Membership Retention
Nov. 19th, 2022 08:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithA lot of new folks are coming to Dreamwidth from Twitter, or if they already had a lurker blog here, are trying to make that more active. The question then becomes whether they can figure out Dreamwidth well enough to stay, or if they'll drift away because it didn't suit their needs or they couldn't find what they needed.
To help with attracting and retaining new users, I'm keeping a list of resources in my Twitter Exodus post. Various other people are making similar resource lists, so I'm collecting those too.
This reminded me of many articles about church membership retention, which is one place that a lot of people talk about how to attract new people and encourage them to stay in a group. For example ...
"Every member needs three things – a friend, a responsibility and spiritual nourishment through gospel study."
* Friendship is vitally important in any voluntary group membership, because most people like to feel that they belong. It's a big reason why people join any group. Conversely, loneliness is as deadly as smoking or obesity.
This site has detailed descriptions for many church volunteer positions, including the Visitation Team. That entry includes this useful tidbit:
Incorporating new members. Unless a newly baptized or recently transferred member becomes friends with at least seven compatible individuals during the first six months, it is highly likely they will quit attending. Several visits should be made in those six months to find out about the new member and get them involved in ministry in the church, to identify the kind of friends that will be most appropriate and to invite them to events where they can make friends. With the newly baptized it is also important to help them identify their spiritual gifts, understand the organization and plans of the church, and learn to practice the standards of the church.
Think about the Reading Page on Dreamwidth -- a scroll of posts by your friends and communities -- and you can see how the number of friends is important. Seven reasonably good friends, whose blogs you read regularly, is a sensible minimum; and you can do the same with communities. For most folks, more would be better.
The idea with church visitors is that they know enough people in their congregation to suggest who among those would best match a new person based on mutual interests. Similarly, many fandoms -- especially the big active ones -- used to have a team of greeters who did much the same thing. They helped newcomers find fannish resources, make friends, and locate activities. That is how some of those got so big, because they put concerted effort into outreach and retention. It's less common now, alas.
Online, interaction is key to making and maintaining friendships. Not just with the first person met, but making friends through them. So if you see a new person, recommend other blogs or communities that relate to interests they've mentioned in a post. One of the best ways to connect people is point them to something they said they want.
* Responsibility matters because people like to make a difference. Imagine everyone is wearing a sign that says, "Make me feel important." That's not just for facetime interactions, it works online too. Blogging creates many opportunities for impact. Just commenting on a post can make people perk up.
Many communities make it very easy to find a responsibility. They often have activities where members can volunteer -- or moderators can encourage people -- to take on a specific project. That might be posting a given topic on schedule, writing a fanifesto, posting another meta, hosting a fest, or whatever. Examples:![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
allbingo runs a new fest each month, and anyone can volunteer to host one on a favorite topic. crowdfunding runs the Rose & Bay Awards early each year, and seeks volunteers to manage the categories.
With a personal blog, those opportunities may not be so clear, but some still have them. Even if it's just agreeing to a private swap of fanfic or other skills, it helps cement connections.
* Nourishment in a secular context is more diverse than spiritual nourishment, but just as vital. It could be a general sense of satisfaction in community. It could be a close relationship. It could be supporting a worthy cause or a favorite fandom.
The key is, we all get something from an online venue. It meets a need or a desire we have. If it doesn't, then people leave. That's exactly what's happening with the Twitter Exodus right now. There are many practical reasons, plus the new social reasons. This all boils down to people not feeling nourished or even safe on that platform anymore. That sucks.
However, it's a great opportunity for other platforms to scoop up those dissatisfied users. Dreamwidth, Mastodon, Pillowfort, and others are reaching out. So if you're part of the Dreamwidth effort to welcome Twitter refugees, watch for why they left Twitter and what they hope to find here. A lot of them are talking about it in their early posts. Help them find the nourishment they're seeking, and they will be more likely to stay and contribute to the activity on Dreamwidth.
To help with attracting and retaining new users, I'm keeping a list of resources in my Twitter Exodus post. Various other people are making similar resource lists, so I'm collecting those too.
This reminded me of many articles about church membership retention, which is one place that a lot of people talk about how to attract new people and encourage them to stay in a group. For example ...
"Every member needs three things – a friend, a responsibility and spiritual nourishment through gospel study."
* Friendship is vitally important in any voluntary group membership, because most people like to feel that they belong. It's a big reason why people join any group. Conversely, loneliness is as deadly as smoking or obesity.
This site has detailed descriptions for many church volunteer positions, including the Visitation Team. That entry includes this useful tidbit:
Incorporating new members. Unless a newly baptized or recently transferred member becomes friends with at least seven compatible individuals during the first six months, it is highly likely they will quit attending. Several visits should be made in those six months to find out about the new member and get them involved in ministry in the church, to identify the kind of friends that will be most appropriate and to invite them to events where they can make friends. With the newly baptized it is also important to help them identify their spiritual gifts, understand the organization and plans of the church, and learn to practice the standards of the church.
Think about the Reading Page on Dreamwidth -- a scroll of posts by your friends and communities -- and you can see how the number of friends is important. Seven reasonably good friends, whose blogs you read regularly, is a sensible minimum; and you can do the same with communities. For most folks, more would be better.
The idea with church visitors is that they know enough people in their congregation to suggest who among those would best match a new person based on mutual interests. Similarly, many fandoms -- especially the big active ones -- used to have a team of greeters who did much the same thing. They helped newcomers find fannish resources, make friends, and locate activities. That is how some of those got so big, because they put concerted effort into outreach and retention. It's less common now, alas.
Online, interaction is key to making and maintaining friendships. Not just with the first person met, but making friends through them. So if you see a new person, recommend other blogs or communities that relate to interests they've mentioned in a post. One of the best ways to connect people is point them to something they said they want.
* Responsibility matters because people like to make a difference. Imagine everyone is wearing a sign that says, "Make me feel important." That's not just for facetime interactions, it works online too. Blogging creates many opportunities for impact. Just commenting on a post can make people perk up.
Many communities make it very easy to find a responsibility. They often have activities where members can volunteer -- or moderators can encourage people -- to take on a specific project. That might be posting a given topic on schedule, writing a fanifesto, posting another meta, hosting a fest, or whatever. Examples:
allbingo runs a new fest each month, and anyone can volunteer to host one on a favorite topic. crowdfunding runs the Rose & Bay Awards early each year, and seeks volunteers to manage the categories.With a personal blog, those opportunities may not be so clear, but some still have them. Even if it's just agreeing to a private swap of fanfic or other skills, it helps cement connections.
* Nourishment in a secular context is more diverse than spiritual nourishment, but just as vital. It could be a general sense of satisfaction in community. It could be a close relationship. It could be supporting a worthy cause or a favorite fandom.
The key is, we all get something from an online venue. It meets a need or a desire we have. If it doesn't, then people leave. That's exactly what's happening with the Twitter Exodus right now. There are many practical reasons, plus the new social reasons. This all boils down to people not feeling nourished or even safe on that platform anymore. That sucks.
However, it's a great opportunity for other platforms to scoop up those dissatisfied users. Dreamwidth, Mastodon, Pillowfort, and others are reaching out. So if you're part of the Dreamwidth effort to welcome Twitter refugees, watch for why they left Twitter and what they hope to find here. A lot of them are talking about it in their early posts. Help them find the nourishment they're seeking, and they will be more likely to stay and contribute to the activity on Dreamwidth.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-20 10:46 pm (UTC)Most of the people 'we' had known who had been moderating forums spoke about how much work it was - and I think many of them burned out on internet communities in general, as they moved on with their lives and away from online spaces. There aren't many elders around to organize spaces and keep people in contact with older resources.
I couldn't say what it's like on the public gathering spaces, or the new private-ish messaging services like Discord, since the people who come here try to avoid them.
- Law (he/him)
Thoughts
Date: 2022-11-20 10:57 pm (UTC)I quite liked forums.
>> (usually private to non-members) <<
Some hosts offered private ones, but there were also public forums that provided a place to meet new people before going off into a private forum.
>> and the peripheral shift to various social media sites. Those sites reach more people, but have less privacy and the less ability to moderate people gathered into a single place, or to give them all the same resources.<<
Sadly so.
>>Most of the people 'we' had known who had been moderating forums spoke about how much work it was - and I think many of them burned out on internet communities in general, as they moved on with their lives and away from online spaces.<<
That's true, and a reason why it's hard to maintain communities. Automated moderation saves work but is often so flawed people don't like using it.
>> There aren't many elders around to organize spaces and keep people in contact with older resources.<<
Yeah, that's a problem is far more than internet communities.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-20 11:24 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2022-11-21 12:08 am (UTC)Excellent post.
Date: 2022-11-22 07:22 am (UTC)Re: Excellent post.
Date: 2022-11-22 08:51 am (UTC)I hope the Twitter folks do stick around. I have been recommending Snowflake too.