Defining Community: Community leaders share their insight
I’ve been thinking hard about defining community, creating and maintaining community, being part of a community and what the word and concept means to us all.
There are myriad freelance communities - from broad ones for all freelancers to those for freelancers in specific disciplines. In journalism, there is also Freelancing for Journalists and JournoResources, for example. Many communities are created by accident - or, at least, they are created with a purpose and intention but grow beyond what the creator or founder ever expected. I was also alerted to a community called Freelancers For Good which I’ll be checking out!
Community for me is about give and take, about joining in as well as lurking a little, about being brave enough to say something, to offer advice or to ask for help. It’s a two-way street, and is about being part of something, rather than saying ‘What can I get from this?’
I have, on my journey so far to building The Freelance Media Network, discovered some new communities I hadn’t heard of before. Many are Facebook groups, but some are Slack channels and others are Whatsapps. I find Whatsapp communities quite overwhelming, do you? Something for me to unpack there (or perhaps it’s a pitch, too!).
When you run a community it is about highs and lows - not everyone will love what you are doing, while others will be totally onboard with your values.
There are definitely key themes for those I know who run communities. I know because for this week’s newsletter, I asked them!
Sophie Cross at The Freelancer Magazine Club feels it’s about a ‘sense of purpose’. “For me, community is not feeling lonely. It's friendship. It's getting out of your own head. It's shared ideas and values. It's feeling seen and heard. It's having someone to rant to. It's the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from helping others. It's a sense of purpose.”
NOON is a community of ‘Queenagers’ created by Eleanor Mills. I joined earlier this year and am really enjoying it - partly because it’s not a work community as such! (Although they do have an entrepreneur space). Eleanor Mills told me: “Creating community is all about providing connection and a space where we feel supported by others with a shared set of values. What I feel proudest about forging at NOON are all the friendships that the women have formed - and also a sense of inspiration and possibility that at 50 as women there is so much more to come. I love the way we co-create a supportive and inspirational space which helps others who come into our community to feel seen, held and encouraged.”
You’ve probably heard of JournoResources (if not, check them out and also have a look at their current crowdfunder) - founder Jem Collins says: “To me, community is about knowing you have someone to metaphorically call. It’s not necessarily about a full room or expert speakers, but having a place you know to go to when you have a problem or worry, knowing you won’t be judged and that others will actively want to help. And that’s a two-way street.”
Matthew Knight does an amazing job flying the flag for freelance rights and mental health at Leapers.co and says: “For me, it’s about peer support. Proper communities are horizontal - not just the founder broadcasting outwards, but people in the community taking part, starting conversations, offering help, being empowered to take action. And the best communities are those where the founder knows they can step away and there won’t be ‘crickets’.”
Sarah Buttaci runs the SB Collective, a community focused on recruitment professionals. She says: “Community to me is about bringing together like-minded people and having a safe space to collaborate and learn. Genuine connection between genuine people.”
Jacob Grainger is Community Manager at JournalismUK. He says: “It’s easy to always be in asking mode as a news publisher. Sign up for our newsletter, fill out this survey, listen to this podcast, answer this quiz. An easy mistake when it comes to community work is to let it become a broadcast channel. Admittedly, we’ve been stuck in this setting in the past. But what I’ve learned is that communities need to be two-way streets. Yes, there are times we need to ask for help. But I’m a lot more aware these days that we need to give back, too: to make intros and connections, to judge awards, to be available for interviews and op-eds, to moderate panels at other events, to jump on last-minute calls and to amplify resources around. I’m always down to collaborate, so please get in touch. That’s what it means to be a community, in my book.”
Community is, as I’ve said before: “Way more than a Facebook feed”. Community for me is about feelings as well as what’s on offer. It’s about connection and collaboration. The Freelance Media Network will also be more than just an online community. There are plans for meet ups in the future (not just London, either!). A chance for us to get to know each other in person, as well as online.
