Community

The magic is in the comments

The word community is bandied around frequently these days. In fact it has been used so much that it’s paper thin - a worn out shadow of it’s former self.

Someone a bit more cynical than me once said that you know when someone uses the word community then they are trying to sell you something. And to be fair there is probably more than a grain of truth in that.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people refer to the Instagram community as though it was an amorphous, homogenous group - conveniently forgetting they are talking about millions and millions of diverse and all very different people. You can talk about the Instagram Community to your hearts content but who would you actually be addressing - someone? Anyone? No-one?

Moving away from the polished perfection of Instagram - the real world is where can often see examples of community in it’s truest sense. The community billboard in the supermarket, advertising anything from scout clubs to baby sitting. The community collection point for the local foodbank. At it’s simplest, community is about looking out for each other, caring about each other.

In the online space, community can look a little different but essentially it is what you make it. It can be as large or as small as you like. It can be joyous and freewheeling, or tight knit and focused on a specific issue or topic.

I find the whole idea of creating an online community immensely empowering, not least because we are the first generation of women who have been able to tap into this huge collective powerhouse of trust and support. It’s an opportunity that was never available to those women who went before us and I never fail to be grateful for it.

Getting real for a moment, if I may. I have had my newsletter and my blog for years now - probably over 10 years in various forms. But in the short time I have been using Substack I have received probably more email responses and comments on my writing than I have had in my online career to date

Sending a newsletter or popping up a blog post on Squarespace is essentially a one way broadcast. I might as well be standing on a table with a megaphone for all the response I get back. Please know that this is in no way a criticism of those who receive these posts - it’s just how the online platforms and systems are set up. They are designed to disseminate information, not assimilate it.

On Substack though, things happen differently. Of course, you can just read the email in your inbox, that hasn’t changed. But clicking through to Substack, whether on the app or your laptop does one crucial thing. It connects you to the 7,000 other people who have also opted to receive my newsletter.

It’s a real, genuine community of 7,000 other people who decided that they like cats, coffee and knitting enough to opt-in to hear more about these things on a regular basis. Well, apart from that one poor soul who wandered in looking to buy a pair of handknit socks for a fiver and has been unable to find their way out ever since.

Leaving a comment on a Substack post can spark a whole new conversation - veering off at a unique tangent all of it’s own. A chance for those brought together by a shared interest to connect with other members of that same, self-selected community quite independently of what brought them there in the first place.

And that’s just magic - pure magic.

Don’t be shy, why not tap the button below and add your comment to the conversation. What does the word community mean to you?