A Quick Reminder Not to Ghost Your Community

Ghosting—it’s not just for relationships.

Let’s get serious for a minute. I wrote an article for The Muse about a decade ago, where I talked about getting ghosted on the job search. (If you’re unfamiliar with the term: ghosting is where you’re in touch with someone, and they disappear completely—they “become a ghost”).

What struck me about the comments and the social shares for that article was that people remembered the company, the hiring manager; their memories were vivid and they had a negative sentiment.

Content creators—and if you create thought leadership to build community as part of your business model I’m talking to you. There’s a lesson here.

If people feel good hearing from you, learning from you, and checking in with you, and you disappear; that’s not going to feel good for them. They're going to go find someone else because they think you don't care anymore. And they’ll like you less for disappearing than if you’d never nurtured the relationship in the first place.

People get busy. Platforms get annoying (especially right now). But there are things you can do to make your community still feel cared for. The first thing is to tell them if you’re moving to a different primary platform. (Don’t post once and assume they’ll find you in your new home).

The second thing is: tell them more. Why are you moving or taking a break? Ideally, they’ll feel like they're part of the decision process as your valued community member—and least they’ll feel not forgotten.

You took the time to build a community on a platform; this is your reminder to keep nurturing it.