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ElizabethB

ElizabethB

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Joined
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Location
Lafayette, LA. US
I just looked back at the new member forum. So many people popped in then disappeared. They were warmly welcomed and invited to visit various forums. Then they vanished.

I am obviously enamored with this forum and all of you. What can we do to keep new comers from dropping out? The number of registered members is impressive. Reality - very few active members. I guess that is an issue with all forums. I have been a mostly active member of a gardening forum for 5 years. I have faded out at times - like this winter. I always return with fingers flying and mouth in overdrive. If I am away for a while I get private messages - "Where are you? Are you OK?" Gives me warm fuzzies.

I really love this forum and would like to see it grow. A good thing for all of us. So @SatNavSaysStraightOn, @morning glory are there any proactive steps that the rest of us can take to promote this wonderful forum and encourage new comers to stick around?
 
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ElizabethB said:
I just looked back at the new member forum. So many people popped in then disappeared. They were warmly welcomed and invited to visit various forums. Then they vanished.

I am obviously enamored with this forum and all of you. What can we do to keep new comers from dropping out? The number of registered members is impressive. Reality - very few active members. I guess that is an issue with all forums. I have been a mostly active member of a gardening forum for 5 years. I have faded out at times - like this winter. I always return with fingers flying and mouth in overdrive. If I am away for a while I get private messages - "Where are you? Are you OK?" Gives me warm fuzzies.

I really love this forum and would like to see it grow. A good thing for all of us. So @SatNavSaysStraightOn, @morning glory are there any proactive steps that the rest of us can take to promote this wonderful forum and encourage new comers to stick around?
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I suppose there are more than a few reasons why people would sign up and then fade away.

1) They want to be just lurkers, but figure they need to sign up to see all the details.
2) They have lives and get busy.
3) They have joined forums in the past only to find that certain members dominated and the forum was hostile to newcomers.
4) They didn't think they could contribute to what the forum members were discussing.
5) They were looking for something different or even better.
6) Maybe they will come back.

I am probably as bewildered as you are that someone should sign up and then disappear.
 
The moderators often talk about this @ElizabethB - @SatNavSaysStraightOn recently introduced the CookingBites digest which is emailed. But this will always be an issue and always has been as far as I can see. I take care to try and reply to new members messages but if they don't log back in again, there is little we can do short of emailing them, as you say. But there is a fine line between hassling absent members and asking nicely where they are! I have on occasion emailed them if they have been a regular member who suddenly drops out. They usually don't reply or respond.

The challenges were partly introduced as a way to attract new members and hopefully get them engaged over a time period - but of course they are lots of fun too.

Most forums have a fluid membership but have a larger core of active regulars. That is what we really need. If we could each recruit one or two 'foodies' who we knew that might help. Otherwise, its getting the word about CookingBites out there. There is a FB page - but I confess that non of us moderators have been updating it and it has a very small number of followers.

Anyway - if you or anyone else has ideas to help recruit or retain members than we will gladly listen!
 
It is the same with most all forums. Especially where members are allowed to "put down" other members, without consequence. Sometimes a new member will pop in with a question. They have to register to ask the question. I doubt this happens much on cooking forums, but I used to moderate on a reptile forum and many didn't like the answers to their questions. Most of which had to due with proper husbandry, which they didn't wish to provide. You don't put the cart before the horse when dealing with animals the have specific requirements to keep them stress free and thriving. They didn't like the idea of having to provide habitat which often cost way more than the animal.
 
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CraigC said:
Especially where members are allowed to "put down" other members, without consequence.
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I hope we don't allow that here - but I can see how hard it would be to police a forum with 100 people or more posting every day. At the moment, I personally read (and often respond to) every single post made here. Obviously that wouldn't be possible if there was a hugely bigger membership.

I don't get the feeling that that is why most members leave. There have been one or two cases in the past where members told us that they were leaving due to 'another member' but these seem to be far and few between.
 
I personally like the challenge and cook alongs. I thank @ElizabethB for her kind words, but I don't think I'd be able to physically cook competitively in a timed competition, not just because of the recent flare that has really affected my hands to the point where it is difficult to do an extended amount of chopping, but also 1 really bad knee and 1 fairly bad knee, so can't stand for extended periods of time and am too slow to be running around a kitchen looking for ingredients and cookware in a timed race. So, I like the fact I can sort of "compete" without any pressure.

As to people joining and dropping out, sometimes they just want answers to a specific question and then just don't come back, or don't like the answer they get as Craig mentioned. Also, you have the trolls that just like to mess with people. I suspect a couple of people in another forum we belong to are doing just that. They come on every once in a while asking, quite honestly, the stupidest questions, get everybody going, and then just disappear for a few weeks. I know, I know the old adage about there are no stupid questions, but yes there really are when plain old common sense or just the first page of a Google search gives you the answer.
 
It's the "stupid questions" that often make you stop and think. Often about something you've never thought about before, subjects such as How do we communicate .

Often people can be put off asking a question, because "it's stupid", "everyone knows that". This applies to any forum.
 
medtran49 said:
As to people joining and dropping out, sometimes they just want answers to a specific question and then just don't come back, or don't like the answer they get as Craig mentioned. Also, you have the trolls that just like to mess with people.
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It is certainly true that people join and post to get an answer to a question and then don't come back. There isn't much we can do about that - well, I do try to engage them in conversation in the hope they might stay! But often they are just using the forum as I might use a Mac forum - to try to get the answer to a specific problem and not because I am passionately interested in Macs!

The ones who puzzle me more are those that stay and get really involved and then disappear without warning. I guess life takes over or they get bored with us or something!
 
One of the reasons I enjoy this forum is the civility of the members. The international nature of the forum opens up plenty of opportunity for confusion or misunderstanding. I try to read all of the post and sometimes read older, inactive threads. I have never witnessed any form of rudeness.

@CraigC I appreciate your frustration with visitors to your reptile forum. I belong to a gardening forum. I am frequently frustrated by posters who insist on ignoring basic practices. Much like caring for reptiles plants have certain requirements. Those requirements can not be ignored if satisfactory production is desired.

Cooking does involve some science but it really is more of an art form. There is much more opportunity for self expression and experimentation. The "rules" are flexible. Even something as simple as - you need heat to cook is not 100% true.

Thank you all for taking time to comment. I do "talk up" this forum to friends. I invite them to visit and hopefully join. :thankyou:@SatNavSaysStraightOn and all of the staff. You do a great job. :bravo:
 
ElizabethB said:
One of the reasons I enjoy this forum is the civility of the members. The international nature of the forum opens up plenty of opportunity for confusion or misunderstanding. I try to read all of the post and sometimes read older, inactive threads. I have never witnessed any form of rudeness.

@CraigC I appreciate your frustration with visitors to your reptile forum. I belong to a gardening forum. I am frequently frustrated by posters who insist on ignoring basic practices. Much like caring for reptiles plants have certain requirements. Those requirements can not be ignored if satisfactory production is desired.

Cooking does involve some science but it really is more of an art form. There is much more opportunity for self expression and experimentation. The "rules" are flexible. Even something as simple as - you need heat to cook is not 100% true.

Thank you all for taking time to comment. I do "talk up" this forum to friends. I invite them to visit and hopefully join. :thankyou:@SatNavSaysStraightOn and all of the staff. You do a great job. :bravo:
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Oh, it wasn't frustration. It was the fact that they purchased an animal without any clue about proper care and then came seeking guidance which often left them realizing they had bit off more than they could chew. When you mention vet care, they hadn't even considered that. There are just some folks who shouldn't collect reptiles.
 
morning glory said:
Ah - but that is far from a stupid question!
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Before it appeared, had you ever asked yourself the same question?

And it's "stupid" only because most will not have given it a second thought, until the question was asked. Then thought about it, realising it's not quite as simple as they first thought.
 
I am a firm believer that there are no stupid questions. I am bothered by ignorance. When a person receives a reply and either ignores the advice or argues with the veracity of the reply I do get a little ticked off. Not on this forum. On my gardening forum. There are certain rules and considerations for gardening. I get frustrated when posters insist on their way instead of the correct way. Thankfully that is not a big issue on this lovely forum. Food and cooking is treated as an art. You are all artist and masterful chefs.
 
flyinglentris said:
I suppose there are more than a few reasons why people would sign up and then fade away.

1) They want to be just lurkers, but figure they need to sign up to see all the details.
2) They have lives and get busy.
3) They have joined forums in the past only to find that certain members dominated and the forum was hostile to newcomers.
4) They didn't think they could contribute to what the forum members were discussing.
5) They were looking for something different or even better.
6) Maybe they will come back.

I am probably as bewildered as you are that someone should sign up and then disappear.
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@flyinglentris

I agree with numbers 1 - 5. Number 6, is a possible. I am also aware, that there are bullies on fórums as well, (not here), however, I have heard from contacts in the industry.

Congratulations on your celery dish.
 
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