Community Signal
Episodes
University of Zurich Researchers Conducted an AI Persuasion Experiment on Members of This Online Community, Without Consent
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In March, the volunteer moderators of the Change My View subreddit learned that researchers at the University of Zurich had been covertly conducting...
When Open Source Community Software is Bought by Private Equity
24 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When private equity buys online community platforms, who wins? What about if those platforms were built on open source software? Does the company cont...
When an Online Community Pro Retires
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rebecca Newton is a legend of the online community profession. After 30 years, she has retired. But what does it mean when we retire from this work? ...
Breaking: Online Community Consultant Discovers Brand New Concept (Again!)
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Online community consultants aren't unlike consultants for any other area of work. Some are ethical, smart, and talented, and some aren't. Consultants...
Kinks vs. Crimes and Gender-Inclusive Content Moderation at Grindr
01 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bodies aren't moderated equally on the internet. Content moderation efforts, especially those at large, mainstream platforms, can suffer from policy-b...
Safeguarding a Diabetes Charity Community and Knowing if You've Done the Right Thing
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Safeguarding is a term used in Ireland and the United Kingdom that covers efforts to protect the health, wellbeing, and human rights of people, especi...
Empowering Employee Resource Group Leaders With Your Internal Community Platform
23 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Employee resource groups (ERGs) can do a lot to create a greater sense of belonging at your organization. But the folks who volunteer to lead these gr...
The Chief Community Officer Hype Machine
09 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As we celebrate Community Signal's 7th birthday, Patrick takes questions from Community Signal listeners and supporters in this first ever "Ask Patric...
Elon Musk's Quest to Make Twitter Worse
21 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk's presence has loomed over Twitter since he announced plans to purchase the platform. And for these few weeks that he's been in charge, many...
When Community is on 3 Teams in 5 Years
24 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As Zendesk's customer base and product offerings have grown, so has its community. The Zendesk community started in 2008, under the support organiza...
Why Community on the Product Team Works, From a Product Leader's Perspective
26 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Recently, community pro Danielle Maveal joined Community Signal to discuss her experiences reporting into the product organization at Burb. In this e...
Lessons in Building Safe, Inclusive, and Functional Spaces for LGBTQ+ Folks
29 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you're wondering how you can more actively foster safety and belonging for LGBTQ+ folks in your online community, there's precedent to learn and bo...
The Pros and Cons of Community Reporting to Product
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Which team or leader does your community organization report into? And which would you like it to? Community teams can be successful as indep...
Bridging Continents and Countries in a Professional Association Community
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Do you manage an international community? How do you thoughtfully foster community across different continents, languages, and norms? Mercedes Oppon-...
When Companies Sponsor Their Employees to Contribute to Open Source Software
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
WordPress, the popular open source CMS, powers a reported 43%+ of the web, including this site. It is backed by a global community of contributors w...
The Disappearing News Media Comment Sections
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As the former director of community for HuffPost, where he led the management of an active, massive comment section, Tim McDonald has had a unique ...
The Community Management Jobs You Turn Down
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What are the reasons why you would voluntarily end the interview process for a community role? If you give it some thought, you'll probably come up wi...
Building Up Your Community Members, One Phone Call at a Time
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Is speaking one-on-one with your community members part of your community strategy? For Tosin Abari, when building paid professional communities, it'...
Making Room for the Next Generation of Community Professionals
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Which community leaders helped you grow as a professional? Who in the industry do you study from or reference? On the last episode of Community Signa...
Deepfakes in Your Community are Inevitable
21 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This conversation with Mohamed Mohammed, a community manager and a PhD student studying deepfakes, is timely. Just last week, a deepfake emerged att...
Providing a Safe and Functional Community for Cancer Survivors
07 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Online communities are can be essential for people impacted by illness. For those directly affected, their families, and support systems, these commun...
Leveling Up Your Community Team With Specialized Roles
21 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As community leaders, we're responsible for people. The people in our communities and the people that serve them. In this episode, Chris Catania, hea...
Misuse of Community is Endemic in Web3
07 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
By now, even if you're not super well-versed in the terminology of Web3, you've probably encountered some of the conversation around its relationship ...
Online Community Building Lessons From Collaborative Board Games
17 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time that you trusted your community with the responsibility of collaboration? In this episode of Community Signal, Matt Leacock s...
The Elder Scrolls Online Community, and the Power of Guilds
03 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What metrics and indicators of success are you, your colleagues, and community excited about for 2022? Whether you're hoping to better demonstrate the...
Bettering Health Outcomes Through Peer Support at Mayo Clinic
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Do you have a 60-second pitch for your community? In this episode of Community Signal, Colleen Young, community director for Mayo Clinic, raises the...
Embodying Work-Life Balance as a Community Professional and Manager
06 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are you able to step away from your community for days at a time? When you return, are your team and the community still running smoothly? If you answ...
Are You Gardening, or Are You Managing Waste?
22 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month, blogging pioneer Jason Kottke tweeted that "social media would be a better place to connect with people if the folks building a...
Cohort-Based Online Communities: Exploitation or Real Connection?
01 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you threw a random group of people together, united primarily by a shared educational goal that they can accomplish with or without the group, and ...
Building a Database of CSAM for AOL, One Image at a Time
18 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you work in content moderation or with a team that specializes in content moderation, then you know that the fight against child sexual abuse mater...
Shifting Revel, a Community for Women Over 40, from In-Person to Online Overnight
04 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As community practitioners, we often serve communities that we don't necessarily belong to. But how would you approach designing a community platform,...
How Telehealth Provides More Efficient Healthcare for Patients and Providers – and the Role Online Communities Can Play
20 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How did the pandemic impact your relationships with your healthcare providers? Did telehealth enable you to continue seeing or connecting with your pr...
While Making a Mixtape, Asher Roth Built an Online Community
06 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In between his three albums, rapper Asher Roth has released several mixtapes, including 2011's Pabst & Jazz and his The Greenhouse Effect series...
Here's How Anti-Vaxxers Are Spreading Misinformation Despite Your Best Moderation Efforts
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What moderation tactics have you used or seen as a mechanism to curtail the spread of misinformation in communities and on social media platforms? Wor...
Fostering Resiliency for Community, Moderation, Trust, and Safety Pros
09 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you mandated that your community, moderation, trust, and safety colleagues schedule time for out of queue activities? When was ...
What Makes an Online Community a Home?
12 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
May 21st, 2021 marked 20 years since the launch of KarateForums.com. In this episode of Community Signal, Patrick speaks with five forum members that...
Dismantling the Model Minority Myth and Fostering Safer Communities, One Conversation at a Time
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode of Community Signal, we're joined by community professionals Jenn Hudnet, Lana Lee, and Phoebe Venkat. They candidly share stories...
Helping Online Community Members Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Crisis Text Line offers free, 24/7 support via text message to anyone facing a mental health crisis. Some organizations partner with Crisis Text Line...
Whistleblower: Facebook is Allowing Dictators to Mislead Their Citizens
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, Sophie Zhang, a former data scientist at Facebook, went public as a whistleblower drawing attention to how the company delayed action a...
Why It's Harmful to Label Community and Community Pros as Underdogs
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you were designing a curriculum to teach undergrads about community management, what would you cover? Georgina Donahue's approach in designing su...
Lessons from Community Memory, the First Publicly Available Social Media System
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lee Felsenstein's work in tech and social organizing led to the creation of the Community Memory project, the first publicly available social media...
Creator Tools Drive Community Interest and Revenue for Old Call of Duty Games
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Zombies game mode within the popular Call of Duty video game franchise has created a massive community of fans and players who not only play a...
Building a Financially Self-Sustaining Community of Muslamic Makers
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In addition to practicing community management as a profession, many of the listeners, guests, and even members of the team behind Community Signal, m...
Holding Communities for Community Professionals to a Higher Standard
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The field of community management is buzzing. We have more tools available to us than ever before and an abundance of communities and resources to con...
Facebook's Australian News Ban Will Lead to Even More Misinformation
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and couldn't share any news articles on Facebook? How would that impact the communities that you manage or t...
Traumatic Weather Events and Climate Change Denial at Weather Underground
08 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What are the topics of discussion that you would expect to come across in a weather community? Storms, climate change, and forecast accuracy are part ...
Rewarding the Local Guides That Make Google Maps More Useful
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you have ever used Google to look up a restaurant you wanted to eat at or to research before visiting someplace new to you, you've probably depende...
Why Has Clubhouse Been Plagued by Trust and Safety Issues?
11 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you were building a community product, how would you start? Who would you choose as your first hire? What efforts would you make to ensure that the...
Fostering Inclusivity for Neurodivergent Community Members and Colleagues
21 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are many different categories of diversity and, as community practitioners, continuously learning about them and questioning our assumptions wil...
Managing a Community of Safety Professionals During a Global Pandemic
07 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This episode marks 5 years of Community Signal! If you tune in, you'll hear Patrick share a thank you for the incredible guests and collaborators that...
Can We Help These Experienced Community Pros Find Work?
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Community Signal, Patrick talks to four past guests of the show, Paula Rosenberg, Tim Courtney, Scott Moore, and Daniel Marotta...
The Community That Teaches Languages and Powers Duolingo
09 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As classrooms have gone virtual and people are spending more time online, Duolingo has seen an influx of students and educators on their platform. L...
Don't Miss One-on-One Meetings With Your Team
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At this point, we likely all know someone that has lost their job or had to make budget cuts because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There's a narrative in ...
Section 230 and the Freedom to Remove Objectionable Content
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Section 230 is a vitally important law for online community builders in the U.S. That's why we've consistently talked about it on Community Signal, an...
BlackPlanet's Founder on Building Impactful Platforms and Communities
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Let the people see what I have seen." This is what Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till, said when she insisted on an open casket funeral for her b...
Is Your Open Source Project Healthy?
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When you contribute to open source projects, Dawn Foster makes it abundantly clear that even if "you're there on behalf of [a] company, you need to ...
The Toll of Ageism and Abuse on Community Professionals
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Community Signal, we've spoken to several professionals that have left the industry for other pastures. While their reasons are never exactly the s...
Level Up Your Community with Amy Jo Kim's Principles of Game Thinking
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Amy Jo Kim's work building social systems and online experiences for The Sims, Rock Band, Ultima Online, and the New York Times, to name a few, ma...
Building Inclusive Communities, Workplaces, and an Inclusive Profession
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
If you're reading this, we're guessing that you are in the community management profession. Hi, how are you holding up? Between the COVID-19 pandemic,...
The Most Accessible Deserted Island Conference Ever
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How many virtual conferences and events have you attended recently? Now compare that to the amount of time you've spent playing video games during the...
Community Management Before Section 230, When You Had to Print Out Every Post
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has been a frequent topic of conversation on Community Signal. Its existence as we know it seems untena...
Facebook Promoted Divisive Content to Boost User Engagement
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For years, Facebook executives have persistently shut down efforts to make the site less divisive, according to reporting from Deepa Seetharaman a...
Trump's Executive Order is a Danger to Online Communities
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Black Lives Matter. As community professionals and hosts, we have the power to cultivate thoughtful spaces online. We serve communities and, if you're...
How HER Puts Its LGBTQ+ Community's Safety First
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People have gotten crafty when it comes to staying connected during this time of social distancing. Zoom calls with family and friends, Animal Crossi...
Building Community During a Pandemic at Pandora and SiriusXM
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We're several months into the COVID-19 pandemic and the daily loss of lives is still devastating and the longterm effects on our communities and socie...
Community Programs for Brands, Ambassadors, and Your Team
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nicholas Tolstoshev is talking programs. Brand representative programs, where brands pay you for access to your community. Ambassador programs, where...
Managing Communities of IT Pros and MMORPG Players
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every community has its own shared language and for the Spiceworks community, that shared language revolves around IT. Made up of IT professionals and...
How Online Communities are Responding to Coronavirus COVID-19
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We started recording this episode about a week before its release, and since then, coronavirus COVID-19 has continued to spread across the globe. News...
When Your First Day as an Online Community Manager is Your First Day at a Computer
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As community professionals, the array of platforms, reading material, conferences, and thought leaders available to us only continues to grow. And if ...
LEGO IDEAS and the Building Blocks of a Successful Crowdsourcing Community
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every company has the challenge of managing how to respond to customer feedback. But what if you're managing a crowdsourcing community and actively as...
Going From Shapeways to Northwestern Mutual
10 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Community pro Andrew Thomas was recruited by Northwestern Mutual while working at Shapeways. On this episode, he talks about what it's like to go ...
Applying Agile Product Management Principles to Community Management
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Shannon Emery manages both the external customer-facing and internal employee communities at Higher Logic. With so many tasks to manage and two disti...
From Engineer to Community Manager to Engineer to Community Manager
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As we've shared on many episodes of Community Signal, community professionals come from numerous career paths, educational backgrounds, and areas of i...
Threats to Section 230 Threaten the Very Existence of Our Communities
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is a frequent topic of conversation on Community Signal. As Patrick puts it, if you're a community pro...
Crisis Communications for Online Communities
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Data breaches, distasteful ads or marketing campaigns, offensive content left unmoderated for far too long… as community professionals, we've studie...
Moving a Community for Women Over 40 From Facebook Groups to a Paid Subscription App
25 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever Googled a medical condition or a new symptom that you've experienced you know that the search results leave much to be desired. When N...
Don't Let "Scale" Get in the Way of Good Community Strategy
11 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Communities are good for business, but are businesses good for communities? This question has come up on the show before, specifically when we spoke ...
Attention Verizon Media: Yahoo Groups Deserves Better
30 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month, Verizon Media, the parent to Yahoo, announced that users of Yahoo Groups had until October 28th to continue posting in their grou...
How Community is Funding the Fourth Estate in South Africa
14 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For communities that come with a membership fee, direct revenue might seem like the top benefit for your company. But the Daily Maverick's membershi...
The State of Community Management in Germany
29 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of Community Signal, community management consultant Tanja Laub gives a full report on what it's like to work as a community manager...
How Gaming Community Knowledge Translates to Other Industries
15 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On Community Signal, we talk to community professionals across all industries, from gaming, to healthcare, to photography, and more. And while our res...
Heather Champ and the Biggest Threats to Great Online Communities
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A few weeks ago, the Community Signal team was discussing the upcoming schedule for the show and talking about the then recent news that Ravelry had ...
The Loot Chest That Launched a Career in Community Management
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you work in games, social media, or community management, then you know that running any communications or programming around conventions like E3 a...
How Online Communities Can Disappear if Section 230 Gets Repealed
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How would the internet change if Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is repealed? For U.S.-based online communities and the professionals ...
Join for the Code, Stay for the Community
06 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When did you first realize that community management was an actual job? Many of the guests on Community Signal, including Patrick and this week's gues...
Building and Nurturing Atlassian's Community Leaders Program
22 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When Trello was acquired by Atlassian, Erica Moss went from being a team of one to a community manager with a supportive and specialized team. With...
How Front Porch Forum is Empowering the Citizens of Vermont
08 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For all of of the convenience and value that tech companies and platforms provide, we're also starting to see just how much they take away. In this ep...
The Sunset of Google Plus Communities and the Sunrise of a National Geographic Society Community
25 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If you're working on launching a new community initiative, there are so many case studies, tools, and knowledgeable community professionals to help yo...
Machine Learning by Communities, for Communities
04 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When was the last time you thought about that blank text field where members of your community can leave comments? That text field and blinking cursor...
Why Southwest Airlines Has an Online Forum
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
When you're booking your next flight and wondering about your in-terminal dining options or which seat will give you the best takeoff and landing view...
The Role of Credibility in Community Management
04 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
With a global network of content moderators, it seems that Facebook might be the largest employer of community professionals in the world. But even wi...
The Dark Side of Algorithms
21 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Major social media platforms are using algorithms in spite of the best interests of their users, says Bruce Ableson on this episode of Community Signa...
How Data and Teenagers Power the Future of Online Community
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018, a common thread across Community Signal conversations was knowing how to clearly communicate the success of community across an organization....
Threats to Section 230 Should Unleash the Political Power of Community Professionals
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Patrick and Scott Moore continue their conversation commemorating three years of Community Signal, touching on a topic that's important ...
Retaining Talented Community Pros and What Makes a Great Boss? (3 Years of Community Signal)
03 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Community Signal proudly celebrates three years of conversations with community professionals. We're taking this opportunity to talk to Pat...
How The New York Times is Building Thoughtful Comment Sections in the Trump Era
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Over the past few months, Patrick has spoken to several leaders in the world of journalism and for this episode, we're welcoming back Bassey Etim, co...
Build Something People Care Enough to Get Angry About
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Falls knows where your customers are talking. He's studied conversations for several years and, time and time again, he's shed light on an inco...
How Spotify's Rock Star Program Empowers and Rewards Community Super Users
22 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Spotify's Rock Stars are super users, officially recognized by the company and given tools, resources, guidance and perks for answering questions and...
News Membership as a Community Model
08 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Local newsrooms are tasked with representing their local communities and the issues and topics that matter to them. For that reason, it seems especial...
The Community Manager You Think You Can't Afford
24 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As community professionals, we have more tools than ever to help us do our jobs. That said, the qualities that make an online community and an online ...