The Community Glossary

Carefully put together words with more than just boring textbook definitions. Get a deep-dive into the world of community-building through best-practices, real-life examples, explanations, how-tos, and what nots.

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Leader

A leader is basically someone who has been a superfan long enough. If you’ve been extremely active in a community, it’s easier to get noticed. This person knows the community inside-out and does everything from engagement to being a part of event management.

They have been recognized by community managers as a core, integral part of the algorithm and therefore can be trusted with responsibilities. They are also heavily involved with the decision-making, setting targets, and the overall roadmap of the community.

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Superfan or Superuser

A superfan (can also be called a creator) is someone who has reached a point where they can influence activity within the community. This person is now a content creator and is always active in the community - asking questions, brainstorming ideas, replying to posts, and reacting to them.

Participant

A participant is someone who - as the name suggests - has gone from being a silent observer to participating in conversations.

Follower

A follower is someone who’s slightly above the lurker. This person has been influenced by the community and its content so he/she/they keep the notifications turned on, and maybe even has subscribed to a lot of the content channels like newsletters, blogs, or any updates.

Lurker

The ones who are never really active in your community. These will unfortunately make up for more than 90% of your audience and there’s nothing wrong with it.