Five lessons from learning to thrive in uncertain times — I would not describe my career as ‘waterfall’. There’s no calendar or longterm map for where I go next beyond a set of guiding principles and a desire to build communities. I am constantly doing the next right thing based on the information I have at the time. This is…

How Twitter is losing psychological, brand, and worker safety by replacing a CEO with a “Chief Twit” — It’s happened. Elon owns Twitter. And the feeling I feel most strongly is an overwhelming sense of, “Damn. That sucks.” As someone who likes Twitter, it sucks. As a member of a marginalized community, this absolutely sucks. …

From chronological streams to open source algorithms, you’d be guaranteed to have a much worse time. — So. Listen… at this point in the saga, Elon appears to be more interested in wrecking Twitter than purchasing it. Maybe he’ll never purchase it. Maybe he will. …

What does “free speech” mean to someone like Elon, and how will it affect your experience on Twitter? — I don’t have to tell you what just happened. If you’re reading this, you know. …

by Googlers Carter Gibson (Internal Community Programs Lead) and Max Saltonstall (Cloud Developer Storyteller) — What does community mean in the middle of a crisis that’s isolated us all so profoundly from each other? What happens to company culture when a physical community isn’t around to support it? That’s what Google — already well-known for its rich, open culture, and creative office spaces that enable…

What happened to Pornhub eventually happens to any growing platform without proper community investments. But, in a twist, is it leading the pack now? — Pornhub just nuked millions of pieces of content from its site without warning. All content uploaded by an unverified profile was removed. This followed after Visa and Mastercard refused to process payments for the company after a whole bunch of illegal (and disgusting) content was discovered on the site. The…

The reasoning for — and challenges of — expanding online verifications beyond notable figures. Yesterday, Twitter shared that they would relaunch their verification applications in early 2021. Some time ago, users could request a verified badge, but it was removed. As it’s coming back, Twitter asked users to provide feedback…

Competent communities can thrive in spite of pandemics, racial tensions, natural disasters, and political fervor — but not all succeed — Just when we thought we couldn’t be any more reliant on our screens, phones, and keyboards, they became the only ways we had to communicate with each other. Chat rooms formed. Friend groups picked the one unlucky person who could best schedule video calls. Engagement on hobby forums exploded. Brands…

Making the case for more specific guidelines and justifying the extra effort to define them — This post will explain, by deconstructing examples I’ve seen throughout my career, why simplicity can be the enemy of welcoming communities. Community Managers (CMs) are often on the receiving end of feedback describing how guidelines or rules are unclear or unfair. A reasonable solution could be, “Well then let’s simplify.”…