| Build a community goes beyond "rally people around something they are passionate about". 1 - Not all people who have same preferences or like the same things are willing to discuss or share ideas about that. 2 - I like to think people gathering around some topic is a secondary move, the primary thing that make people gather around is 'VALUES' and 'Principles'. 3 - We like to discuss ideas with people who we value, we like to talk about what we like with friends, not strangers, why? Because we know that we share values, principles and a cosmovision with our friends, family, etc. So if you want to build a community, build around 'principle and values' and from this common ground you can set a main topic to be addressed by everyone. Not always will be a single topic, but a niche, like the hacker news, our discussed niche is "hacking things", our values? Defy the status-quo, think out of the box, catch the black swan, see through the non-obvious, seek for excellence, etc. It wouldn't be so successful try to discuss how to "hack things" with a bunch of douchebags ;D Edit1: Also I saw people talking about the moderation drama but if you have done the principles, values, rules... you are going to have your own community policing who doesn't reach the cultural/behavioral fit. Rules must be the very first thing to avoid a 'broken window' culture. |