The Membership Blast — 032
Why the Internet Is Getting Smaller
Hey everyone,
Summer is finally here in Chicago.
I work completely remote, so it’s time to get outside and enjoy my community.
It got me thinking about something I’ve been noticing online lately.
The internet is getting smaller.
Now, obviously, that’s not literally true.
There are more people online than ever before.
But the places where people choose to spend their time are getting smaller.
And I think that’s one of the biggest shifts happening on the internet right now.
The old internet
For years, the goal was to gather the biggest audience possible.
More followers.
More subscribers.
More pageviews.
More reach.
Everyone was trying to build the largest community they could.
And for a while, that worked.
Facebook groups grew to hundreds of thousands of members.
Subreddits exploded.
Twitter became the town square.
Everyone was hanging out in the same handful of places.
The new internet
Today, people are moving into smaller spaces.
Instead of giant communities, they’re joining:
- Private membership websites
- Private Slack groups
- WhatsApp groups
- Discord servers
- Paid memberships
- Circle communities
- Niche Facebook groups
- Small Subreddits
The internet isn’t disappearing.
It’s fragmenting into thousands of smaller villages.
And honestly, I think that’s a good thing.
Why this is happening
Part of it is AI.
A year ago, content was valuable because it was hard to create.
Today, anyone can generate:
- blog posts
- images
- videos
- social media content
in a matter of minutes.
As content becomes abundant, something else becomes more valuable.
Connection.
People aren’t looking for more information.
They’re looking for real people.
People they recognize.
People they trust.
People who understand the same challenges they’re facing.
People are tired of the noise
Large platforms are great for discovery.
But they’re not always great for belonging.
In a community of 500,000 people:
- nobody knows who you are
- conversations disappear quickly
- trolls are everywhere
- everyone’s competing for attention
In a community of 500 people:
- people recognize your name
- conversations continue over time
- relationships form
- trust builds
That’s a very different experience.
The engagement myth
One thing I hear all the time from community owners is:
“Only a small percentage of members are actively participating.”
That’s normal.
In fact, usability researcher Jakob Nielsen popularized what’s known as the 90-9-1 rule, after observing participation patterns across online communities:
- 90% primarily consume
- 9% contribute occasionally
- 1% create most of the content
Most people don’t want to post every day.
They want to learn.
They want to observe.
They want to feel connected.
A member who never posts can still be getting tremendous value from your community.
Think about Netflix.
Nobody expects every viewer to create content.
Most people get value simply by consuming what’s already there.
Communities work the same way.
The goal isn’t to get 100% of members posting every day.
The goal is to create a place where the right people feel like they belong.
Even if only a small percentage of members are actively contributing, everyone benefits from the conversations, relationships, and knowledge being shared.
The best communities aren't for everyone
One thing we’ve noticed at MemberSpace is that the strongest communities are often the most specific.
Not:
“Fitness”
But:
“Marathon runners over 40”
Not:
“Dogs”
But:
“First-time golden retriever owners”
Not:
“Retirement”
But:
“People planning to retire within the next 5 years”
Not:
“Business”
But:
“Membership business owners”
The more specific the community, the easier it is for members to feel like they belong.
And belonging is what keeps people around.
One thing to think about
For years, the internet rewarded the people who could build the biggest audience.
I think the next decade will reward the people who build the most meaningful audience.
Not millions of followers.
Not hundreds of thousands of subscribers.
Just a few hundred people who genuinely want to be there.
And in many cases, that’s worth far more.
Good luck!
Marvin
Chief Growth Officer
MemberSpace