Over the past few weeks, we have moved through the various ways you can show up in front of, with, and among your fans!
We started with Discovery Channels, where people first wander in. Then Ownership Channels, where you can live with stability. Then Intimacy Channels, where closeness forms and the relationship deepens. Community Channels sit differently than all of these.
Community is not about how fans relate to you. It is about how fans relate to each other.
This is what, in my opinion, makes a fandom really really strong.
So what’s a Community Channel?
Community Channels are the spaces where fans interact without you needing to be at the center of every exchange. They are built for participation, conversation, and collective identity.
Community channels can look like:
Discord servers
Reddit communities
Forums or message boards
Paid membership communities
Group chats
Book clubs, watch parties, or recurring events
In person meetups or fan gatherings
What defines a community channel is not the platform. It is the behavior. People are talking to each other. Referencing shared language. Creating inside jokes. Maybe even voicing their complaints about something the fan center/lore/ownership is doing or where it’s going.
Where community fits in the orbit
In the Orbit of Huge Fandom, Community Channels sit where I call connection and it’s where a lot of fan work takes place and it’s where people hang out. I believe it’s what forms a very healthy and robust fandom.
Community wants Discovery Channels to exist to bring people in. It appreciates the Ownership Channels for stability and a launchpad. And Intimacy Channels lead the way. “How do people interact here? What’s safe? Who’s leading this space?”
But it’s important to remember that community is its own thing.
Once a community is active, the world no longer depends entirely on you (the thing that the fans love). Fans show up for each other. The orbit sustains itself.
This can feel exciting and unsettling at the same time.
What community makes possible
When Community Channels are healthy, they unlock something special.
They allow fans to:
Find each other, not just you
Build shared language and rituals
Create meaning together
Feel a sense of belonging that is not transactional
Participate in the world rather than just consume it
This is often where fandom becomes visible as culture. It’s when people begin to identify themselves as part of something rather than just interested in it!
Why community is often romanticized
Community gets talked about as the ultimate goal. As if every creator or brand should eventually have one.
I don’t think that’s true.
Community requires stewardship, boundaries, and clarity around values and behavior. It introduces complexity, needs moderation, and asks for emotional labor.
Not every world needs a community channel. Some worlds thrive with strong ownership and intimacy and never move beyond that. Others grow communities organically without ever planning to.
Forcing community before the orbit is ready can backfire. Without a clear center, shared lore, or stable foundation, community spaces can feel empty or chaotic.
When community works
Community channels tend to work when:
The center is clear
The lore is shared
The tone is established
Boundaries are visible
Fans already recognize each other
When those conditions exist, community becomes less about management and more about momentum. A lot of things get called community because we want them to be. But community is not defined by access, payment, or proximity to a person or a creator or a character. A Substack or a newsletter or a membership is not automatically considered a community just because it’s gathered people together. It is defined by what happens between everyone else.
If the energy of a space flows only in one direction that doesn’t mean it is failing! It just means it is something else. Naming it correctly is often the first step toward building what you actually want.
Here are some questions to ask yourself if you’re wondering if you actually have a fandom ready for a Community Channel or if you even want that at all…
If you step away for a week, does anything continue to happen without you?
Are people mostly responding to you, or are they responding to each other?
Is participation driven by shared interest, or by access to you?
Do people in your fandom recognize each other by name?
Is there shared language or ritual that exists beyond your prompts?
Do fans identify themselves as part of something or simply as subscribers or members?
If a new person joined would they be able to observe culture or guidelines?
Are there opportunities for fan to fan connection…or only fan to creator access?
Is this actually an intimacy channel? and that is okay?
I had so much fun writing about all of this throughout December. And thank you to all of you who replied, asked questions, and helped me continue to investigate this amazing puzzle that is fandom! It’s been a really fun 5 months of Huge Fan and can’t wait to continue writing in 2026. I’ll be taking next week off. See you January!
