Accumulation.
That’s something we are obsessed with in 2026.
We are told that the metric of success is the size of the crowd. We need more followers, more subscribers, and more eyes on our work. We treat human beings like data points, stacking them up to build a tower of influence.
But if you look closely at the creators and leaders who sustain their relevance over decades, they are rarely the ones with the biggest megaphones. They are the ones with the strongest tables.
They understand that there is a fundamental difference between an audience and a community.
An audience is a group of people watching a performance. They are passive. They are distant. They are there to be entertained, and the moment the entertainment stops, they leave. They are a crowd of strangers.
Building a community is different. Community is not about how many people are watching you; it is about how many people are walking with you. It is not about extraction; it is about contribution.
In 2026, the smartest move you can make is to stop trying to be a celebrity to millions and start trying to be a neighbor to a few.
The Loneliness of the Stage
The sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom distinguishes between thin and thick interactions.
Social media is designed for thin interactions. It is fast, low-stakes, and shallow. You can like a post from someone in Canada without knowing anything about their actual life. You can follow a writer for years without ever having a conversation with them.
This thinness is dangerous because it creates the illusion of connection without the support to back it up. You can have 10,000 followers and still have no one to call when you are discouraged. You can have a viral post and still feel completely invisible.
We chase the global audience because it feeds the ego. But as I argued in my manifesto on Local Relevance, width is not the same as depth. A wide audience is often just a mile of water that is only an inch deep. You cannot swim in it. You can only wade.
Community building is the antidote to this loneliness. It is the deliberate act of creating thick interactions in a thin world.
The Philosophy of the Circle
When we analyze the mechanics of building a community, the geometry changes.
An audience is a pyramid. You stand at the top, and everyone else looks up at you. It is a broadcast model.
A community is a circle. You might be the one facilitating the conversation, but you are standing on the same level as everyone else.
Community is heavy. It requires you to show up.
An audience consumes your value. A community co-creates value.
An audience is transactional. A community is relational.
This is where the concept of Local Relevance becomes critical. You cannot build a community in the abstract. You build it around a shared reality. For my readers in Nigeria, our community is forged in the specific, shared struggle of our environment. That shared context is the glue that turns strangers into a tribe.
7 Strategies for Shifting from Audience to Community
If you are tired of the hamster wheel of audience growth and want to start building a community that lasts, you need to change your operating system. Here are seven high-level strategies to make the shift.
1. Pursuing Singularity
Most creators fail at community building because they are too broad. They try to be everything to everyone. But a community cannot form around a generic idea. It needs a sharp, singular focus.
Instead of trying to appeal to “everyone interested in business,” pursue singularity. Focus on “ethical entrepreneurs in Lagos struggling with supply chains.” When you narrow your focus, you deepen your resonance. And one way to start is to bloom where you are planted. Specificity is the magnet that pulls the right people in and keeps the wrong people out.
2. Partitioning Your Expressions
We often fear that if we get too specific, we will alienate people. The solution is not to dilute your message, but to partition it.
Do not treat your entire output as one monolithic feed. Create distinct spaces for distinct sub-groups. You might have a broad newsletter for your general audience, but a specific Telegram group for your mentees. By partitioning your expressions, you create VIP rooms within your brand where deeper, more specific community building can happen.
3. Encouraging Lateral Connection
The most important metric in building a community is the direction of the connection.
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Audience: Connects vertically (they look up at you).
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Community: Connects laterally (they look at each other).
Your goal is to make yourself obsolete. You know you have succeeded when your community members become friends. Encourage this by highlighting member stories, creating discussion threads where they reply to one another, or hosting events where you are not the main speaker.
4. Moving from Broadcast to Dialogue
Stop treating your content like a press release. An audience is spoken to; a community is spoken with.
Ask questions that do not have easy answers. Admit when you are struggling with a concept. Invite pushback. The goal is not to be the guru on the mountain; the goal is to be the host of the dinner party. When you open the floor, you signal that their voice matters as much as yours.
5. Ritualizing the Connection
Communities are built on rhythm. An audience might check in randomly, but a community gathers at a set time.
This could be a Friday evening Twitter Space, a monthly Zoom prayer call, or a weekly check-in. These rituals create a sense of anticipation and safety. They turn a random group of people into a congregation.
6. Establish a Cost of Membership
This is counterintuitive, but effective. Community building requires a barrier to entry. If it is too easy to join, it means nothing to stay.
This cost does not have to be financial. It can be a commitment to a code of conduct, a requirement to introduce oneself, or a pledge to read a specific book. When people invest effort to be part of something, they value it more. A community with standards is a community with strength.
7. High-Fidelity Interventions
Finally, you must occasionally break the digital glass. Text is low-fidelity. Audio and video are high-fidelity. In-person is the ultimate fidelity.
To solidify your community, you need to facilitate moments of high-fidelity connection. If you have been writing to an email list for two years, host a physical meetup in Lagos. If that is not possible, host a live video call where people turn their cameras on. These moments of realness cement the bonds that text began.
The Metric That Matters
An audience can make you famous, but only a community can make you fulfilled.
So, take the pressure off. You do not need to win the internet. You just need to serve your people. Start building a community today, right where you are, with the people who are already listening.
Which of these seven strategies are you currently using? How are you moving from a passive audience to an active community? Let’s discuss in the comments.
