Building a community can indeed provide a moat. But–I find many companies/brands/creators profess to have community, when they really just have customers or followers.
To have a truly defensible community, I believe the following need to be present: high intentionality, P2P interactions, & UGC content.
Hallmarks of “real” community:
1) Intentionality: Members seek out the community as a destination, not just as part of a broader platform’s feed
2) P2P interactions: Strong engagement and ties between members
3) UGC content: Members contribute content vs. just engaging w/ what’s broadcasted to them
More thoughts on community: