How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
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Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#2I sometimes wonder about the “why?” for HN. It’s probably some mix of “because it’s interesting to the YC principals and participants”, “because it’s good inbound marketing (generally and specifically) for YC itself”, “it’s good marketing spot for YC companies to launch and hire”, and a sliver of “because it means arc gets used in prod somewhere”.
I wonder the original mix and how it’s shifted over time.
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#3It is important to start with the 'why' because often managing around the community becomes a thankless endeavour. It helps persevere till the point when it becomes self-sustaining or additional hands are available.
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#4This reminds me of the Simon Sinek classic "Start With Why." He leans on the example of Apple a bit too much, but otherwise it's a book that gets your attention and makes you wonder why something so simple can be missed by so many.
https://simonsinek.com/product/start-with-why/
TED Talk as well, tho' I don't think it does the book justice.
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#5I sometimes wonder about the “why?” for HN. It’s probably some mix of “because it’s interesting to the YC principals and participants”, “because it’s good inbound marketing (generally and specifically) for YC itself”, “it’s good marketing spot for YC companies to launch and hire”, and a sliver of “because it means arc gets used in prod somewhere”. I wonder the original mix and how it’s shifted over time.
I suspect it was something along the lines of: "There no place for people like us, to discuss thing we like to discuss, in a (civil facts-based) way that appeals to us (but not the riff raff we see elsewhere).
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#6The assumption that community building is an unalloyed good pervades tech, especially FOSS. I never see any analysis that concludes "building a community takes lots of work, requires skill sets that not everyone possesses in equal measure, and often can't justify the ROI".
I'd like to see an article on why you should not build a community.
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#7I like this essay and it sounds like a good development model for certain companies and organizations. However, all my favorite communities were initially existed because “what” or “who” that can be summed up in one word (“Paul Graham” in this forum’s case.) That what or who is not only shorthand for a rallying collection of ideas, goals and preferences. It gives the community something to regularly do or react to together. As the communities grow, they start to become defined by themselves, i.e. by the value of the network and association with the accomplishments of many community members. At a point, asking “why” becomes a useful way to delineate and communicate the accidental collection of principles from the original who/what.
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#8I've struggled with finding the "why" for the things that I'm doing, as my hyper-rationalizing brain often comes up with thousands of whys and I get stuck in not knowing which one why to choose.
> But if these are the primary motivators for why you’re building a community, I’m skeptical that you’ll succeed. These reasons put the benefit of the company ahead of the community member, and I’m pretty sure that any of our community members would see right through these motivations.
What I read in the quote from the article above is that it may be less about why one is building a community and more about for whom one is doing it. I've generally found for myself that this question motivates me more: "For whom am I doing this?"
Just seems that the why answers are rationalizations that we often give after doing something, whereas for-whom answers may motivate us to do something before we have done it.
I don't know though, I'm curious to hear your experiences.
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#9I searched the post for "video" and "stream". Zero.
How can one build a community without video and livestreaming in 2021? Not that I like it but even hard-core tech communities, eg in the embedded space, have some video exposure. Or big discords have often some video/streaming outlet.
Re: How to Build a Community: Starting with “Why?”
#10The assumption that community building is an unalloyed good pervades tech, especially FOSS. I never see any analysis that concludes "building a community takes lots of work, requires skill sets that not everyone possesses in equal measure, and often can't justify the ROI". I'd like to see an article on why you should not build a community.
The assumption that learning to program is an unalloyed good pervades the world, especially the USA. I never see any analysis that concludes "programming takes lots of work, requires skill sets that not everyone possesses in equal measure, and often can't justify the ROI".
I'd like to see an article on why you should not learn to program.