# Audience vs. Community: What’s the Difference? | Blog
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/audience-vs-community-what-s-the-difference-blog/218577
**Category:** Blog
**Created:** [February 17, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/audience-vs-community-what-s-the-difference-blog/218577 "2022-02-17T17:52:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@justin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/justin)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2022, 5:52pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/audience-vs-community-what-s-the-difference-blog/218577/1 "2022-02-17T17:52:55Z")
Audience and community are similar enough they basically seem to be the same thing. In reality, this is quite far from the truth.
* * *
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at [https://blog.discourse.org/2022/02/audience-vs-community](https://blog.discourse.org/2022/02/audience-vs-community)
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### Author:  [@Decorbuz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Decorbuz)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2022, 6:29pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/audience-vs-community-what-s-the-difference-blog/218577/2 "2022-02-17T18:29:53Z")
Yet again, you’ve knocked it out of the park! Great blog post! 👏
I’d love to see you make more of these comparisons. Your previous one was very wise (and I had nothing but good things to say about it)!
> [@How Social Networks Differ from Communities | Blog](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-social-networks-differ-from-communities-blog/217937):
>
> On the surface, a social network and an online community can appear very similar. They both bring people together to share and discuss in a digital context. But when you dig in, there are stark differences between these two. This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at [https://blog.discourse.org/2022/02/social-network-community](https://blog.discourse.org/2022/02/social-network-community)
> [@How Social Networks Differ from Communities | Blog](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-social-networks-differ-from-communities-blog/217937/3):
>
> This is extremely helpful (probably not in the way that was intended though). Trying to find the many differences between Discourse and social media isn’t as easy as one might think. Here’s a relevant topic. The algorithmically-sorted “feed” view is a major differentiator. It’s one of the defining features of most social media platforms. Discourse has a few similarities in that aspect, but it doesn’t really have anything that resembles a “feed” view, and in my opinion, that’s okay. blush
I’ll be using this comparison as yet another important resource for our project. Thanks again! 👍
> [@Using Discourse as a social media platform](https://meta.discourse.org/t/using-discourse-as-a-social-media-platform/202133):
>
> I’ve been pondering about this for a while now, but I’ve finally decided to get it off of my chest. Is Discourse customizable enough to be used as a proper (full-blown) social media platform? I’ve been dipping my toes into the world of start-ups lately. I have my own idea for a social network that combines the best of what brings people together online (more specifically, tech enthusiasts and people in the tech industry as a whole). While observing other social media platforms like Twitter and…