What's your attitude toward your (new) members?

[Cedric]

Today, I'd like to kickstart a lively discussion about an essential aspect of our community: our attitude towards new members. As seasoned webmasters, we all understand the importance of building an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone who joins our forums. It sets the tone for the entire community and directly impacts our growth, knowledge sharing, and overall success. It could be a hit or miss.

How do you personally approach new members when they join your forum? Do you reach out to them individually or encourage existing members to extend a warm welcome? Or do you have an automated PM that does the job in your opinion? In your experience, what challenges do new members often face when trying to engage with the community? How can we address those challenges and facilitate their integration? Have you witnessed any particularly successful examples of member integration in your forum? What factors contributed to their smooth transition and integration into the community?

So, let's delve into the topic of our attitudes towards new members. Do we embrace them with open arms, providing guidance and support right from the start? Or do we inadvertently create barriers that discourage their active participation? How can we make our new members feel valued, encouraged, and eager to contribute?

What can we learn from our experiences as new members ourselves? How did our initial interactions with established members shape our perception of the community, and how can we replicate positive experiences for newcomers?

Please share your thoughts, insights, and any practical tips or strategies you have found effective in creating a welcoming atmosphere for new members.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I personally will greet them in their introduction topic. I feel it's more important to engage with your members this way, PMs are fine but it feels better when the owner or staff members welcome me whenever I join a new forum in a thread rather than a private message. I always treat new members with respect, and welcome new members to the community any time a new person joins. I usually will wait for them to make a introduction thread, but if I see they haven't made a post since joining I will tag them in a thread so others can welcome them and perhaps they will log back in and post if they get the notification that they were mentioned in a post.

 

[guyyanthony]

I personally will greet them in their introduction topic. I feel it's more important to engage with your members this way, PMs are fine but it feels better when the owner or staff members welcome me whenever I join a new forum in a thread rather than a private message. I always treat new members with respect, and welcome new members to the community any time a new person joins. I usually will wait for them to make a introduction thread, but if I see they haven't made a post since joining I will tag them in a thread so others can welcome them and perhaps they will log back in and post if they get the notification that they were mentioned in a post.

AGREEE 110% couldn't have said it any better if i tried.

 

[André]

😮Holy macks, i've always told new members to get lost.

"Trespassers will be...

prosi,

prosse,

procee,...

...headbutted"

It's like reverse psychology & stuff.

Spoiler: 🤭

☝️😄Obviously kidding.

But i admit i absolutely suck at welcoming peeps so instead i kinda set B##chbot loose in the intro thread ever since witnessing it actually pull off a convincing welcome a few weeks ago.

The added bonus is that new participants can also play with the stupid bot.

my personal opinion on intros & busting out the welcome wagon is probably not commonly held.

i abhor posting intros and jumping in on the bandwagon with sissy do-gooder's plastic welcome bollocks.

That crapé is probably suitable for the average extroverted personality but as an introvert i find forced social spectacles of this sort utterly repulsive—and thusly i hijack 'em.

😂Look at my intro here on AJs, or omg go check my shenanigans on DebateHQ, or FP.

Something to consider for improving the intro/welcome ritual might be to designate appropriately capable members to form the standard bandwagon cheerleaders thang—and also individual guides(operating 24/7 on shifts or whatever)

Ya'll are powerful computer sorceresses/sorcerers so i am sure a mere flick of the wrist and 💥 all new registrants could maybe select either (a) the full welcome wagon razzle dazzle, or (b) nah, no attention please, or (c) like André was, i am "shy" AF yet still yearning for social interaction and would ideally prefer one guide to initially show me around.(10—30mins)

🙂If i came across this option (c)((*& they weren't incapable)) i'd thereafter regard the guide as a community leader, i would be more inclined to respect the community overall because of the respect for the guide.

i'll add a final point that ya'll might be sick of reading—REACTIONS.

😂Omg!

At the very minimum it should be SOP for all welcome wagon goons to bloody well REACT to every post by a new member—especially in their intro thread.

It is blatantly exclusionary for a new member of any community to effectively be ignored.

Woah now, calm down André, we always post generic "welcomes".

🤭Yup, i struggle to comprehend such generous quantities of "I want new members but at the same time I really couldn't care less about new members"

i see that laziness strewn willy nilly throughout every intro forum—it presents an unsightly mess indicative of a brief frenzy for show.

Take notice of how many welcome squad fanatics bust out worthless token gestures "welcome to [insert URL] we're ever so happy to meet you,..." thereafter immediately gapping tf outta there.

The failure to tap the stupid 👍 button simply to indicate to a new member that they are being acknowledged by established members—will factor into determining whether the new member successfully integrates or not.

—Actions & Words—

Saying "welcome" then abruptly forking off is a partial psychological manipulation.

Think 'Trust Fall!'—the action of catching the subject demonstrates congruence with the words 'Trust' & 'Fall'

Therefore it follows that the action of not-catching the subject demonstrates what?

N
O
T

T
R
U
S
T

The failed congruence IS far more detrimental than simply not doing anything in the first place.

In 2015 there was a major flood, at the time i worked 0700-1730hrs 7days/pw and 0130-0430hrs 6days/pw—yep, i worked day & night and luckily my pad wasn't affected—but some one i knew basically lost everything.

What'd i do,...?

i said the words -"i will help"

😂i wasn't no rich prickle back then so it meant manual labour shoveling foot+ thick cement like super sticky silt-crete—for weeks and working two jobs—oh, it also took an hours drive each way to shovel this shite.

i could've rationalized a weaselly excuse out of this, "i'm too tired wahh", meanwhile the bro had to sleep in a car that entire time.

😂 Regardless i gave my Word.
my Action must Actualize my Word.

🙂Does that seem irrelevant?

Coz it's actually crucial.

For proving honourable to others and for developing self confidence.

View attachment 1211
Here's the bro.
(*he looks disheveled because this is 4-5 days after the flood, and by this point he'd endured prolonged shock traumas/probably compounding,...i wish i knew what i do now, he didn't want to show weakness because he's a real world community leader in the small village.)
View attachment 1214

And the blonde demon below is supposedly my female parental unit.
View attachment 1212View attachment 1213
☝️😄i ended up water blasting the interior with my big trailer mounted beast coz that puny pressure squirter toy was just too comically inadequate.

Anyways i'm rambling now, so 😜 catch ya later

 

[Shortie]

Whenever I get new members, I always allow them to come onto the forum and introduce themselves when they feel ready. I know some forums have a welcome PM that is sent and I have considered doing that at some point but have not yet got around to doing it.

If they introduce themselves, I will then reply back welcoming them to the forum, letting them know the staff are here to help if they have any issues and that it is lovely to see them on the forum.

I find doing this then encourages others to also welcome the new member.