How to read a community before you post in it
Every community has a published set of rules and an actual set of rules, and they are never the same. This is how to find the second one before you spend a launch on the first.
You can run this on a Slack, a Discord, a forum, a subreddit or a Facebook group. It takes about ten minutes and it will save you from most of the ways this goes wrong.
The five questions
1Who posted last, and were they selling?
Scroll the last fifty posts. Count how many are someone promoting something. If it's more than about one in five, this community is already a wall of links and your post will be too — the audience has stopped reading. If it's zero, find out why before you become the exception.
2What happened to the last person who launched?
Search the community for 'launched', 'built', 'feedback on'. Read the comments on the last three. That's the exact reception you're going to get. If those posts have two polite replies and no questions, the community doesn't care about launches — go elsewhere.
3Is there a designated place for this?
A #showcase channel, a Saturday thread, a monthly roundup. If one exists, it is the only place your post is welcome, and posting there is close to free. If one exists and you post elsewhere, you're not breaking a rule so much as announcing that you didn't look.
4Who runs it, and what do they get out of it?
A community run by a company that sells to your audience will happily amplify you. A community run by one volunteer who's tired will not. Check whether the moderators post, and what about.
5Can you answer a question here today?
Find one unanswered question you actually know the answer to and answer it. If you can't find one in ten minutes, you're not close enough to this audience for your launch to land, and that's useful to learn now.
Scoring it
| What you found | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Active discussion, rare self-promo, a showcase channel | The best kind. High effort, high return. | Contribute for two weeks, then post in the designated place. |
| Active discussion, no self-promo anywhere | Either strictly enforced, or nobody has dared. | Ask a moderator. Don't guess. |
| Mostly links, low engagement | A dead mall. Posts get seen by nobody. | Skip it, or spend five minutes and expect nothing. |
| Big, busy, and every post is a launch | Attention is scarce and the audience is other founders. | Post, but treat it as practice for your writing, not as a user channel. |
The one message that opens doors
If you're unsure whether you're welcome, ask. It costs nothing, it takes one message, and a moderator telling you where to post is worth more than any amount of guessing.
Hi — I've been reading here for a couple of weeks. I built [one-line description] and I think it's relevant to [specific thing this community talks about].
Is there somewhere here that's the right place to share it, or would you rather I didn't? Happy either way.Short, no link, gives them an easy 'no'. That's why it gets answered.