A Note from the Editor:

You’re reading the Myosin blog: reflections and analysis from DAO members that have been workshopped, edited, and published by our Content Guild.

This article is the second of two parts in a deep dive into what makes web3-era internet communities tick, from writer, editor, thinker, and Content Guild intern Taylor Silveira.

Read Part 1 HERE and, for more insights and for the first word on newly published pieces, subscribe to Myosin’s W3G Weekly newsletter HERE! 

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10 Principles to Building Great Communities, Pt. 2

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6 - Craft effective community policy

It’s important to formulate your community's identity and purpose, outlining a plan that ensures members understand the mission and goals of the community. This transparency fosters trust and enables individuals to align themselves with community values. It’s crucial to identify and communicate the key themes that the community explores to maintain a focused and meaningful dialogue. 

Set clear language policies to maintain a respectful and constructive environment. If you take action to formulate thoughtful policy guidelines for your community, you can create a framework that nurtures engagement and inclusivity in these interactions. While maintaining an environment that fosters growth, collaboration, and the collective adoption of web3 technology. 

One of the key ways for one to craft an effective policy is for there to be a clear onboarding process in place. It leaves a lasting impression on newer members in having a crystal clear understanding of how a community governs itself. It’s best to communicate this in Discord servers as well so people can sign on to an agreement of those terms. 

When exploring new web3 communities to join, I prioritize conducting thorough due diligence to ensure the policies align with my values. This careful assessment is crucial as it makes me think more deeply about whether or not I want to start this long-term commitment. I will know if the experience will be truly worthwhile and aligns with my objectives.

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7 - Empower your community to be your ambassadors 

As your web3 project starts to gain traction, converting your community into your brand ambassadors is critical. 

When you’re able to pull this off, you can activate the Community Content Commerce flywheel, which you can read more about in our Strategy Genius, McKenna Sweazey’s piece you can find here. 

Your community can become the best promoter of your brand, embodying its values, ethics, and identity unwaveringly. They become the passionate torchbearers who champion your project through every twist and turn. Within your community, a small but dedicated subset of members will exhibit deep investment and dedication to your project. 

Some of the obvious benefits of having a brand ambassador program include amplified advocacy, enhanced engagement, trust and credibility, community growth and retention, feedback and insights, co-creation, and collaboration. It’s about fueling community advocacy, strengthening engagement, nurturing trust, and cultivating a vibrant ecosystem where the collective efforts of these community members can propel the project’s impact to new heights.

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8 - Stay nimble and keep adapting

Continuous adoption is a fundamental principle that underpins the success and longevity of web3 communities. 

In the fast-paced and ever-evolving landscape that is web3, being able to adapt and evolve is crucial for community growth, relevance, and sustainability. It necessitates staying on top of emerging technologies, protocols, and standards, allowing communities to leverage new opportunities. 

This includes exploring and integrating advancements such as layer 2 solutions, interoperability protocols, and scalability improvements to enhance user experiences and expand the community’s capabilities. 

It also entails activity soliciting user feedback, conducting user research, and analyzing data to gain insights into user behavior and sentiment. This information can allow for iterative improvements to take place, feature enhancements, and the development of new services or functionalities that address certain pain points and deliver value. 

This is evident in the acquisition of the music service Napster by two web3 companies Hivemind and Algorand. These companies want to tap into the nostalgia of web1 and web2 brands to leverage existing user familiarity and brand recognition, providing a foundation for these brands to be reimagined with web3 technology instead of building something from nothing. 

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9 - Empower democratic decision-making 

Governance models play a crucial role in building resilient communities. These models are designed to enable democratic decision-making processes that empower members. 

By embracing decentralized decision-making transparency, and accountability, fostering a culture of participation and ownership amongst community members. Through mechanisms such as token-based voting, quadratic voting, or delegated governance. 

The shift away from centralized authorities promotes collective ownership and reduces reliance on small-group decision-makers, ensuring a more distributed power structure. Transparency is also vital, leveraging blockchain’s standards of immutability, enabling verifiable on-chain governance. It holds everyone accountable and encourages a culture of active engagement, open dialogue, and collaboration overall. 

Our own members are rewarded with crypto payments (ETH or USDC) and sweet $MYO tokens. These tokens grant one access to crypto projects, voting rights for community treasury funds, and leadership opportunities within our headless DAO, promoting active engagement. 

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10 - Gamification, rewards, and recognition for members

Implementing token-based reward systems, gamification elements, or reputation systems is a way to recognize and incentivize community members’ contributions. 

By integrating native tokens or utility tokens, community members can earn rewards for various activities, such as contributing code, providing valuable insights, participating in governance, or promoting the community. These tokens can be traded or used within the ecosystem for accessing specific services, purchasing goods, or participating in token staking or liquidity provision. 

Gamification elements can introduce playful mechanisms that drive user engagement and motivation. It can extend beyond tangible incentives, publicly acknowledging and celebrating community members’ achievements through announcements, social media shout-outs, or community newsletters can be just as impactful. Recognizing exceptional contributions, highlighting success stories, or featuring community spotlights helps create a positive feedback loop.

Engagement is becoming an increasingly community-driven market. A company known as Zealy acts as an “active layer” on top of existing applications for web3 and web2 companies. Zealy’s gamification approach helps companies onboard, educate, entertain, and grow their communities in a scalable manner. They provide an automated platform for creating tasks, such as user-generated content creation or social media boosting. It acts as the operating system where community members can complete tasks in exchange for rewards. 

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