Authentic Tech Communities
Hey there! 👋
I’m a community guy and I decided that I’ll start sharing some thoughts about community because I truly love the topic and I feel grateful I always got a genuine interest about it.
I recently connected with a developer at Tropical On Rails whose journey perfectly illustrates what authentic tech communities are all about.
“TimescaleDB Slack is the first community I joined and I learned a lot from it,” he shared over coffee. Having first met at a PGDay event where he was already enthusiastic about our technology, our conversation naturally flowed through community building, development challenges, career growth, and inevitably, AI.
What struck me most was his appreciation for the accessibility—whether through office hours, Slack conversations, or conference interactions. These touchpoints had created genuine value in his professional development. Our discussion evolved into exploring leadership dynamics and effective communication strategies for technical decision-making. I found myself recommending books on Non-Violent Communication, one of many approaches that can help us develop greater self-awareness and more thoughtful interactions with others.
This exchange exemplifies what makes tech communities truly valuable—authentic connections that transcend transactional relationships and create space for meaningful growth. More than just being part of the same community, we’ve become friends—and that’s the real magic that happens when tech communities work as they should.
The Problem: Synthetic Communities
Let’s be real - we’ve all seen those “communities” that feel more like a marketing funnel than a place for genuine connection. You know the ones:
The ones that feel like they’re running on a forced engagement engine, where every interaction is measured, every contribution is gamified, and every conversation feels like it’s being pushed through a predefined funnel. These communities might look active on the surface, but they’re about as authentic as a puts "Hello, World!" in production code. They focus on metrics that look good in reports but fail to create real value for members.
The Solution: Authentic Communities
Behind every thriving community lies a simple truth: it’s about the human connection. As someone who’s spent years nurturing tech communities, I’ve learned that the most powerful moments happen in the spaces between the code - in the genuine conversations, the shared struggles, and the collective victories. I remember welcoming new members, not with automated messages or templated responses, but with real curiosity about their journey.
We’d have conversations that started with “What brings you here?” and evolved into meaningful discussions about their hopes, challenges, and dreams. These aren’t just checkboxes to mark or metrics to track; they’re the building blocks of trust and belonging that transform a group of individuals into a true community.
These authentic connections also create opportunities for members to shine in conversations where they have expertise or strong perspectives. When you genuinely know someone’s background and passions, you can naturally bring them into discussions where their voice matters most. I’ve seen quiet community members transform into engaged contributors simply because someone remembered their unique skills and invited them to share. This approach creates a virtuous cycle - people feel valued for their authentic selves, which encourages deeper participation and strengthens the community fabric.
2. Serve Your Community
This is something I’ve learned from my previous experiences in public speaking. The same principle applies to community building - it’s not about what you want to get out of it, but what you can give to others.
3. Community is Not for Sale
As I wrote in my previous post about community value, you can’t buy authentic community engagement. It’s like trying to gem install community - it just doesn’t work that way. Real communities are built through:
- Genuine interactions
- Shared experiences
- Mutual respect
- Actual value exchange
My Thoughts On Community Building
This is not a “Bro Driven Development”, and my intent is share what I’ve learned about building tech communities that actually work. No fancy code examples or complex frameworks - just human truths that stand the test of time.
1. Start Small, Think Long-term
Very cliche, but most vibrant communities I’ve been part of didn’t start with ambitious growth targets or engagement metrics. They began with a handful of people who genuinely cared about each other and a shared purpose.
Quality over quantity isn’t just a nice saying - it’s the foundation of community building. When you focus on creating meaningful connections between a small group of people, you establish the cultural DNA that will guide your community as it grows. The depth of these early relationships creates resilience that helps weather the inevitable challenges of scaling.
Remember: A community of 10 people who truly care is infinitely more powerful than 1,000 people who merely show up.
I’ve found that some of my most meaningful community moments have happened in intimate meetups with just a dozen people. These smaller gatherings create space for genuine connection and deep learning that’s often lost in larger conferences. Take the Brazilian PostgreSQL Association’s approach - by bringing PGDays to medium-sized cities, we’ve created more lasting impact than our flagship PGConf Brazil in São Paulo. These local events make technology more accessible and help build stronger regional communities that continue to grow long after the event ends.
In DevParaná, we created an initiative called “Dev Na Estrada” (Dev On The Road) where community members would travel to small cities throughout the region. We’d organize meetups, workshops, and talks to help local developers get excited about technology and connect with the broader tech community. This grassroots approach allowed us to reach places often overlooked by larger tech events, creating authentic connections and empowering local tech scenes to flourish on their own terms.
Want a bigger example? Look Rails Foundation.
2. Create Value First
Communities thrive on reciprocity, but someone needs to give first. As a community builder, that someone is you.
I’ve found that the most effective approach is disarmingly simple: be genuinely helpful without expectation of return. Share your knowledge freely. Solve problems for others. Create resources that address real needs. Build tools that make people’s lives easier.
When you consistently create value, you establish trust. And trust is the currency of community. People join for the value, but they stay for the relationships that form around that value exchange.
Let me share a recent example that illustrates this principle in action. I noticed a community member who was frustrated with TimescaleDB, expressing his concerns across multiple channels with a pessimistic tone. Instead of letting this negativity fester, I reached out and invited him to a one-on-one conversation. During our call, we didn’t just discuss his technical challenges with TimescaleDB - we explored how he could transform his frustration into constructive action. We talked about organizing his thoughts into clear benchmarks and POCs, creating standards for system design validation, and developing a micro-framework that could not only solve his immediate problem but potentially benefit the broader community. The result? A transformed community member who now actively contributes, feels a sense of belonging, and has found ways to align his business interests with community value. This is the power of taking time to understand and support individual community members - it often leads to unexpected positive outcomes for everyone involved.
3. Trust the Process
Community building is not a linear journey. There will be periods of exciting growth followed by quiet lulls. There will be passionate members who suddenly disappear and lurkers who unexpectedly become your most vocal advocates.
The key is to create the conditions for human connection and then have the patience to let relationships unfold naturally. Create safe spaces where people can be vulnerable. Remove barriers to participation. Lead by example in how you communicate and contribute. Maintain your values even when growth seems tempting.
And perhaps most importantly - resist the urge to manufacture engagement. Authentic communities can’t be forced; they can only be nurtured.
Real Talk: What Actually Works
After years of building and participating in tech communities, I’ve found that four principles consistently matter more than any tactic or tool:
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Autonomy: People need the freedom to participate in ways that feel natural to them. Some will lead discussions, others will contribute quietly, and many will simply observe until they’re ready for more. Honor these different modes of engagement.
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Authenticity: Be real. Share your struggles alongside your successes. Communities built on performative expertise quickly become stale and hierarchical. Those built on shared humanity become sources of genuine support and growth.
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Value: Every interaction should leave people better than it found them - whether through knowledge gained, problems solved, or simply feeling heard and understood. When value consistently flows, engagement follows naturally.
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Trust: This is the foundation everything else builds upon. Trust takes time to establish and seconds to break. Build it slowly through consistent actions, transparent motives, and genuine care for your members.
Moving Forward
The future of tech communities isn’t in forcing engagement or chasing metrics. It’s in creating spaces where developers can:
- Learn from each other
- Share real experiences
- Build genuine connection
- Grow together
Remember: The best communities aren’t built through brew|apt install or git clone. They grow through genuine connections, shared values, and a commitment to creating real value for all members.
One thing I’ve learned about developers is that we have a built-in BS detector. We’re immune to marketing speak and can spot inauthentic engagement from a mile away. When someone tries to sell us on a community with fancy metrics or forced interactions, we see right through it. That’s why authentic community building works so well with developers - we value substance over style, real connections over artificial engagement, and genuine value over marketing promises. This natural skepticism is actually a gift - it keeps our communities honest and focused on what really matters.
Want to learn more about community building? Check out my previous posts on serving your community and why community is not for sale.
Social Capital
As a community builder, the social capital of becoming a reference can also have a strong impact in your career. I feel so proud of all connections I’ve made in the community, helping folks from different industries and connecting with other humans behind the systems.
I’m proud of being a hacker, a human, and a person who truly loves and values human connection, independent of work or position. I’m grateful to work in a global role that exposes me to diverse world cultures, enriching both my career and personal objectives. This global perspective has taught me that authentic community building transcends borders and cultural differences - it’s about connecting on a human level.
Let’s build better tech communities together! 🚀 Remember, the social capital you build through genuine connections and ethical leadership will not only enrich your career but also create lasting positive impact in the tech ecosystem.
