On my site I have an area for Intros and I always thought it was a good idea but over the years I see people sign up and my active members not doing the best job at posting in there and I feel that the newbies don't feel as welcomed as they should be. On sites I sign up on and return weeks later or even months I see that maybe only the site owner has responded to my intro thread. So what's the point of doing an Introduction if people don't really pay attention to them?
I have a newbie forum and I do think it is important to have them.
It is nice to feel welcomed on a forum, Maybe tell your mods or admins to welcome new members (If you have staff that is)
I have a newbie forum and I do think it is important to have them.
It is nice to feel welcomed on a forum, Maybe tell your mods or admins to welcome new members (If you have staff that is)
Oh I tell them. It's just that they go to their subscribed threads when entering the site and then often don't have time to hunt around for the new threads that pop up.
I have a board for Introductions & I make sure I welcome everybody. I wish more people would welcome the newbies 'cos it will help them feel like a human being instead of a number.
I have a board for Introductions & I make sure I welcome everybody. I wish more people would welcome the newbies 'cos it will help them feel like a human being instead of a number.
That's part of the issue I have with an Intro forum is that generally you only see the owner welcome the person and maybe one or two other people. Do people really feel welcomed if most of the community ignores their intro post?
Good question! Wish more would do it but at least they know the owner acknowledges them. That's why I also have a PM that goes out welcoming them & encouraging them to post an intro, jump into discussions, even old ones if they catch their interest.
I think it varies. An introduction forum can be a really nice addition if it is utilized from the staff down in such a way that promotes engagement. Create community norms to not just welcome new members but to also make them feel welcome. Hone in something they said, ask a follow up question. Have a mini conversation to show that new member you care enough about them to get to know them. Highlight some services or areas that might peak their interest on the forum.
If you are just posting "Welcome!," your intro forum is basically useless.
I think it's very important, you want to have a place where new members feel welcomed. If new users aren't posting in the forum when they sign up, a good strategy might be to send a welcome PM with links to various threads / intro section after they register.
It really depends on the type of forum that is being ran. I can see it going well for a number of types of forums, where user engagement should be priority; then again, it can fail, if the users fail to think that it is something that should be used. If not enough people use it to help new members feel welcome, then whats the use really?
One of the forums I used to be extremely active on back in the day, didn't have an intro forum; instead, the off topic board was the place to throw the new member threads into, because of how actively that board was used.
It never came to my mind, I think it's more important to have about page, or about the site more than an intro. People will come and go and most do not want to read long stories and or read long paragraphs. SO a little about the site in 150 words or fewer characters in detail about the site. Yeah, it depends on the site.
having a welcome board is nice but most members don't post but stuff, It can be hard to get a good intro setup as it can put traffic off.
I would say an introductions forum isn't really necessary, but it can be a very good thing. It has become a standard across the board with so many forums, but you don't really see it being utilized very well most of the time. As Matthew said, if you are engaging with these new users and getting to know them in this forum, then that's fantastic, and that's exactly what this type of forum should be used for. If you're just replying with a "Welcome to FP" or whatever nonsense, then I don't feel like that's going to be engaging to these new users.
