Prophet, Priest, and King of the Crypto Community
The Marks of a Healthy Crypto Community, Part 6
What is a Community Manager?
Every good crypto project has a Community Manager, but very few understand what he does or why he exists. And it’s not only users who don’t understand; it’s rare for a CEO, Chief Marketing Officer, or even the Community Manager himself to understand the purpose of the job.
Many project leaders believe it’s the job of the Community Manager to grow the community. So they put the Community Manager in charge of social media. And while some Community Managers make excellent social media marketers, that is ultimately a distraction from their real job.
The purpose of the Community Manager is not marketing. It’s organizing, communicating with, and managing a community of users. Yes, a good Community Manager will cultivate a vigorous community that will naturally grow. But if the Community Manager is so focused on growth that he forgets his duties, he will fail his users.
Instead, the Community Manager has three main roles: prophet, priest, and king.
Prophet
Many people are under the impression that a prophet’s job is to tell the future. But it’s not. Instead, a prophet speaks to a group of people on behalf of God. This could be Moses walking down a mountain with the Ten Commandments or Calchas in the Iliad explaining why Apollo is angry with King Agamemnon. They both have a message to deliver.
Likewise, one of the most important roles of the Community Manager is being a prophet to the community on behalf of leadership. (I’m not saying that a crypto founder is God, but some of them do have large egos.) His job is to explain updates, new products, and decisions to the community. He needs to make everything clear and easy to understand. It can be a tough job when he’s the bearer of bad news, but it can also be a lot of fun when there’s a new and exciting update.
Priest
One of the main roles of a priest is to talk to God on behalf of the people. This could involve offering sacrifices, but it is always accompanied by prayer. This way, the people’s needs are brought to the divine.
One of the most important and overlooked jobs of the Community Manager is to present the needs of the users to leadership. Is the community unhappy with the product? The developers need to know. Is there a feature everyone is begging for? It needs to be brought forward.
This part of the role takes judgment and an understanding of the community.
Is this one loud person or widespread frustration?
Is the complaint legitimate?
Are users misunderstanding the product?
Is the product genuinely failing?
What are people afraid to say publicly?
Is there a requested feature that would actually solve the underlying problems?
But here’s the most important part. Leadership actually needs to listen to the Community Manager. If they don’t, then the users will not be heard, and the project will be flying blind.
King
A king rules a kingdom. He makes the laws and enforces them. He protects his subjects from invaders and is in charge of the safety of his country. Most of all, he leads the country and maintains the morale of his people. If he rules properly, the people thrive, but if he doesn’t, lawlessness prevails.
Here are the Community Manager’s kingly duties:
Setting the social laws of conduct for the community.
Enforcing the social laws of conduct for the community.
Protecting users from scammers and impersonators.
Leading the community and functioning as the “face” of the project.
The Need for Community Management
This series is called The Marks of a Healthy Crypto Community. It’s impossible to form and maintain a healthy online community without solid community management. But what’s scary is how common it is for community management to be completely misunderstood and undervalued. If a crypto project does not have a clear Community Manager, or if his role is muddled, it’s a red flag.
Ask yourself these questions.
How easy is it to know the direction the project is going?
How hard is it to bring concerns and complaints to leadership?
Is the community orderly and courteous, or is it the Wild West?
If any of these questions have a negative answer, then you should look more deeply into the project and make sure it truly has a healthy community.
A healthy community is important for the value of a token. And a wise Community Manager makes all the difference between a functional and dysfunctional community. So the next time you investigate a project, figure out whether it has a prophet, priest, and king.
Final Word
Who is the Community Manager for your favorite altcoin?
“A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.” — Jesus
Disclaimer:
The information in this publication is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research before making any financial decisions. Cryptocurrency investments carry risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. I actively invest and trade in the crypto markets, and my personal portfolio and holdings change frequently. Nothing I share should be interpreted as a guarantee of performance or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset.