On 2025-10-28T04:00:00Z, we gathered community experts @mcwumbly, @tobiaseigen, and @tris20 for a conversation about the “scaries” that creep into community management — the moments when engagement drops, metrics stall, or your top contributors vanish.
What Are the “Community Scaries”?
Remember, most dips aren’t disasters — they’re seasons.
“When engagement drops or your top members go quiet, it’s easy to panic. But most dips aren’t disasters — they’re just seasons. The real challenge is recognizing whether it’s a warning sign or part of your community’s natural rhythm.” — @danielle
Common “scaries” community managers face:
- Engagement suddenly drops and you can’t tell why
- Top contributors go quiet or disappear
- New members join but never post again
- Launch excitement fades faster than expected
- Metrics stall or start sliding backward
Key Takeaway: You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Track your baselines, without them, everything feels like a crisis.
Rethinking Metrics and Success
@mcwumbly shared a key insight: metrics are just stories in numbers.
“It’s easy to forget that a number is a reductive metric backing a story. Always ask if this metric still represents the story you want to tell.”
Advice for Community Leaders:
- Work backward from outcomes (what are you really trying to achieve?)
- Use numbers as conversation starters, not finish lines
- Revisit whether your metrics still tell the right story for stakeholders
Every Community Has Seasons
Not every dip is a death spiral.
- B2B communities: Lower frequency, higher quality engagement around reviews, renewals, or product launches.
- B2C communities: Spikes around campaigns, sales, and holidays.
- Support communities: Activity surges after releases or outages.
- Interest & hobby communities: Cyclical peaks around seasons or events.
Real Patterns From Real Communities
@tris20 illustrated this beautifully with real data from an internal engineering community of over 100,000 employees.
“We saw clear rhythms — a spike in January, a dip in summer, and a big climb in November. It took two years to really understand our seasonal patterns.”
Key Takeaway: Measure monthly, observe daily.
“You’ll get hot and cold days, but your months tell the real story.”
Sentiment and Soft Power
@tobiaseigen shared insights from managing the meta.discourse.org community, where tone and sentiment matter as much as numbers.
“AI can help track community sentiment, but don’t obsess over daily changes. Look quarterly to see whether the community’s tone is generally positive.”
He also emphasized soft power:
“Not every misstep needs a ban. Sometimes people just need gentle guidance. A little patience can save a lot of churn.”
Quelling the Scaries: Focus on Quality
To wrap things up, @tris20 reminded everyone of the long game:
“Quality is what brings people back. You can spam your way to numbers, but not to loyalty. Keep creating good reasons to return.”
Other final thoughts:
- Dave: Look for “lurkers who learn.” Silent readers still get value — and can be powerful advocates later.
- Tobias: Celebrate longevity. “Seeing someone reply to a five-year-old topic and find it valuable again — that’s magic.”
- Danielle: As an introvert and former lurker, “Smaller spaces or polls can make participation feel safer.”
Our Panel’s “Community Comfort Food”
We closed with a lighter question: What’s your community comfort food — the thing you check to calm yourself down?
- Tristan: “Jeff Atwood’s blogs. And advice from @hawk — moderation really is the most important thing.”
- Dave: “Old topics coming back to life.”
- Tobias: “Seeing community ideas turn into real product features — that’s my Christmas in July.”
Scaries Are Just Seasons
Communities breathe — they ebb and flow. The trick isn’t to avoid the dips, but to understand them.
Before you panic, know your patterns.
