Why Organic & Authentic Communities are the Future
There’s no doubt that the Solana ecosystem is flourishing, and that NFTs are at the forefront of innovation. New projects are popping up daily, some with great promise and ambitious teams. Almost all of them tout the importance of community, and some have even managed to grow impressive numbers over a relatively short period of time. And while some of those larger communities are legit, the sad fact is, most are not.
There have been several times when my excitement for a project has turned to disappointment upon realizing that their twitter following is largely bots, or that their WL process is one that incentivizes a spew of insincere nonsense in a general chat rather than genuine conversation and excitement. {Insert rocket emoji and random gifs in a row} “We’re going to the moon!”
It’s no surprise that whitelist “grinding,” which is the behavior of frequent ‘discussion’ in order to rank up the mee6 bot for a WL, serves only to inflate the numbers of often uncommitted members rather than grow a genuinely invested community. For the uninitiated, it can easily give the impression that the project will be successful. No one would disagree that an active community is essential for the success of an NFT project. But not all communities are created equal. And for those projects that build their socials on a weak foundation have much less chance of sustaining their communities long term. Whitelist grinding may work as a short-term hype builder, but I believe its use as a community-building tool will soon fade into the abyss like most hype trends that develop in this space. The community it builds is often just a proverbial deck of cards. Pirate Kings was aware of this challenge from day one.
There is no doubt that whitelisting can be a legitimate marketing strategy, community builder, and growth strategy, but we knew we needed to come up with a way to avoid the most obvious pitfalls. It’s why we structured our discord and whitelist process the way we have. It’s why the team has made itself as available as we can. And it’s why our community is the way it is. We wanted an organic and active community from the get-go, and we knew whitelist grinding wasn’t the way to get us there. And so we incorporated several different whitelisting options.
- 3 invites for Whitelist — solves the problem of fake engagement, though admittedly doesn’t solve fake users, nor offer another outlet
- Learn-to-Earn Whitelist — we have found active, educated, and passionate members by requiring them to participate in our google form quiz
- Level 7 mee6 bot with our mods staying on top of double posting, ‘fake’ engagement, repeated GIFs, or the appearance of “grinding” — setting the Whitelist level to something more achievable has helped encourage genuine engagement.
- The Pirate Crew — see photo below
The above WL options in combination with our earned server roles have proven successful thus far in building a tight knit and dedicated community. I’m excited to see how this community of ~2,000 members self-regulates and continues to foster authentic discussion as we approach numbers reaching 20,000+
The Pirate Crew — The importance of our Boatswain
At the forefront of our authentic community growth is our Boatswain. While the moderator team consists primarily of our core team members, our Boatswain are equally available in general chat have gone above and beyond in helping to grow this fantastic community.
I should also point out that being a Boatswain means having more direct involvement with our project and our team. The boatswain often act as a sounding board for new ideas, whether in relation to our art, metaverse, or game. They saw many of our animations, the cybernetics, additions to the roadmap, armada, as well as knew about our token before any of it was officially announced. Post mint, holders of the Boatswain role (or above) will be the first to Beta test any new products, as well as any additional utilities we believe will reinforce the value of our Pirate Crew.
One final thought: I encourage any builders in this space to consider inspiring small groups within your community to help you achieve your common goal. If you treat them with the respect they deserve for offering their time and commitment, I can almost guarantee they’ll help you build a community as equally committed to your project.
