How To Get More Members To Log On And Comment:
You have to learn how to crawl before you can walk. Right ?
Most people who join anything are observers by nature. They want to belong, but they don't want to be focused on. In order to get activity from members like this, something has to be presented to them that does not "scare" them, for lack of a better word.
The best way to build participation from the masses is to give them something "non-threatening" to start with, something that makes them think, "Hey, I can do that ."
Step one is to come up with something very simple, yet entertaining. Something that gives new members a sense of accomplishment (this will have to be something sponsored by the site itself, not an individual member).
Something as simple as a "yes" or "no" survey question on the home page of Gather that requires members to log on and leave their "yes" or "no" answer in the form of a comment would break the ice for many members who are gun-shy about standing in the spotlight.
In fact, if the question were framed in such a way that it was explained that the goal was to get members comfortable with the process of logging on and commenting the number of responses would probably be pretty high. New members would feel like they were joining a group of new friends, not just answering a survey question.
Since the user names of those who answered the question would be displayed, the likelyhood of new networks developing would also increase.
The trick is in the picking of the question that would be featured as the survey question. It has to be interesting enough to solicit a response, but general enough not to scare anyone off ( political and politically-related questions would not work ).
Cultrally based questions work best. they can sometimes be serious and sometimes be light-hearted.
Example: " Does the average driver drive safely ? " Yes or No.
Example: " Is television worth watching ? " Yes or No.
I would suggest that the response comments to these questions be limited to a "yes" or "no" option. The reason being, there's a good chance that some of the responders would be motivated to post an article on the subject once the results of the survey question started to be revealed.
Also, you wouldn't want the comments to be highjacked by someone who wanted to insert their own agenda into the process, this would scare newbies away.
The best way to build participation from the masses is to give them something "non-threatening" to start with, something that makes them think, "Hey, I can do that ."
Step one is to come up with something very simple, yet entertaining. Something that gives new members a sense of accomplishment (this will have to be something sponsored by the site itself, not an individual member).
Something as simple as a "yes" or "no" survey question on the home page of Gather that requires members to log on and leave their "yes" or "no" answer in the form of a comment would break the ice for many members who are gun-shy about standing in the spotlight.
In fact, if the question were framed in such a way that it was explained that the goal was to get members comfortable with the process of logging on and commenting the number of responses would probably be pretty high. New members would feel like they were joining a group of new friends, not just answering a survey question.
Since the user names of those who answered the question would be displayed, the likelyhood of new networks developing would also increase.
The trick is in the picking of the question that would be featured as the survey question. It has to be interesting enough to solicit a response, but general enough not to scare anyone off ( political and politically-related questions would not work ).
Cultrally based questions work best. they can sometimes be serious and sometimes be light-hearted.
Example: " Does the average driver drive safely ? " Yes or No.
Example: " Is television worth watching ? " Yes or No.
I would suggest that the response comments to these questions be limited to a "yes" or "no" option. The reason being, there's a good chance that some of the responders would be motivated to post an article on the subject once the results of the survey question started to be revealed.
Also, you wouldn't want the comments to be highjacked by someone who wanted to insert their own agenda into the process, this would scare newbies away.
There is an art to simplicity.
-George-
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Comments: 68
Thanks, I'm with you on discovering new writers.
Simplicity is the answer to most complex problems.
Come on now, wouldn't you love to see his user name ?
It's kind of a twist on the trivia questions that draw large crowds wherever they're posted.
Remember how much fun it was standing in ankle-deep water before you knew how to swim when you were a kid ? It wasn't swimming, but you somehow knew that since you got your feet wet, it was only a matter of time before you were swimming away.
If members get used to logging on and commenting it will only be a matter of time before they're wrting away.
And now you swim like a pro.
With so many members, creating a welcome enviornment should compensate for the inability to keep up with all members.
Good answer.
O.K.
Thanks, It used to be called "gettin' them in the front door".
I do look through the unfiltered and unsorted and unpicked list of postings each day to read something from a writer I have not read before, I don't always comment, and sometimes my comments too tart. I am mostly unrepentant. I hope I am not responsible for someone posting, having one of my unrestrained comments be their only comment, then never returning.
Lately, I've been more focused on writing and painting than reading and commenting. Trying to balance Gather against the other important sides of my life seems tricky.
"The more members that log on and comment the merrier".
This idea is analogous to sourdough bread starter. It will help create the bread, not be the bread.
Thanks. Wouldn't it be neat if the flood gates were opened and all sorts of members started to log on, comment and publish ?
Oh well. I like surveys, and I think we should have a randomly selected "prize" drawn from Gatherers who log on and vote. Maybe you can get prize points for each day you log on, and then have a drawing once a week among people who've logged on every day.
Sort of a loyalty program for Gather...
Doesn't the current point system award us for every log-in, vote, comment, rating, image and piece published? For "rewards and prizes" along these lines all Gather need do is increase the tangibles of the current point system.
Add-ons are good, as long as they don't make "voters" think too much before they vote. Have to be careful about turning the logging on and commenting thing into a competition, that might tend to only attract the members who like contests.
Also, the less words members have to read that describe what the logging on and commenting thing is all about, the higher the percentage of members who use it will be.
You bring up a good point. Any add-on that rewarded voters would serve to highlight members who voted the most. That would be counterproductive in this situation.
The logging in and commenting should be a fun and easy thing to do. The goal is specific, it is to get members who are avoiding logging on and commenting to log on and comment.
Anything designed to motivate members beyond that should be a separate idea. Basic steps produce results because they a basic.
I myself can't pass up an interesting "yes or no"-type question when I read one. If I belonged to a website and had to log in and comment to answer an interesting question on the site's home page, I'd probably do it ".
Thanks
No prob, digit-meister.
Agreed, but remember I'm talking a one question-type thing specifically designed to encourage dormant members to log on and comment when they visit the site..
Magi
This idea makes a lot of sense to me. Can you point me in the direction of a good online survey creator? This way I can use it right away and create a new group to invite people to.
THX!
Sparked me to think that having new members fill out a short survey when joining to guide them to a list of groups that might interest them plus some of the Tips and Announcement groups would be helpful. I envision being directed to a page with a list of group options, with their summaries and a checkbox to join that group. That way the new member could instantly be connected to several groups.
Gary's clearly onto something a little stronger - having Gather make group recommendations to new members based upon an initial questionaire. Said questionaire having a feature to opt out if the user desires.
Thanks !
You should conctact Candida Bohnne-Eittreim, she strongly believes in the use of surveys.
(see her comment 11 up from here)
Thanks, your idea sounds like a good one. You should do it and write an article about how it worked.
You're reading way too much into this.
I did not suggest anyone had to answer a question in order to log on. My idea is to offer a question that requires logging on and commenting to answer. The reason for doing this would be to get NEW members who are avoiding logging on or commenting to begin doing it.
If active members wanted to answer it they could, but they wouldn't have to. And again , I'm talking along the lines of ONE QUESTION.
I wonder where I failed to make my original point in this post ? I really am not talking about anything manditory. My whole idea was to provide a simple, fun way of encouraging members who are just surfing the site without logging on or commenting, to begin logging on and commenting when they visit the site.
Example:
Does your car have a personality ? Yes/No
Thanks, glad it's something you could swim with.
If seems that many new members visit the site regularly without logging in or commenting ( not good). My idea is to offer these members a tempting tidbit that would encourage them to log in and comment when they visited the site.
It's my belief that a certain percentage of them would begin to log on and comment on actual articles once they got comfortable with the process.
Again, this idea is for members who avoid logging in or commenting when they visit the site.
Evidently, there are many, many members who do not log in or comment when they visit Gather. This idea is solely to encourage these members to get comfortable with logging in and commenting when they visit the site.
Hang in there.
Oh.
As ideas go, a survey seems like a halfway ground between writing and not writing. Sounds like a fine idea to me, if it would get the job done - the job being getting those who sign up look around and leave to stick around instead.
Agreed, no idea is going to deliver a 100% solution. This idea falls into the "chipping away at the problem" category.
Most people who join anything are observers by nature. They want to belong, but they don't want to be focused on.
At least that describes me fairly well, and how I felt when I first joined. But I'm not sure the "survey-type" questions are the answer either.
Again, thinking back on what got me to open up in the beginning, was having existing members, like Monica Kennedy and Carolyn Madden comment on my work. That is what got me comfortable to seek out their work and comment back. Once the ice was broken and I started doing it more and more, the addiction of Gather set in!
It will probably be a combination of a lot of things that finally opens the flood gates.
That's why knowing how many page views an article has had is so important. Most people who view an article leave no comment. Besides that, many times the comments made on an article become an article themselves as they quickly drift away from the subject of the original article.
Thanks. Boy, wouldn't it be nice to see reading and writng as a " cool thing to do " ?
Welcome aboard. You're on the "write" track.