Do you think that emailing your inactive member-base and threatening removal is a good way to get them back?
I mean, will you actually lose anything either way? If they get mad and don't want to stay, it would be about the same as them staying and being inactive.
I honestly think it can go either way, but usually leading with a threat like “be active or you’ll be removed” pushes people away more than it brings them back. Most inactive members are probably just busy or drifted away, not necessarily uninterested.
Cleaning out inactive members isn’t a bad thing, but I think a friendly “we’d love to see you back” message works much better than an ultimatum. And honestly, if someone leaves because of an inactivity cleanup, they probably weren’t going to become active again anyway, so the tone is what really matters.
I feel like it’s a hit or miss. I’ve gotten a few emails from websites saying they’re deleting my account for inactivity and if it’s something that I’m just not into anymore, I’ll let them delete the account. It has to be something I was really involved in previously for me to consider coming back to it.
I don't do it because you don't why they are no longer active. For example the member may have died and their close relatives may not take kindly to an unsolicited email. It's an extreme example but it's happened more than once on forums I own so I prefer to take no action and leave the account as is.
