The Sense of Community - That's why DeepOnion will dominate

In the last weeks, I read a lot of great articles about the technical facts and developments of our project.
But in this article, I will focus on the “human” aspects and provide a more psychological view why DeepOnion is definitely a community- based coin and therefore successful.

Currently, our community counts 12,846 members and I'm sure that this number will increase even more while writing this article. That's a big number already and the best part is that we are constantly growing. But you shouldn't take this for granted because this growth is not a coincidence. I believe it is based on 4 key factors or more specifically on a concept called “The Sense of Community”
I will explain this concept quickly and at the same time, I'd like to show you how the project already implements those things. Moreover, if you are not part of the community yet you might want to become a member soon.

“Sense of community is a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together (McMillan, 1976).” That is basically the definition of my concept.

Let's introduce the 4 key factors:

1. Membership – of course, this seems to be obvious. However, what does it actually mean to be a member of a community like DeepOnion?
   First of all, everyone can become a member of the DO community by just signing in. But that's not everything. If you want to be a real part and get the sense of community you have to give something back, knowledge, creativity, pieces of advice... No need to be an expert in all these things, just be true to yourself and think about helping others.
   Do you get it? It is a personal investment rather than a financial one.

2. Influence – this can be explained in one sentence: it is the concept of giving first before asking for anything.
   The bounty system is a really good example. You create something of value like a video, an article, a translation and you get onions in return. Besides that, if you are a member you have all this videos, articles and information for free.
   Another good example for “influence” is the upcoming feature VoteCentral. Members get the opportunity to cast their vote for decisions and therefore the community has a big say. I truly believe this will even create a stronger community spirit.

3. Integration and Fulfillments of Needs – that means that when you join a community you should always get what you hoped for. Or in other words: your membership should also make it worth your time and contribution.
   Rewards are again a good example of it but that does not necessarily mean earning onions. If you post something helpful/interesting or funny on the forum you will get likes or at least other people will react to it. That's another way of recognition and a very important fact in my opinion.

4. And finally : Shared Emotional connection – you might wonder about this aspect since we talk about an online community here and we roughly know any personal information about the users we're dealing with – so how could there be any emotional connection involved?
   Well we might not know personal details of each member but there is one element that creates a strong connection – it is the project itself: DeepOnion.
   There were and will be good and bad times for this aspect, for example when the market goes up or down. We have an interest in this project and therefore we all share similar experiences and of course, in that case, we also share emotions.

So these were all the key factors for a strong and powerful community and as you can see: DeepOnion fulfills all of them. So if you want to become a member and benefit personally from it, you ' re welcome. Always remember the first key factor: You can expect the best if you're willing to give.