I was thinking more about this, and there are probably some models to borrow – particularly from fundraising, subscription, and CRM systems.
The first step might not be a full-on welfare check, but instead would be an automated email to encourage more engagement: “We noticed that you haven’t visited or posted in a while. There’s lots going on. Come back an see whats happening. Share your latest whatever.” And the options (links) would be:
- Ignore or do nothing (user does not click anything)
- Visit the Forum Now
- I’m fine. I’m just busy. Thanks for thinking of me, algorithm.
- Don’t bug me again (unsubscribe from emails such as this)
And the human “Welfare Check” protocol would kick in only for the “ignore or do nothing” subset after a period of time (one week or…)