Bear or Bull, community remains
Whether you are new to the web3 spaces or not, or have simply dabbled in surfing through discords, everyone has been hit by one or two phishing attempts from scammers.
Sometimes, due purely to boredom, I engaged with them. When they asked me, “What are you into? Nft’s? Crypto? Alts?” I answer them with a response that I know is somewhat annoying, but it is the truth: “I’m into communities.”
Before web3 I used Discord to chat with a group of friends. Every now and then I entered servers that were game related, but I never stayed long. My Discord experience was based on having a good time with people I already knew. But after I got introduced to spaces, the Discord mentality and way of life, something inside of me changed.
The concept of being in the same space as so many different people, cultures, ways of thinking and principles, all gathered for one reason, even if it is for a temporary reason like WL grinding, amazed me. Just today (the time when I'm writing this down), I had a conversation about types of brooms with a Philippine girl and a Nigerian boy. I mean…how nuts is that? If you have not perceived how exceptional these interactions are, try to be more aware of it. Internalize the amazing and mundane things you are able to experience because of the spaces.
I remember seeing new Discord structures, movements, events and welcoming of all kinds, a plethora of ideas and ideals. I quickly started longing, even if I didn’t quite fully understand it all, to be part of communities. I wanted to go to the backstage at a project and see the project unfold. I made the effort, put in the hard work, the countless sleepless nights (mediating and moderating),threatened, cursed and even rugged (lol). Negative events exist in spaces and can ruin great things, but they cannot kill community spirit, so I learned.
In my country’s dictionary, community means: state or quality of material things or abstract notions common to a sum of individuals; communion.
The definition shows that a community doesn’t necessarily have time attached to it, because the state or quality of all things constantly changes and shifts, but moments happen. That exchange, that experience happened and that can potentially change you for the rest of your life. Even if we don’t, we cannot comprehend how our interactions reflect in others.
Seeing interactions and change pile up and come together with the people that enter projects (regardless of their intention of being a holder, just flip, as a curious or even the level of engagement as being active or a lurker), the founders, devs and the staff congregated and anchored by a project concepts is a delightful thing to see. The inside jokes, inside words and concepts, AMA’s, voice chats moments and more. Everyday a new project is born with a great concept and a unique way to welcome people that are willing and ready to claim the space.
That’s why these spaces are so important. That’s why the plurality of it all is so necessary. We are many and we will continue to be in the days, weeks, months and years to come. To diversify is to be able to accommodate all sorts of people and their demands, necessities and differences. I recently saw a tweet that spoke about the shift from exclusivity to inclusivity in spaces right now (and I apologize I cannot recall the user’s handle). I couldn’t agree more with what I read. Exclusivity is indeed a good way to sell your goods, your experience and build something, but it means nothing to the community. The experience of the community is none other than inclusivity right from the get go, regardless if it is a free or paid project and that’s… That’s the golden gem of these spaces.
I appreciate every single person I’ve met, had or still work with on a daily basis.
Communities changed my life forever and I hope that with this open letter, anyone that might read this can benefit from it.
I only knew the bull until I really met the bear. What stayed in both, but never the same, were communities. Communities are bigger than us, always shifting, always changing, always growing but never fading.
