Interview: The Curator Behind Threadly on Finding Focused Communities

Threadly helps users find small, high-quality communities. We sat down with Maya Ortiz, Threadly's lead curator, to learn how she discovers spaces worth joining and how people can find less noisy, more meaningful places online.

"Small communities create big trust if you let them breathe." — Maya Ortiz

How Maya curates

Maya spends most of her discovery time in three places: niche forums, offline events, and direct outreach to community organizers. "Many great groups aren't shouting on mainstream algorithms," she explains. "They exist because someone cared enough to keep standards for participation."

Signals she looks for

• Consistent moderation: Active but fair moderation means conversations stay on-topic.
• Signal-to-noise ratio: A handful of thoughtful posts per day is better than constant chatter.
• Onboarding warmth: Good communities have clear guidelines and rituals for newcomers.

Common mistakes users make

People often expect instant depth. Maya recommends spending two weeks listening and introducing yourself before judging whether the community fits. "If you try to extract value immediately, you miss the slow-building trust that makes community special," she says.

Advice for curators and platform designers

Maya emphasizes human-centered design: highlight introductions, amplify quality content, and design features that reward thoughtful participation rather than raw numbers. Threadly's recent algorithm changes weight first-time interactions more heavily to help new members integrate.

Final words

Communities are living things. If you're looking for focused spaces, follow curators, respect onboarding, and give time for trust to form. The discovery we seek is less about speed and more about patience.