I like it, but I still think it evokes a
feature of a forum, rather than an entire community. I know he's trying to keep it simple for scalability. But a compromise might be needed here, where a couple of forum-eque symbols are used to convey a larger concept. Because the single symbol isn't quite nailing it.
As a really, really rough example of what I'm saying.
Attachment 151703
Okay, that's not great. But you get the idea of what I'm saying. Something that combines two critical aspects of the forum, rather than one that's not especially distinct from BBCode formatting buttons.