The paramount importance of communities in crypto

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE

The magic of the Internet means that community involvement leads to the exponential growth of a serious project. This observation is true for social networks, and it is even more true for the world of cryptocurrencies where generally the participants show passion. These groups of enthusiasts often achieve extraordinary results. This is the case with the bitcoin community which started from a small group of nerds and libertarians in the late 90s to become a universe of hundreds of millions of active and informed participants who communicate 24/7 on the Internet. The invention of the smartphone accelerated exchanges between people driven by the same interests. Discovering, exchanging and creating projects with dozens of strangers sometimes on the other side of the world have now become normal activities. Crypto communities don't differ greatly from others, but they are now fully digitalized and are spreading on Twitter, Telegram, Discord, Slack, Reddit and the BitcoinTalk forum.

Crypto on Twitter is very fast paced with short snippets of news, analyses and charts from influencers to businesses and normal people hanging out, gathering information and breaking news about bitcoin or their favorite coin.

You get the complete opposite in Reddit which is much slower paced. Once there, you meet people who show a more personal approach and want to share their opinions, ideas and mood on crypto. They might be more technically involved in projects. / Telegram is for coin-oriented communities and people who just want way more fun and relaxed space to hang out; a place where they can be themselves and discuss their project´s goals and roadmap.

It is important to recall that The BitcoinTalk forum was set up by Satoshi Nakamoto just after the release of bitcoin in 2009. It is still a mythical place, a classic forum with no fancy interface. The term “Hodl” was first coined there. / Slack and Discord are for crypto guys and sub crypto communities, developers and marketing innovators working closely with project directors and start-ups. These tech-folks give you a real flavor of what a community for a project is about.

If you spend enough time on these platforms, you will be in direct contact with the core members of many great teams/projects; you might even see and speak with the CEO on Telegram or engage with a community manager in real time.

One massive difference between supporting your football team and be a follower of a cryptocurrency project is that you can very quickly become a member of the community and be very close to the most important debates. Then, if you want to be more involved, you can always write articles, produce content for your favorite crypto coin, get an ASIC and do some mining, run a node and spread the word.

For many project managers and start-ups CEOs communities online are seen as a “building block” and a source of motivation and feedback to move forward. For them, establishing a robust, faithful community is a goal, as it lays the bedrock for future developments. The community online is also the primary source of team members and great supporters that spread news, defend the projects they believe in overcoming threats and FUD.