Critical mass for online community?
I know this will vary depending on the audience, but how big does one's audience need to be to get an engaged online forum off the ground? 1,000? 10,000? 100,000?
Has anyone tried engaging an audience with a forum in the past? Any insights to share?
In my early days I did it with 100 people. It only takes 10-20 people to make an online community feel alive.
The hard bit is sustaining it. I wouldn't focus on trying to create something huge to begin with just focus on a few good people whose behaviour will most likely define the future of the community.
Thanks! I have about 1K people registered for an online biotech entrepreneurship program I'm organizing (Biotech Startup School) -- 10 in-person events in the Bay Area, all recorded and posted online.
People who aren't in the bay area have asked about a slack / FB group / forum, but i worry that the quality of the group wont be great, either bc too little activity or the wrong kind of activity. Any tips from your experience on managing the quality of the community, or starting off in the "right" way?
Critical mass. Any society 7% of any population is critical mass. United States revolution 7% actually fought for. Soviet revolution, 6%.
Big one and look this up: Germany national socialists at their peak. Die hard 7% identified.
These were the extremists and the vast 80% were fence sitters in the middle.
Today example. Tesla, Elon musk. 2000 EV cars made was critical mass then mid price and model 3 after for general adoption. The 7% rule applies across history.
It is fewer than you believe.