Community Creators with Shana Lynn

The Best Community Platform for Your Membership

7 snips
Mar 17, 2026
A practical roadmap for picking the right community platform. Short guidance on defining your community’s purpose before shopping features. How to separate must-haves from nice-to-haves and run a needs assessment for growth. Tips for vetting budget, integrations, company stability, and scoring platforms to choose fit over hype.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
INSIGHT

Platform Is Just A Facilitation Tool

  • A platform is only a tool that facilitates community, not the community itself.
  • Shana Lynn explains community equals the people and interactions, while platforms (Zoom, Facebook, Circle) simply host those interactions.
ADVICE

Start By Defining Platform Purpose

  • Define the platform's purpose before evaluating options so the tool aligns with activities like live teaching, hosting content, or topic engagement.
  • Shana Lynn lists use cases: live interaction, embedded content, simple engagement, or multi-tiered spaces for different member levels.
ADVICE

Run A Current And Future Needs Assessment

  • Do a needs assessment listing current and future requirements, then label features as must-haves or nice-to-haves to prioritize decisions.
  • Shana Lynn stresses planning for scale (e.g., 50 now vs 5,000 later) so future needs can break ties between similar platforms.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app