Challah, Head Cha-La
There's a contingent of people who believe growth is essential to communities; that removing barriers to entry and encouraging communities to be flexible and approachable with onboarding new members are tantamount to other priorities.
This viewpoint is deeply corporate and tends to come with a hint, if not an outright statement, that stagnation of growth spells death for the community.
Challah, Head Cha-La
Communities should start small and strive to remain small. Growth should be something done opportunistically or with immense due diligence and patience. Barriers to entry are not bad. They are safety mechanisms. Telling people they need to turn off their safety mechanisms makes you sound like a fucking cop.
Challah, Head Cha-La
Communities are more powerful when resources are widely available. Growth in membership without growth in resources usually puts strain on access and causes members to become disengaged from the group because their place within the group has been commoditized.
Challah, Head Cha-La
I don't buy a lick of it. I think it's hooey. I think people, especially queer people, who think communities should be growth-centric represent a quiet threat to the safety of the people they claim to be concerned about.
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