Welcome to the May edition of BlockchainGamer.biz’s regular Mavens group. If you’d also like to join the discussion, please contact [email protected]
Recently, platforms like X (former Twitter) has been trying to inhibit the use of bot accounts and social farming as it’s lead to abuse and spamming. Nevertheless, a growing number of web3 games have relied on this tool in their marketing. We asked our blockchain gaming Mavens:
With the ability to grow audience with social farming likely to be hit by changes to X, what’s your best advice for projects looking to grow back their community in the coming months?
Jacobc.eth – Co-founder, HyperPlay
We’re glad to see X making changes prioritizing quality content creation over engagement farming. We think this will benefit quality game projects over those that are engaged in spammy content creation to promote low-quality projects. Grassroots content creation is a super effective method for developing community interest and engagement. Focusing on high-quality content creation allows projects to connect with long-term organic audiences that are passionate about real content, as opposed to casting a wide net with low-quality engagement in the long term. Projects can begin to learn and understand the specific needs of their community and identify what resonates most with them.
In today’s world, where users are frequently bombarded with advertisements on almost all platforms they engage with, it’s paramount to increase representation and amplify the average person’s voice. A lively, growing community can only be fostered by prioritizing the end user’s input above all. This approach allows projects to build genuine relationships with their respective communities, achieving fortified brand loyalty and organic user growth. At HyperPlay, we are heavily focused on fostering community between game developers, content creators, and players. An authentic community will inevitably tie into delivering a better experience for all. This includes addressing the dire need to end censorship and enhance game quality by prioritizing feedback from developers, players, and web3 enthusiasts alike.
Canaan Linder – Founder and CEO, Stardust
All media, particularly the internet, is a form of clickbait. Published headlines have long been half-true and intended to incite a reaction. Engagement farming is not synonymous with botting. There are plenty of X users – people and companies – who ask questions in good faith for audience input and opinion. As a B2B company, Stardust is genuinely interested in what other companies and potential users are thinking about and motivated by. We use these tools with integrity for a purpose: to grow a steadfast community of collaborators. It takes time, but it ultimately grows a community worth stewarding.
A trusted company or brand should focus primarily on connecting with their users organically. By providing relevant insights and content (rather than bad jokes or reposting memes) on their social channels, they are less likely to lose their audience. Quality users can easily spot ploys for engagement, so by continuing to stay on topic, we avoid community disservice or mismanagement.
Rebecca Liao – Co-founder and CEO, Saga
When it comes to community building, there is no substitute for engagement, an authentic voice and finding your audience. All these are critical components of any healthy social media campaign, but they take much longer than social farming. In order to get those big bursts of engagement, aim to host virtual events and partner with influencers and content creators to elevate your story and brand. Frequency of engagement matters as well: projects should look to release only the most important news or content from their main handles, but activate your community to post as often as possible.
Carlos Roldan – CEO, Elixir Games
Social farming has been a popular tool for growth because it leverages two key aspects of the web3 community: the look for financial incentives and the rapid, concise communication style favored by Twitter users. However, with or without restrictions, the landscape always evolves, and adaptation is crucial. One constant is delivering true value to your users through quality products and involving them in your vision, which always fosters genuine engagement.
Once established, focus on increasing reach through your channels, collaborating with community leaders and partners to amplify your message, and being there for your community. They are your most important asset. Emphasize transparency and trust by showing progress and ensuring members feel heard. A resilient and engaged community leads to sustainable, compounded growth.
Ben Cousens – Chief Strategy Officer, ZBD
If you provide real value and are consistent in interacting with your community, it will grow. Growth hacks like social farming might work in the short term, but I don’t think this was ever a good way to foster a truly engaged community. I’d rather have 10k hardcore fans than a million semi-interested people who only came to capitalize on an airdrop. At ZBD, we prioritize building our community steadily and organically, and are focused on driving people to our Discord. The result is a highly engaged and positive (or at least not toxic) space that focuses on fun and discussion more than just rewards. Though, showering people with tiny amounts of Bitcoin through our Discord bot certainly helps!
Christina Macedo – Co-Founder and COO, READYgg
We now see a distinct shift from audience numbers to the depth and richness of user interactions. Projects can now share longer posts, enjoy greater reply prioritization, and experience fewer adverts, which can foster dynamic engagement, offer genuine value and foster a dedicated community. But it’s important to recognize the backdrop of this change — a significant drop in daily active users and a struggle against rivals like Instagram and TikTok.
For community growth in this new era, I’d suggest a twofold approach. First, focus on quality over quantity. The value lies in cultivating deeper, more meaningful interactions with the community; sharing detailed insights, telling compelling stories, providing real value that resonates with the audience on a deeper value. Second, amplify presence with the enhanced features. With priority replies, engage more dynamically with community feedback; this builds a loyal following that feels heard and valued.
The recent changes also present a unique opportunity to innovate how we think about tokenization in community building. The idea of ‘social farming’ — where engagement directly translates into value— can be reimagined. Think of tokenization not just as a financial tool but as a way to deepen community ties. As users engage with content, their interactions could help steer the project’s direction, making every like, comment, and share part of the decision-making process.
Mike Levine – Founder, Mystic Moose
Growing an engaged community includes the intersection of two key components: fostering a community you want to be part of, and creating value for that community. It’s also very important for a game to attract “high quality” users who care about their product vs other incentives alone.
Setting a spotlight on your most valued community members through community creator programs, designing UGC (User-Generated Content) campaigns, continued engagement and a strong feedback loop, are only a few of the fundamental building blocks to setting you up for success to grow your community.
Creating additional value for your community varies greatly depending on the kind of community you’re trying to build. Driving focus to your games keeps the focus on high quality users.
Outputting high quality content that reaches your target audience is key: once that audience will have found value in your content, they will be more likely to share it and get an exponential growth curve going.
Alexander Goldybin – Founder and Chairman, iLogos
It’s important for blockchain gaming projects to adapt their community-building strategies. Start by spreading your engagement across various platforms like Discord, Telegram, Reddit, and decentralized social networks to lessen the impact of X’s new policy. Strengthen community bonds by hosting regular events, encouraging user-generated content, and maintaining open communication. Additionally, offering rewards and referral programs can keep current members active and attract new users, fostering an engaged community despite the changes on X.
Quinn Kwon – Head of web3 strategy, Delabs
Fortunately, the monetization of X is planned to be targeted towards new subscribers. The intention behind this decision was to filter out malicious and fake comments triggered by indiscriminate replies from new subscriber bots. Therefore, if these sanctions are applied only to new subscribers, current users of X will not immediately face any sanctions. Since most gamers using web3 games also possess Twitter (X) accounts, the short-term impact on the game seems negligible in this regard.
Given the significant shifts in X’s policies over the long term, it becomes essential to explore alternative communication platforms like Discord and Reddit to foster a stable web3 community. Delabs Games has adopted a multi-tool approach to community engagement, exemplified by our Discord channel, which has amassed over 46,000 members since its inception in March 2023.
Ultimately, the most important aspect for community activation is to deliver messages that instill trust in the community.
For instance, Delabs Games actively engages with the community through various activities, such as AMA sessions, to consistently clarify our vision and goals to stakeholders. Beyond merely disseminating information, we prioritize our community by offering additional bonuses and in-game items to our NFT holders upon the launch of new games.
Platforms like Twitter and Discord serve as invaluable tools for community interaction, with the understanding that the most effective means of conveying core messages may evolve over time. Delabs Games always approaches communication from the perspective of maximizing community benefits.
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