What is community management?

The basics of community management

Community management is the practice of building and maintaining relationships between companies and their customers. Originating in the 1990s with the advent of online services and MMORPGs (Online community manager, n.d.), community management became increasingly important as social media expanded in the 2000s and companies needed effective ways to collect and organize feedback from large user bases.

Community managers link companies and customers. Marketers may miss feedback in memes, sarcasm, or technical terms, and are often busy. Community managers bridge this gap, strengthen developer relations by collecting input and bug reports for internal teams, and share updates via social media, Reddit, streams, and forums.

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Community manager responsibilities

The responsibilities of community managers differ across organizations, depending on their size, structure, and needs. Generally, the role spans internal and external communications, digital marketing, social media management, oversight of forums and Discord communities, blog and website updates, livestreaming, video production, interviews, event participation, and brand storytelling (Community Manager Job Description, 2026). In large companies, community managers may focus on specific tasks such as web updates or livestreaming, while in smaller companies, they might handle a broader range of duties. Reporting lines can also differ, with community managers answering to marketing, communications, or developer teams (Urwin, 2022). Because each department or stakeholder prioritizes different outcomes, understanding these expectations is key to success.

Alternative community titles

Community manager roles vary across organizations, including brand ambassador, customer relationship manager, support agent, social media manager, and happiness engineer. Differences in titles typically reflect a company's priorities. Additionally, industry context can affect not only job titles but also responsibilities and compensation.

Community manager salaries

Community manager salaries vary widely. Entry-level CMs (under three years in) usually earn $34K–$64K, most commonly around $50K (Glassdoor, 2026; Payscale, 2026; Jobted, 2026). Mid-career CMs earn $58K–$76K, and senior CMs average $97K, with top earners (5+ years) exceeding $160K (ZipRecruiter, 2026; Glassdoor, 2026). Industry strongly impacts pay: gaming, tech, and developer relations roles pay above median, while property and residential roles pay less (Comparably, 2026; Built In, 2026). Salary bands are inconsistent because "community manager" can mean very different jobs.

Career prospects for community managers

Career prospects for community managers are a mixed bag right now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn't track "community manager" as a distinct occupation, so there's no clear growth projection to point to (BLS, 2026). What there is data on is the broader market the role lives in — and it's rough. Roughly 245,000 tech jobs were cut globally in 2025, with about 70% of those layoffs coming from US-based companies (InformationWeek, 2026). The first quarter of 2026 alone saw nearly 80,000 more tech layoffs, with about 48% attributed to AI and workflow automation (Tom's Hardware, 2026). Gaming has been hit even harder: roughly 44,000 development jobs have been lost since 2022 (Outlook Respawn, 2026), and a 2026 GDC survey found that 33% of US game industry workers had been laid off in the past two years (PC Gamer, 2026). What that means in practice is that the market is flooded with experienced community, social, and marketing professionals — many of them senior — competing for a shrinking pool of openings. If you're trying to break in or pivot into community management right now, it's not in your head. It's harder than it used to be.

Not every sector is shrinking. Developer relations (DevRel), which focuses on developer communities around APIs, tools, and open source, is hiring—especially at AI startups and dev infrastructure companies. ZipRecruiter lists the average DevRel pay at $109,500, with most roles ranging from $69,000 to $150,000 (ZipRecruiter, 2026). Companies like Hugging Face, NVIDIA, JetBrains, Webflow, Plaid, Box, Laravel, AssemblyAI, and many AI startups have posted DevRel and developer advocate roles in 2026 (DEV Community, 2026). B2B SaaS and creator platform roles are more stable than gaming or consumer tech roles. Note: Most DevRel listings expect coding experience, which is a hurdle for non-technical CMs but an advantage if you code.

Final thoughts

I loved my time in community management. I worked on over 30 video games—bringing fantasy, superhero, sci-fi, and other brands to life across genres like MMORPGs, mobile games, and shooters. Connecting with the community gave me a strong sense of purpose: understanding their needs, translating them into developer-friendly terms, and helping brands convey complex information. I also enjoyed the variety: graphic design, web updates, social media management, analytics, events, and more. I was never bored. If you love similar things, community management could be a great career. To raise your brand's awareness and connect with customers, consider hiring dedicated community managers.

References

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