Yes, as far as creative writing goes in general. Other communities seem to attract wider audiences with too many different types of content, making the community a messy place lacking a theme. This is not the case for The Ink Well in my eyes. It manages to stick to a niche and drive the community forward well.
In my opinion the two can co-exist but it is not optimal. Giving room for one to exist for a specific period of time and then for the other seems like a neat idea, however one downside of this is , without a doubt, that many passing-by poets (or any content creators whose work isn't accepted at a given time) will get put off and simply move on without returning or even considering to do so later on. A solution to this could be the only real thing that can be done: the creation of another community on here; one specific to poets. A post on the Ink Well introducing this idea first, seeding the possibility of such a community could be useful to see if such a project would have support, and if so, after its creation, promoting it on here, along with letting people who, unknowing, post poetry on here know about the poetry community could be the way to get it going. If enough join such a community, I'm sure you will be able to do a great job at up-keeping such a community, judging from the work you've done with The Ink Well!
Mmm, communities ... it's about how to create a shop window (whether that is for stories or poetry) and then fill it with good things that attract new readers from outside Hive. It has taken a little while (several months) to work out the best way forward for The Ink Well.
Agree - another poetry specific community would be a good option. Building a community takes a lot of time, though. Part of the discussions would have to be about finding a group of people who were willing to give time to support the community (and who had some expertise in poetry). But your idea of testing it out through The Ink Well is a good one, thank you 😍
I'm certain you know a lot more than me on this and the best ways in which TIW is growing - I would suggest, however, such an idea:
By focusing TIW community on creative writing as a whole, (excluding poetry) and in that still implementing different windows for different specific types of writing to narrow down the content further, (short stories for example) whilst fully migrating poetry to a brand new community and also splitting that up into different windows for different types of poetic writing or themes, (this could be worked on and discussed) - by doing this, both writers and poets could reap many benefits of having permanent communities available to them to share with and engage with.
Of course, the manifestation of such an idea is easier said and thought of than actually done... I would strongly suggest thinking about a strategic and well-timed post to TIW community, throwing the idea out there, calling out to anyone interested in undertaking such a project. Seeing the poetic crowd usually on here, I am certain some would step up to the task.