This is such a misunderstanding of what "community" means through the lens of technology. These tools are not designed to help people have relationships, and the Google vs. Facebook distinction is quite apt in that both are scale-oriented and relationships are in service of the ends of the business. We're using the word "community" to obfuscate the weird way the technology and its owners attempt to mediate relationships.

Fair point. As the author, I was explicitly looking at it in the context of technology or technology companies building communities around them. I was working in developer relations at that time, so building a community of practitioners around our software was a priority for me.

I didn't mean "community" in the general sense, though I have thoughts on how to build that too:

* show up

* be kind

* try to meet people where they are at, but have minimum engagement standards

* follow up and meet regularly

* leverage existing groups and communities (organizations like Rotary or friend groups) where possible

Agreed. We may need to start moving the language a little to capture things more accurately. In terms of technology, community is more akin to 'captive audience'.

I don't think you can "build" a community. I think you can only serve them. Perhaps they haven't been served that well before and your service will foster their growth. You still didn't "build" anything.