On Natural Equilibrium

[JoelR]

In any ecosystem, there is an equilibrium that is naturally achieved when left to it's own.  

The same applies to a community.  When left by itself, what is the natural state of your community? 

Does the community tend to have too much of a certain kind of conversation? Does it have enough conversation and content to be self sustaining? 

Part of the role of a community manager is to nudge the community's equilibrium in the right direction, until the community can achieve its equilibrium on its own.  

[Nomad]

My communities do not have natural equilibrium. When I am not actively marketing my communities, I do not get users or activities. I had to put one of my communities offline because there were no activities for a couple of months. I am learning the tricks of the trade.

[JoelR]

No activity is then your equilibrium. 

I'm assuming you are not satisfied with your equilibrium (and nobody is, there's always too much of something or too little or something). The real question is, what are the systems you are building to generate sustained activity in your topic?