Really great perspective from a community point of view (if you want a good read, check out the 20-year-old "Design for communities" book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Community-Derek-Powazek/dp/0...).

From a software pov I'm less convinced. Seems to me that "just make a Telegram / WhatsApp / whatever" group is where most online communities seem to be coalescing...?

Nice piece, was talking to a friend about this yesterday, particularly regarding online community. Our conjecture ended up being that communities don’t scale, which is why Twitter fails, and Facebook too with the exception of groups, which often seem to work well. We were riffing around the communities we’d belonged to that really had a sense of “belonging” attached to them, and the common thread was that smaller sized groups seemed more likely to “work”, and certainly remained more sensible and civilised.

HN is one of the few large online communities I know that still remains really civil, however I don’t ever feel like I “know” anyone on here, which I think is about the specifics of the UI - you don’t follow people, you follow ideas.

All of this reminds of of Derek Powazec’s book which is easily the best one I’ve read on fostering and growing online communities: https://www.amazon.com/Design-Community-Derek-Powazek/dp/073...

What particularly resonated in the article was where he mentions how a group needs an individual or a few individuals to push it along, as a sort of binding, driving element. This is absolutely my experience, both in running tech meet-ups and barcamps but also in online groups too.

Try to create a circle of influence and use it to your advantage. Make a list of friends, professors and developers that can refer your product. Then, wen timing is appropriate, create something free, relevant and sharable (like an invitation to a participate in a raffle, a free app, a free beta account, etc.) and then share this piece of content with your circle of influence. Keep working your circle for several months until you get the desired critical mass.

More Tips:

- Design for Community (by Derek Powazek) is one of the best books I've read on the subj ect: http://www.amazon.com/Design-Community-Derek-Powazek/dp/0735...

- Try to follow and read the blogs/see the shows of key celebrity entrepreneurs that have cracked this code: Caterina Fake, Kevin Rose, Gary Vaynerchuck, Jason Calacanis, etc.

- Alternatively you can make friend with the media and (if the quality or novelty of your product warrants it) get cover by technology blogs (yes even if you only have a beta).