouragement allows us to help motivate, help others learn and improve as professionals. 

By the way, if I haven’t told you lately, “You are doing a great job!”

Take Responsibility.

I originally started this section with the word “accountability.” We have to take accountability for what we do and help others take accountability for what they do. 

Often, however, it seems we use “accountability” as a club to beat others over the head with. Don’t let accountability be that in your community.

Encourage each other to take responsibility for our actions. Apologies can help. 

We have to take ownership of what we do. 

You see this play out in sports often. A player makes a mistake, they take ownership of the mistake and they work hard not to make that mistake again.

A sports team is a great example of a community. Perhaps we should function a little more like a sports team. Taking accountability is also another aspect of transparency. 

Can you think of a time you took responsibility for your actions? How did it help you and your community?

Wrapping it up

Relationships are messy because we are humans. That means that communities can be messy as well. Often, however, it can be a beautiful thing.

While I mention three things for a vibrant community, there are other very important elements, including leadership and the mission of the community.

You might say that mission and leadership are the backdrop of a vibrant community. What elements do you think are important in a community?

Let us know our thoughts in the MainWP Users Facebook Group or in our Discord.