I appreciate this piece so much. As someone who recently stepped into overseeing communications for a hyper-local, grassrootsy nonprofit with "building community" in its mission, this productively challenged some of my assumptions or mental shortcuts about what "good" or "professional" communications should look like. ("Look like" being the operative word there.) Effective and inclusive communication, yes, but glossing everything into optimized homogeneity, not so much.
Oooof yes I feel you. It is especially subtle how those dominant aesthetics raise the bar for everyone, even smaller (and probably much cooler) orgs to look and feel like them too. It becomes a "best in class" thing even though it's really worth picking apart why that's considered best in class, and if we even like it! I'm with you though, it's really a constant unlearning!
I have also just become the Comms person for a small community org, and immediately was torn between the desire to professionalise our communications Vs the sense that that may not be what our community wants or need- looking as if we come from online is not especially relevant to al of our residents. There is also the disjunct between what might be best for the community, and what would be best for potential funders to see. All good thoughts!
Toootally; also such a good point that there is a tension between different audiences, and different aesthetics that signal different things to everyone.
Hi, Elise! Nice to e-meet you. I came here from Off The Grid and couldn't believe how synchronistic this post is. Right now, I'm temporarily living in a sleepy town, working from home, and craving offline creative activities. I was thinking about joining a writing workshop to organize my fiction work, and I spent hours "optimizing" a list of writers offering Zoom sessions to work on my texts. Then, it came to my attention that the local library (just two blocks from my house and a pretty nice place) will offer an in-person writing workshop every Monday. I know the teacher and like his approach, but I was doubtful about my classmates (whom I do not know yet). So I started thinking, is it "worth it" going to it? Or is it "better" to choose a well-known author, pay more money, stay online, and miss out on some surprises (and even friction-filled moments) that could feed my creativity and even my literary work? I got tired of trying to choose the most optimized option. Your post has made the decision easy. I'll join the local writing workshop in April! Thank you again for your words, and sorry for the long comment. Until next time!
WOW YES thank you for sharing your journey around this! I relate deeply – especially to the final feeling you mention at the end of just getting "tired of choosing". And hey, maybe you won't love the library thing and ultimately choose to do something more curated BUT at least you tried it and reflected on your own emotional experience along the way.
From an aspiring community builder and joiner's perspective, my favorite parts that stuck out to me: not losing the "mystery" or the "good friction" as one builds or joins, but rather ensuring these remain part of the community even with a robust online presence, and mitigating the risk of pay-to-play (e.g., offering sliding scale or free memberships based on income/wealth, or separate standalone programs that require fees while the core is open to anyone). The article also prompted me to think how to build communities outside and across lines of industry-based groupings for true bridging capital vs specialization by interest/belief system. Thanks for writing and sharing this.
Yes! And the "frictionlessness" doesn't have to be an all/nothing mechanic, but a very specific brush to paint with at very specific moments in an experience. Like, I mostly feel any exchange of $$ (paying dues, donating, checking out, etc) should be fairly easy since that's a moment of deep trust and high stakes...but that can take shape in many different ways!
Elise!!!!!! You always manage to see inside my brain and make a beautiful essay out of it. I have been thinking so much about this topic which in my brain I've basically boiled down to the meme of instagram versus reality. I've signed up for so many things based on instagram hype and then I show up and the vibes are not good and I'm like "THIS IS THE EVENT EVERYONE SAID CHANGED THEIR LIFE on instagram?????".
The branding and the selling is so real. This essay is a really good push to try things out with less info.
Also though I really appreciated your caveat about certain info being actually crucial to have up front like accessibility.
Just found this post :) I went to grad school to study branding (and experience design) and now, nearly two years after my graduation, I am disenchanted with really slick branding for all the reasons you mentioned. I loved every bit of this!
YES I feel you. And "disenchanted" is such a good word too, as I find myself still being like "ok this looks good" but it just *feels* so different than design that is scrappy, or a little ugly, or handmade.
great read btw, thanks for the reflection. as someone who's actively inviting people to gather and spend good time together, this definitly makes me think 🫶
Fuck this was so good, Elise. As someone who worked for one of these communities and has a lot of friends in the community building world, I've thought about a lot of these points a lot. I also think a lot about the difference between creating a container for community and actually building / tending to community. I've noticed so many people go to one of these viral events and are disappointed when they leave without a true feeling of belonging but building friendships and belonging requires soooo much more. There are so many points in here I want to dig deeper into but just wanted to say THANK YOU and I FEEL ALL OF THIS. Thank you for writing this <3
I've also been thinking about this a lot. Local community orgs are increasingly feeding the social media beast instead of helping us step away from it back into real life. My spouse has pointed out that when a group has sleek branding, it gives the impression that the group has its sh*t together, even if it doesn't. So people might make false assumptions about how much substance and planning exists behind the branding. For example, he thought a local org was national because their comms look so good.
This is so so so good! As a 20-something new-ish to a city, it’s been a frustrating experience trying to look for third spaces without having to use social media. This piece reminds me that friction is often normal and needed in social interactions and community building. I’m trying to lean into it rather than reverting into myself and waiting for experiences to happen to me rather than the opposite. Appreciate you and this piece!
Oh my god!! Thank you for putting this into words. I live in a smallish city in the north east of Scotland which, thanks to North Sea oil & gas, used to be busier and livelier than it is now. Young people come here, take a degree from one of its two universities and then run as fast as they can back to the central belt where there “is more going on”. I’ve noticed that the “community” on offer for those of us who are in our 20s and 30s are exactly as you described, they’re brands. I loved the bit about fomo inducing. I’m involved with my local community centre and have been for several years, and we struggle for volunteers; coincidentally our social media presence is an afterthought. Much to think on!!
Many many resonant points, especially from a former-grassroots-organizer-confronted-with-newfangled-Canvafied-Partifuled-creative-director-era perspective. I hesitate to use the word gentrification but it feels a bit analogous! There’s absolutely a similar creep of reconfiguration and optimization that brings with it the consequent “elevated”status, price stickers, and paywalls that create barriers to entry. Thank you for writing!!!!!!
Something to be said about spectacle as well! Especially things propped up by VC money that need the Look of impact and community more than they need Real impact and community. But of course performativity and spectacle (to sell something) is applicable to wide swathes beyond just VC.
I appreciate this piece so much. As someone who recently stepped into overseeing communications for a hyper-local, grassrootsy nonprofit with "building community" in its mission, this productively challenged some of my assumptions or mental shortcuts about what "good" or "professional" communications should look like. ("Look like" being the operative word there.) Effective and inclusive communication, yes, but glossing everything into optimized homogeneity, not so much.
Oooof yes I feel you. It is especially subtle how those dominant aesthetics raise the bar for everyone, even smaller (and probably much cooler) orgs to look and feel like them too. It becomes a "best in class" thing even though it's really worth picking apart why that's considered best in class, and if we even like it! I'm with you though, it's really a constant unlearning!
I have also just become the Comms person for a small community org, and immediately was torn between the desire to professionalise our communications Vs the sense that that may not be what our community wants or need- looking as if we come from online is not especially relevant to al of our residents. There is also the disjunct between what might be best for the community, and what would be best for potential funders to see. All good thoughts!
Toootally; also such a good point that there is a tension between different audiences, and different aesthetics that signal different things to everyone.
Loved this. So thought-provoking. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, Elise! Nice to e-meet you. I came here from Off The Grid and couldn't believe how synchronistic this post is. Right now, I'm temporarily living in a sleepy town, working from home, and craving offline creative activities. I was thinking about joining a writing workshop to organize my fiction work, and I spent hours "optimizing" a list of writers offering Zoom sessions to work on my texts. Then, it came to my attention that the local library (just two blocks from my house and a pretty nice place) will offer an in-person writing workshop every Monday. I know the teacher and like his approach, but I was doubtful about my classmates (whom I do not know yet). So I started thinking, is it "worth it" going to it? Or is it "better" to choose a well-known author, pay more money, stay online, and miss out on some surprises (and even friction-filled moments) that could feed my creativity and even my literary work? I got tired of trying to choose the most optimized option. Your post has made the decision easy. I'll join the local writing workshop in April! Thank you again for your words, and sorry for the long comment. Until next time!
WOW YES thank you for sharing your journey around this! I relate deeply – especially to the final feeling you mention at the end of just getting "tired of choosing". And hey, maybe you won't love the library thing and ultimately choose to do something more curated BUT at least you tried it and reflected on your own emotional experience along the way.
Yes! I’ll go to expand my experience catalog and then decide if it was for me or not. If I don’t try, I’ll never know. Thank you again. :)
From an aspiring community builder and joiner's perspective, my favorite parts that stuck out to me: not losing the "mystery" or the "good friction" as one builds or joins, but rather ensuring these remain part of the community even with a robust online presence, and mitigating the risk of pay-to-play (e.g., offering sliding scale or free memberships based on income/wealth, or separate standalone programs that require fees while the core is open to anyone). The article also prompted me to think how to build communities outside and across lines of industry-based groupings for true bridging capital vs specialization by interest/belief system. Thanks for writing and sharing this.
Yes! And the "frictionlessness" doesn't have to be an all/nothing mechanic, but a very specific brush to paint with at very specific moments in an experience. Like, I mostly feel any exchange of $$ (paying dues, donating, checking out, etc) should be fairly easy since that's a moment of deep trust and high stakes...but that can take shape in many different ways!
This nailed something I hadn’t realized I was feeling/doing, thank you!
Also did you ever read the piece on Blackbird Spyplane about the “un-grammable hang zone”? A lot of connections there I think
https://www.blackbirdspyplane.com/p/un-grammable-hang-zone-manifesto
YES i've also wanted to write a UGHZ/community space connective piece for a while, deeeefinitely same idea and was really inspired by that piece!
Elise!!!!!! You always manage to see inside my brain and make a beautiful essay out of it. I have been thinking so much about this topic which in my brain I've basically boiled down to the meme of instagram versus reality. I've signed up for so many things based on instagram hype and then I show up and the vibes are not good and I'm like "THIS IS THE EVENT EVERYONE SAID CHANGED THEIR LIFE on instagram?????".
The branding and the selling is so real. This essay is a really good push to try things out with less info.
Also though I really appreciated your caveat about certain info being actually crucial to have up front like accessibility.
Haaahahaha "THIS is the event everyone said changed their life??" is tooo good. So glad this resonated and our brains are on the same plane!!
Just found this post :) I went to grad school to study branding (and experience design) and now, nearly two years after my graduation, I am disenchanted with really slick branding for all the reasons you mentioned. I loved every bit of this!
YES I feel you. And "disenchanted" is such a good word too, as I find myself still being like "ok this looks good" but it just *feels* so different than design that is scrappy, or a little ugly, or handmade.
Wow, I feel like you're inside my brain — but way more articulate 😂
I doubt that, but it's good to be in here (your brain) with you!
Wonderful piece. I really resonated with the idea that brands are now playing the role community leaders might have done - oof! Thank you for writing
check the work of Build IRL, i thought about them -and the clubs and communities they're supporting- many times while reading you: https://open.substack.com/pub/buildirl?r=2cys&utm_medium=ios
great read btw, thanks for the reflection. as someone who's actively inviting people to gather and spend good time together, this definitly makes me think 🫶
Yessss I've been following them for a few months now! Really interesting to watch 'em 💜 so grateful that you're here and dug this!
This is so smart and thoughtful about the “selling” of community. Excited to have found your work!
Yay! So glad that it’s resonating with you, Katherine!!
Fuck this was so good, Elise. As someone who worked for one of these communities and has a lot of friends in the community building world, I've thought about a lot of these points a lot. I also think a lot about the difference between creating a container for community and actually building / tending to community. I've noticed so many people go to one of these viral events and are disappointed when they leave without a true feeling of belonging but building friendships and belonging requires soooo much more. There are so many points in here I want to dig deeper into but just wanted to say THANK YOU and I FEEL ALL OF THIS. Thank you for writing this <3
I've also been thinking about this a lot. Local community orgs are increasingly feeding the social media beast instead of helping us step away from it back into real life. My spouse has pointed out that when a group has sleek branding, it gives the impression that the group has its sh*t together, even if it doesn't. So people might make false assumptions about how much substance and planning exists behind the branding. For example, he thought a local org was national because their comms look so good.
This is so so so good! As a 20-something new-ish to a city, it’s been a frustrating experience trying to look for third spaces without having to use social media. This piece reminds me that friction is often normal and needed in social interactions and community building. I’m trying to lean into it rather than reverting into myself and waiting for experiences to happen to me rather than the opposite. Appreciate you and this piece!
Oh my god!! Thank you for putting this into words. I live in a smallish city in the north east of Scotland which, thanks to North Sea oil & gas, used to be busier and livelier than it is now. Young people come here, take a degree from one of its two universities and then run as fast as they can back to the central belt where there “is more going on”. I’ve noticed that the “community” on offer for those of us who are in our 20s and 30s are exactly as you described, they’re brands. I loved the bit about fomo inducing. I’m involved with my local community centre and have been for several years, and we struggle for volunteers; coincidentally our social media presence is an afterthought. Much to think on!!
Many many resonant points, especially from a former-grassroots-organizer-confronted-with-newfangled-Canvafied-Partifuled-creative-director-era perspective. I hesitate to use the word gentrification but it feels a bit analogous! There’s absolutely a similar creep of reconfiguration and optimization that brings with it the consequent “elevated”status, price stickers, and paywalls that create barriers to entry. Thank you for writing!!!!!!
Something to be said about spectacle as well! Especially things propped up by VC money that need the Look of impact and community more than they need Real impact and community. But of course performativity and spectacle (to sell something) is applicable to wide swathes beyond just VC.