By Guest Contributor, Mark Zohar, President and CEO at Viafoura
February 10th, 2025
Recently, I was asked an interesting question on LinkedIn by Lars Jensen of Berlingske Media, “Do you know of any publishers who approach community engagement through user needs or something similar?”
The truth? Most publishers do—either explicitly or implicitly. Whether they’re running off-platform communities on Facebook or Reddit or on-platform engagement features like comment sections, live chats, or Q&As, publishers are already meeting user needs through community interactions. The difference? Some publishers treat community as a strategic asset, while others let it happen passively — missing out on its full potential.
Why Community Is Making a Comeback
Community engagement within publishing isn’t new. Many publishers experimented with it back in the early 2000s—introducing comments, forums, and reader-driven initiatives—only to scale them back due to moderation challenges and shifting platform strategies. As social media grew, publishers handed over their community interactions to platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter—losing direct audience relationships in the process.
Now, with declining referral traffic and platform instability, publishers need to take back control by owning their audience relationships instead of outsourcing them to third-party platforms. Indeed, given Google’s increasing emphasis on prioritizing user-generated content in its search ranking algorithm, fostering on-site communities is more critical and valuable than ever.
In his recent post on user needs and communities, Lars Jensen notes that Nieman Lab’s 2025 predictions mentioned “community” 11 times, signaling how crucial it’s becoming for audience growth and retention. Similarly, according to the Local Media Consortium’s data, community engagement is one of the top trends for 2025 on local media’s radar. Established publishers like The Telegraph are now incorporating community-building as a core pillar of their reader revenue and editorial strategy.
Why Communities Naturally Align with User Needs
Community engagement isn’t just a nice-to-have—it directly fulfills core user needs, making it an essential part of a publisher’s strategy. Communities inherently serve the core needs of media audiences, but they do so in a way that’s interactive, participatory, and habit-forming, making them even more powerful than traditional content consumption.
The User Needs model pioneered by Dmitry Shishkin and developed in partnership with smartocto, categorizes why people consume news into the following broad needs:
- Update me
- Connect me
- Keep me engaged
- Give me perspective
- Help me
- Inspire me
- Divert me
Each of these user needs can and should be fulfilled through community engagement.
How Community Engagement Directly Maps to User Needs
Here are examples of how communities address some of the core user needs.
👉 Update me
Today’s audiences expect to be kept up-to-date on emerging trends, news and connections. Communities provide real-time updates, expert insights, and breaking news discussions. Whether through community newsletters, notification systems, or real-time debates, they ensure that engaged users always stay in the loop. A good example of this is The Independent’s community and debates page, which provides their readers with updates on key issues through the lens of community interactions, debates and AMAs (Ask Me Anything sessions).
👉 Connect me
At its core, community is about connection. Whether it’s connecting readers with journalists (via live Q&As or behind-the-scenes interactions), readers with each other (via discussions, forums, or exclusive events), or readers with experts, communities fulfill the human need to belong and engage.
This is especially true for younger audiences. One of the key findings of FT Strategies’ report, Next Gen News, is that “younger news consumers have shown a desire to feel connected to the people and brands that they are receiving information from…there is a significant opportunity for news producers to adapt to this preference in order to engage more authentically with the next generation of news consumers.”
👉 Keep me engaged
Many audiences seek social and engaging experiences that also provide them with insights they can’t get elsewhere. Communities give them this edge through expert-led conversations, in-depth discussions, and interactions with people they trust and admire. For example, publishers could offer direct Q&As with journalists, topical polls and chats, and gamification features like badges and leaderboards.
During the Paris Olympics, People.com sought to engage its readers by connecting them directly with People’s journalists in Paris covering the events via a live Q&A. Hosted on People.com’s website, this live Q&A was one of the best performing pages on People.com’s site that day and drove a significant number of new user registrations.
👉 Help me understand
This is one of the most underrated strengths of community engagement. Many audiences seek clarity on complex topics, and communities can provide interactive spaces where people can ask follow-up questions about a news story, get context from knowledgeable experts, and see how others interpret the same events.
Moneywise, a financial news site, has cultivated an active community of commenters who regularly provide their opinions and expertise on a range of financial issues, including offering financial advice to an elderly woman deep in credit card debt.
👉 Inspire me
Communities thrive on inspiration. Whether through user-generated storytelling, discussions about meaningful change, or through personal stories, communities encourage participation in a way that one-way journalism can’t.
The Girlfriend, an AARP community of over 800,000 Gen X women, regularly solicits personal stories from its audience. An article titled, Women Reveal What Surprises Them About Growing Older, featured dozens of personal stories from women about their life experiences, including this beautiful comment:
I am surprised by the person I have become. After leaving home at 18, I returned to live, once more, in my very small, midwestern, home town, at 56. My childhood friends stayed here all those years. Who I am, what experiences I bring, are vastly different than theirs. I am not sure why I did not expect it, but at times I feel pretty alien. I have lived in numerous parts of the US. I have traveled to several countries, all the states but 2, though I am not sure I am done traveling, I do believe I may be done moving. I am 62 now and have settled into a home with trees, a forest. My children live a thousand miles away, yet I feel it’s time for me to stay put, here, amongst the trees… and that surprises me. I am sure it has a lot to do with aging.
Why Publishers Must Prioritize Community in 2025
I’ll say it plainly: publishers who don’t invest in community engagement are leaving audience relationships—and revenue—on the table. As Ed Elson noted on a recent Prof G Media podcast, “any form of content that doesn’t figure out a way to interact with the audience in a meaningful way where the audience can comment and have an opinion and engage interactively is really just behind the ball.”
With search and social platforms becoming less reliable, community engagement is no longer a side initiative; it’s central to audience strategy. Community features fulfill core user needs, driving loyalty, engagement, and retention—benefits no algorithm can replace. As Brian Morrissey of The Rebooting noted in his recent newsletter, “I suspect we will see a resurgence of focus on comment sections, live blogs and forums. The business case is clear that this has gone from a nice to have to a business driver. Engaged visitors are more likely to convert to paid subscribers. They’re more likely not just to stick around but also to return.”
Publishers who fail to invest in community engagement risk losing audience loyalty, revenue, and influence. The question is no longer ‘Should we?’ but ‘How soon can we start?’
Mark Zohar is the President and CEO of Viafoura. For inquiries or connections, you can reach him at mark.zohar@viafoura.com.
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