It’s a virtual space where people can interact with one another and the content created by the host or other members. Community platforms promote meaningful discussions around shared beliefs, concerns or interests.

You are probably a member of several Facebook Groups, and the community platform is very similar to them. The major difference with a community platform is it is a branded owned space, free of any social media noise, algorithm changes and regulations.

There are two types of community platforms, the “owned” platform and the “free” platform.

The free community platform is a product owned and controlled by a third party. Examples include Facebook, Quora and LinkedIn. These companies allow you to set up groups within their parent app, and because it’s free you agree to abide by their terms of use. The primary goal of social media companies is monetizing their traffic and data in different ways, that are not always (to say the least) inline with what is best for your community.

The owned community platform is, in some ways, similar to the giant social media platforms your members are already familiar with. A community platform like Disciple has a familiar look and feel to it. As such, when communities transition from other platforms to Disciple, members are not disorientated and confused. That type of familiarity is important when it comes to retaining members.

Similar, but not the same. The fundamental difference between an owned online community as the platform provided by Disciple and a platform such as Facebook is your Disciple community is owned by you. You determine the feature set, you determine how the community is monetised, and you set the moderation rules.

The best community platforms provide features and functionalities that make it fun and easy for members to share and post user-generated content. as a result, people are bound to build stronger relationships. When people are engaged in certain topics and have a variety of different ways to communicate with one another, they’re more likely to support the community as a whole.
When these kinds of features are available on a community platform and successfully implemented, people will not only sign up with enthusiasm, but they’ll also be sure to stay engaged and want to keep returning to your platform to regularly check in with your community.
When you have a thriving, engaged community you can turn your passion into profit in various ways, using a community platform. Disciple, for example, offers you the chance to use subscriptions, in-app purchases, sponsorships and more (read more on our features page).

When choosing a community platform your primary concern has to be creating and nurturing long term relationships with followers, fans or customers. You need ways to draw them in, keep them engaged, give them a sense of belonging and promote beneficial discourse.
Creating and nurturing an online community is hard enough without some invisible oversight committee making arbitrary decisions regarding user generated content, monetisation, the appearance of your space and more.