Growth Should Small Communities Focus on Competing with Big Players?

[Cpvr]

In a world dominated by big players, small communities often face the dilemma: should they compete directly with established giants or focus on building something unique?


What are the pros and cons of challenging larger platforms? Can smaller communities thrive by offering a personalized experience, niche content, or tighter engagement? Or does competing with big names always lead to burnout?


What’s your take on how small communities can grow and succeed in today’s competitive landscape?

 

[Arantor]

You can’t realistically challenge Facebook on its terms. Neither X, Bluesky or any of the others. Or Reddit for that matter.

Simple reason, they have spaces for every kind of discussion under the sun. Same reason that a mom & pop shop, as you could call one, can’t compete with Walmart on range of goods because Walmart has everything. And it would be a mistake to try because you can only spread yourself so thin without serious backing which none of us have.

So the question becomes how you combat that. In an age where we are surrounded by Walmarts and Amazons, the only winning strategy is to offer something they don’t.

Pick a subject, a niche to specialise in. Have information, resources etc that the Walmarts and the Amazons don’t. (Or, I suppose, the Facebooks and the Reddits.)

Case in point, I’m a member of a Discord that generally focuses on the adventure games by Sierra back in the day. We have, as a collective resource, the accumulated knowledge of some fiercely knowledgeable people, and we collectively know things that are largely unknown elsewhere. It is a community rich in lore that you cannot find elsewhere. Unfortunately its on Discord.

When I say this, let me give you an example. Someone for giggles found the engine that lets you run, say, Space Quest I on the Game Boy Advance, and played it, and found a few bugs. The bugs were in the “huh, that’s interesting” category. Within a few days the community had gone over the 20-year-old GBAGI engine, found the bugs and patched them. Mostly for no reason other than because they could.

You’ll never find that kind of interaction on Facebook because the odds of getting the cumulative level of knowledge together in one place in a medium designed for transient engagement are simply too low.

 

[Nomad]

I am against competing with any other communities, either big or small. Instead of being in competition, you should actually, utilize their member base, yo would use other forms to advertise your forums, and bring their members to your community as well. You don't benefit much for being in a competition with another forums, you will benefit more if you partner with them, or be in friendly terms

 

[fdk]

I don't think it's a sensible idea for smaller communities or forums to attempt to take on "big players" in the space. Simply put, you're risking "poking a bear" essentially and causing problems for yourself. This was relatively common 10-15 years ago among admin/webmaster forums, so much so that some sites began banning the advertising of competing sites... it got to a ridiculous situation, honestly!

Rather than attempting to compete with forums/websites that are far outside of your activity levels, I'd focus on producing more quality content for your own site, to hopefully engage new members and make them more likely to stick around into the future. Running a forum, or any kind of website really, is a long game - it's very rare for a website or forum to explode and be massively popular from day one. It takes a lot of effort, a lot of time, a lot of relationship building and a keen eye for details that others miss - so obviously, it's not for everyone. But running your own successful forum is an extremely rewarding experience for sure.

 

[Ravenfreak]

In this day and age, I don't think smaller forums should compete with bigger platforms. First off, most people prefer to use these platforms and will not budge and use forums. Back when Reddit decided to charge for their API and many subs went black to show support to the third party app creators, I made the comment "well everyone could have just used forums when Reddit was down" when r/casualconversation came back online and I had people tell me they didn't want to join multiple different forums when they could just get all the information they wanted by having one Reddit account and easily joining new subs with the press of a button. I did mention Proboards which has a global account, but you still need to individually join different forums. Case in point, it's better to focus on flourishing your small community rather than trying to compete with bigger ones.

 

[CTS]

I think a small forum should just try to be the best that they can be for their members.
Let the competition chase you when your membership gets big enough.
Till then it just doesn't look good imo when you proclaim you are the best or better, when you are not.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I don't think it's a very good idea.

When a small entity competes with a very large one, it becomes overwhelming exhausting. That's because you have so much to compete with; instead of competing with something that will feel like it's always beating the %$#@ out of you, why not compete with similar-to-yours communities?

If you can beat or gain something over a community about as big as yours or a slight bit bigger, that's going to make your day. It'll be easier than competing with the biggest thing out there, as well.

BUT.

Definitely keep an eye on the biggest communities. Watch what they do. Conduct quarterly SWOT analysis on them. You can learn a lot from the big dogs and apply it to your own community.

 

[InMyOpinion]

This is such a great topic, and honestly, I think small communities have a real shot at thriving if they focus on what makes them unique. Competing with the giants head-on? That’s a recipe for burnout. They have the budget, the reach, and the algorithms working in their favour. But what they don’t have is that personal touch, the tight-knit engagement, and the ability to truly listen and adapt to what their community wants.


I’ve seen firsthand how frustrating it can be trying to navigate big platforms just to stay connected with like-minded people. That’s why I love smaller communities—they feel more human. If a community carves out its own space with niche content, meaningful discussions, and an actual sense of belonging, people will keep coming back.


The challenge is definitely getting noticed and keeping the momentum going, but I think the key is consistency, word-of-mouth, and giving people a reason to stick around. At the end of the day, it’s not always about size—it’s about impact.

 

[Cpvr]

This is such a great topic, and honestly, I think small communities have a real shot at thriving if they focus on what makes them unique. Competing with the giants head-on? That’s a recipe for burnout. They have the budget, the reach, and the algorithms working in their favour. But what they don’t have is that personal touch, the tight-knit engagement, and the ability to truly listen and adapt to what their community wants.


I’ve seen firsthand how frustrating it can be trying to navigate big platforms just to stay connected with like-minded people. That’s why I love smaller communities—they feel more human. If a community carves out its own space with niche content, meaningful discussions, and an actual sense of belonging, people will keep coming back.


The challenge is definitely getting noticed and keeping the momentum going, but I think the key is consistency, word-of-mouth, and giving people a reason to stick around. At the end of the day, it’s not always about size—it’s about impact.

Taking a deep dive into what made larger communities thrive could be valuable. Studying their early days, their growth strategies, and how their discussions evolved over time can provide useful insights for building your own community.


Smaller communities have a unique charm, but there comes a point where growth is inevitable. The real question is: do you try to maintain a small, tight-knit space, or do you embrace growth while preserving what made the community special? Keeping the core foundation intact is key,this ensures that even as the community expands, it still feels like home.


As long as you stay true to what made the community great in the first place, it will continue to do just fine.