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Reach represents a member's degree of connectedness and influence within the community. How essential is the member to the community's flow of information?
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Reach is a measure of a member's sphere of influence, their degree of visibility, and their connectedness. High-reach members maintain a wide network of active relationships and help move information throughout the community. Whereas love is based on what a member does and how often, reach is concerned with who the member does activities with. Reach is synonymous with:
Reach keeps the community bonded as it goes through experiences and transformations. The more active, healthy relationships in the community, the better able the community is to align and stay motivated.
Reach accumulates naturally from people working toward shared interests, but that doesn't mean community builders can just sit back and assume it will happen. Especially in the online world, the development of reach can't be taken for granted because it's very easy for people to work together without forming a true connection. Community builders should think intentionally about how to develop the networks of their members, and not only the activities they're expected to do.
The Orbit Model makes the distinction between a member's internal reach and external reach. Internal reach is reach within the community. External reach is reach in general, including in other communities. If a member has a high external reach and a low internal reach, it implies they have a strong network of connections and influence generally, but have only started to create connections and influence within the community itself.