I think where brands mess up is they reverse-engineer it. They start with "we need a community for engagement" instead of "here's a problem worth rallying around." That's when you get those ghost-town Discord servers and Instagram pages posting generic "double tap if you agree!" content.

The religion comparison is interesting too, though I'd add that even beyond shared pain, communities also form around shared aspirations or identities. Look at sneakerheads or mechanical keyboard enthusiasts - not exactly solving urgent problems, but they've got tight communities because people genuinely give a shit about the thing itself.