How it works

Getting access to the Signal Garden is simple, you share — or contribute to conversation around — in the signal channels.

In communities, there’s always a mix of active creators, occasional contributors, and lurkers. It’s natural. But when it comes to the Signal Garden in particular, it’s important to us that we’re building a more generous, cooperative, and impactful research ecosystem. One of the problems in the industries so many of us are a part of is extractive behavior; lack of attribution; insight mining without thoughtful regeneration.

And so, to encourage abundance and discourage that same extractive behavior (taking from the Signal Garden without contributing in some way in return) within our community, we’ve introduced a simple gate on the signal channels.

If you’re an ‘Active’ Member or Lead you’ll get permanent access to the signal channels

The Details

1. Members start with access to the 27 signal channels by default when they join. All Members, whether they have an active ‘Signal Gardener’ role or not, will have access to the #sorting-room.
2. Members are required to share a total of 10 posts each calendar month— whether they’re original forum posts or replies to other active posts — within Signal Garden channels (note, this does not include #sorting-room) to maintain access.
3. All data is tracked transparently in an Airtable using our custom bot
4. At the end of each month, the data is collated:
   • If a member meets the 10-post threshold, they keep their ‘Signal Gardener’ role
   • If a member falls below the threshold, they lose their ‘Signal Gardener’ role
5. ‘Signal Gardener’ roles are reset every first day of the month

Note: New members are given a 1-month buffer to ensure they have time to acclimate and get into the groove of sharing in the Signal Garden.

Note: If you’ve not reached the thresh-hold by week 3, our friendly reminder bot will message you via discord or email with a reminder!

What happens if I lose my role!?

It’s not a big deal! Life happens!

To regain your ‘Signal Gardener’ role, all you need to do is share 3 signals in the #sorting-room over the course of the month and you’ll have full access back once roles reset.

Note: We’re trying it this way to help members get into the habit of sharing signals when they spot them, and discourage the behavior of losing access and then coming to the #sorting-room to spam the channels with random signals to regain immediate access, extract from the community and then become inactive again. With that said, typically active members who’ve faced life or work circumstances that have impacted their ability to contribute can DM Fancy or Keels about regaining access prior to the reset.

Criteria for Signal Posts & Replies

In order to maintain high quality signal shares and conversation, member posts and replies must meet at least one of a few guidelines: