# Community

> Build and run a Discord, Slack or subreddit that produces advocates. Use when building Discord, Slack, or forum developer communities.

- Skill: `poorvith-mp/community` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add poorvith-mp/community`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/poorvith-mp/community/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Integrations & APIs
- Author: poorvith-mp (https://skillmd.com/u/poorvith-mp)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/poorvith-mp/community

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# Community

A developer or user community is an organic flywheel for advocacy, product feedback, and peer-to-peer support, not a one-way broadcast marketing channel. Building a thriving community (Discord, Slack, Discourse, GitHub Discussions) requires establishing high-signal moderation, seeding initial peer interactions, creating contributor pathways, and rewarding active champions.

## 1. Platform Selection: Discord vs. Slack vs. Discourse

Select the platform that matches your audience's natural working habits:
- **Discord**: Best for developer tools, Web3, open-source communities, and gaming. Highly accessible for audio/voice lounges, text channels, and bot integrations.
- **Slack**: Best for B2B enterprise practitioners, agency founders, and professional networking where members already keep Slack open during work hours.
- **Discourse / GitHub Discussions**: Best for asynchronous, indexable, SEO-friendly problem-solving and permanent technical knowledge bases.

## 2. Community Channel Architecture (The Rule of Few)
Never launch a community with 25 empty channels; empty channels create a ghost-town perception. Launch with maximum 5 focused channels:
1. `#announcements` (Read-only): Product releases, major news, changelogs.
2. `#introductions`: New member onboarding; prompt with a specific 3-question template (Who are you? What are you building? What stack do you use?).
3. `#general`: Informal discussions, industry news, peer banter.
4. `#help-and-troubleshooting`: Peer-to-peer technical support.
5. `#showcase-and-feedback`: Members share their projects built with your tool.

## 3. The 90-9-1 Participation Framework & Activation Loop
In any online community:
- **90% Lurkers**: Consume content, read discussions, never post.
- **9% Contributors**: Occasionally reply, ask questions, or react to messages.
- **1% Creators / Super-Users**: Drive the majority of conversations, help newcomers, and create community resources.
- *Activation Strategy*: The founder/core team must manually welcome every single new member and answer unanswered questions within 2 hours during the first 6 months.

## 4. Community Champion & Ambassador Program
Formalize pathways to turn active users into institutional evangelists:
- **Role Tiering**: Create visible badges/roles (`Core Contributor`, `Community MVP`, `Ambassador`).
- **Exclusive Access**: Give champions private access to roadmap previews, beta feature releases, and monthly video calls with the product founders.
- **Swag & Recognition**: Send high-quality branded physical merchandise; publicly spotlight their community contributions in official company newsletters.

## Critical Rules
1. Never treat a community as an automated RSS feed for marketing blog posts; engage in authentic discussions.
2. Respond to community bug reports and support queries within 2 hours; fast feedback builds intense brand loyalty.
3. Enforce a strict, zero-tolerance Code of Conduct against spam, self-promotion, and harassment.

## Verification Checklist
- [ ] Initial channel layout restricted to <= 5 essential channels to concentrate activity.
- [ ] Pinned welcome message and introduction template configured.
- [ ] Community guidelines and anti-spam moderation bots installed.
- [ ] Direct feedback loop established between community discussions and product engineering backlog.
- [ ] Super-user recognition program defined with clear contributor incentives.

## Anti-Patterns
- NEVER create separate channels for every minor sub-topic before member volume demands it.
- NEVER ignore new member introductions; an unacknowledged introduction ensures the user never posts again.
- NEVER allow aggressive external sales pitches or unsolicited commercial DMs between members.