What can you do to help your favourite blockchain projects and their communities grow and improve?

Anyone who has been looking at ICO’s at all over the last year has probably been involved in the occasional chat on Telegram or other popular social media. You will have also probably noticed that questions along the lines of, “When moon?” or “When 3X?”, “When 5X?”, or “When 10X?” get asked about every third line of conversation, streaming past your eyes as you scroll back up to scrounge for the rare meaningful comment or question.

Often met with sarcastic responses of “in two weeks”, GIF and emoji spam, or outright dismissal and venomous disdain, the community discussion can be severely lacking. Yet, sprinkled amongst these gamblers’ questions and banal debates are a few real questions and answers that actually focus on what’s more important; the project itself.

It’s true. Mob mentality is rife in social media and tends to get a little out of control. So here’s the challenge: it’s time to get past the “When moon?” questions and focus on supporting your projects and the communities that have sprung up around them.

How do we do this?

It does take a bit of work to truly support your favorite blockchain projects in social media. But there’s an easy place to start: asking good questions. Put aside the “When do I get my lambo?” questions for a while and make an effort to get down to the real material. The questions don’t all have to be positive either. Blockchain projects with real potential should be able to withstand scrutiny with constructively critical questions and discussions.

Questions about roadblocks, design flaws, difficulties, as well as advantages and disadvantages are all worth discussing and will build the community, if addressed with respect and with an effort to listen and learn. And that really is the key: Listening. There really is no better way to build a community than to start with a willingness to listen.

Help by answering questions

On the flip side, you might be the first representative of a blockchain project to a new user entering your Telegram or WhatsApp group chat for the first time. As they scroll through the spammed images and “When Binance?” questions, you can be the welcoming voice that engages them in their first learning experience with the project. Help by explaining the basics of the project, its goals, its value proposition, and so forth. Share about problems or barriers that the project is facing. Be willing to point out issues and to look at both sides of the issues with them.

And don’t forget!

Listen.

Keep an open mind

For a project to really be successful, it has to have a great community. And a great community needs members who understand the project and the decisions it might be facing regarding problems and possible solutions. As a participant in a project’s Bitcointalk or Reddit forums, be open to the possibility of someone changing your mind if they make a good point. Take off blinders, open your eyes and ears, and be willing to accept different views and ideas.

It’s not easy to resist that deep human instinct we all have — fight or flight — digging in your heels or angrily dismissing a challenge when someone makes a point that is counter to your perspective. But a habit of self-discipline will make you more knowledgeable and able to have a worthwhile discourse that can be constructive and improve the community.

Not only that, you will create an atmosphere that is inviting to new users who might not have bought in yet, but are visiting the community to get a feel for the landscape.

Ultimately, your positive efforts will bring in more investment and interest to your favourite projects, building the project’s community and getting the word out about its potential.

That is what we all want, after all, isn’t it?

Author: Darren Klein.

For more information about EnergiToken and its energy-saving reward scheme, please visit www.energitoken.com, follow on Twitter at @EnergiMine or join the Energi Mine Telegram group.