Silent lurkers add value too

Welcome to the Community Coach newsletter, a value packed read
for community builders. At least I’m trying to make it value packed… Do you think it’s value packed? Taking a page out of my own advice book: never make assumptions!

In this newsletter…

📚 Community 101: Silent Members

🤖 Napkin AI: convert text into compelling visuals in seconds!

🔥 Web3 project DeGods is making a questionable move for its community

👋 Answering your questions: Interview with one of my readers, Martha Essien

Community 101: Silent members - Why They Matter and How to Engage Them

Silent members, often referred to as "lurkers," contribute value even when they're not actively engaging.

It’s important to not think of them as “unsuccessfully engaged” just because they aren’t being the loudest in the room.

They observe, absorb information, and often spread word-of-mouth about the community without you knowing it.

There is a difference between lurkers and those who don’t show up at all. Make sure to distinguish between these types of members.

Having said all that, you do have the opportunity to move lurkers along the engagement curve to participate more over time (in a way that feels comfortable to them).

To engage them, try offering low-effort ways to participate, like polls or reactions, and create a welcoming environment where they feel comfortable participating. If they aren’t comfortable speaking in public, give them alternative opportunities such as writing a short blog post instead, answering a few questions in a written interview or even writing a Twitter thread. Find out where their comfort zones lie and lean into those.

And always keep in the back of your mind that not every member needs to be vocal to benefit from or add value to the community.

Napkin AI: from text to compelling visuals

If you’ve spent way too long creating infographics, flow charts, graphs etc then you’ll want to check out Napkin AI.

Here’s some ways you can use Napkin AI as a community builder:

Convert your community insights and data into easy-to-understand visuals for presentations or reports.

Create educational content for your members

Create quick, shareable infographics from member feedback or survey results to highlight key takeaways.

A couple of other ways you could use Napkin AI:

• Visualize community growth trends or engagement patterns to identify areas for improvement.

• Use visuals to explain complex community concepts, making it easier for senior leaders, colleagues or industry partners to understand the value of your initiatives.

Try out Napkin AI for free:

Web3 DeGods: they’re changing the DNA of their community

If you really hate web3/crypto then you may think you want to skip this section. But my recommendation would be to read it!

The above thread is recommended reading - even if you’re not in the web3 space. It shows that even the biggest projects are making big changes and this one could potentially make or break the DeGods community.

In short, DeGods is a large project (consisting of other sister projects) and are simplifying everything by converting all of their assets into one token. 

They are linking their NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to FTs (fungible tokens) and it’s known as “going 404”. The ERC-404 token standard, named after the well-known web page error code “Error 404,” enables NFTs to be fractionalized.

But why does this even matter?

Well if you look at the below conversion rates, you’ll see that for those who hold the y00ts NFT (one of the Degods sister projects) will have to burn them to get their tokens.

This means that they will lose their NFT’s to exchange it into a “currency” that will be easier to buy and sell.

Now you may think this isn’t a big deal, but what really hurts is that no matter how rare your y00ts NFT is, you get the same rate as someone who holds a common y00ts NFT.

That means a super rare y00ts NFT will be worth the same as a common NFT?! This was addressed by DeGods team however - and in ways it has a point but I can still imagine this has upset many of the y00ts holders.

To make matters worse, this whole process will also mean that MANY MORE people can buy the token outside of their community. It’s actually part of their plan:

Pay close attention to their fourth point: 8 billion “bros” can afford it. Now you may personally shudder at the wording fitting the stereotype that is web3 (this project is definitely very “bro” heavy!), but it has always been their branding and they lean heavy into it.

Here’s the main point that Wale brings up that I think is also worthy of paying attention to…. “why it’s risky”.

We shouldn’t focus on vanity metrics, so although a community of 10K vs. 50K may pose some challenges from a practicality standpoint, my bigger concern is:

They are consolidating many different motivations into one community.

If you now have people who buy the $DEGOD token hoping it will appreciate - that’s one motivation (make $$$).

But you will also have the OG Degod NFT holders who stood by the project when it lost a lot of value and managed a huge revival thanks to some very innovative strategies in the web3 space (including taxing anyone who undersold their NFTs in the market). DeGods had positioned itself as a “community for innovators, developers, and builders. Holders of DeGods NFTs gain access to an exclusive community that promotes creativity and collaboration…”

There are people in the DeGod community that still strongly believe in it and have the motivation of being the most forward thinking project in the space, and they are now at huge risk of feeling alienated or lost in a crowd of potentially 8 billion bros (!).

No hate against the founders as we all know the web3 space is a very tricky one to navigate - along with the very real challenge of keeping the right types of people engaged (and the wrong types out!).

Personally I think this will be interesting to I can see the motivations behind the Degods team itself (“innovate or die”) so I am personally interested to see how it plays out community wise for one of the largest projects in the space.

Do you have thoughts on this? Reply and let me know!

Interviewed by one of my readers Martha Essien

“How do you navigate the tougher days as a community builder?” 

Recently I was interviewed by one of my readers and community builder, Martha Essien.

Martha has started a series titled Community Musings: Conversations. — dedicated to navigating the mental and emotional rollercoaster of building a career in community. 

In the interview I covered my story of how I fell into the wonderful world of community, my strengths as a community builder and how I dealt with the more challenging days.

Read the full interview:

Got a question for me? DM me on Twitter and ask away. Your question may be answered in a future newsletter (and I’ll reply to everyone who asks).

Until next time,

Carmen
Community Coach

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Check out all of my previous newsletters on community building…