a channel
You publish, people receive. Success is reach and clicks. One person can run it. It is marketing, and it is allowed to be quiet.
a product
People get value from each other. Success is retention and repeat participation. It needs an owner, rules, and a roadmap of its own.
Most projects say product and fund a channel. The symptom is a room where the only messages are from the team, and a quarterly conversation about why engagement is low.
There is no shame in choosing channel.
The decision has a cost attached either way. A channel costs one person part-time. A product costs coverage, moderation, and someone whose actual job it is.
Pick one deliberately. The expensive failure is funding the first and promising the second.
