What’s the most exhausting part of community building?
It’s not the technical setup.
It’s not the content creation.
It’s not even the management.
You know that feeling when you’re staring at another engagement prompt in your content calendar?
That weird feeling in your stomach because you know:
- Nobody really wants another ‘What’s your biggest win?’ post.
- Nobody’s excited about ‘Monday Motivation’.
- Nobody’s building real connection this way.
Yeah, let’s talk about that… “community engagement” thing.
The Never-Ending Cycle
We’ve all been there.
The constant pressure to post, comment, and engage across every platform imaginable.
It’s like we’re stuck in this never-ending cycle of forced interaction, all in the name of “building community.” But when you’re constantly pushing people to engage, it starts to feel less like a genuine connection and more like a chore.
Lessons Learned the Hard Way
I’ll admit, I fell into this trap myself.
I used to think that the key to engagement was to constantly come up with new prompts and challenges, to keep people interacting at all costs. So, I posted daily engagement prompts, thinking that was the secret to success.
Surprise, surprise: It didn’t work.
No matter my efforts, the community stayed quiet. It took me a while to realize that I was pushing for engagement in a way that didn’t align with what people actually needed.
That’s when I started thinking about orbits instead of engagement.
About creating spaces where people naturally gravitate toward what interests them, rather than being pushed to interact.
Here’s what I’m thinking:
Reader, what if we’ve got this all backwards?
What if engagement isn’t something to manage, but something that happens naturally when we create the right space?
Like a good conversation at a party.
It doesn’t happen because someone’s forcing it.
It happens because people are genuinely interested.
Maybe that’s the whole point: Stop pushing for engagement. Start creating reasons for people to want to connect.
Give them space to find their own rhythm. Let them choose how and when to engage. Trust that real connection happens naturally.
Where I’m At Now:
I’ll be honest: I’m still figuring this out.
But I know one thing: Forced engagement isn’t the answer.
It’s about creating spaces where people feel naturally drawn to connect. No daily prompts needed.
So, the most exhausting part of community building (in my opinion): believing that forced engagement creates real connection.
Now I’m curious:
What’s been your experience with this? Have you found ways to create natural connection, or are you still stuck in the engagement trap like I was?
Hit reply. I’d love to hear your story.
Until next week,
Masha
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