Community Guide: Activating Lurkers

[Bas (Bas van Leeuwen)]

Thank you for your comments Simon!

@51mon

While you strike it through at the beginning you use it repeatedly thereafter

In my draft I used it throughout, since the guide was started by many questions using that word. During feedback @JammyDodger was quite vocal about not using the term and I agreed with him.
You’ll note that after striking it through, I use the term only twice more, both times in “quotes”

@51mon

Recognise that when you decide to do something that pushes somebody who is quite content as a reader in the direction that you’ve decided is beneficial (Who too?) then you’re maybe increasing their discomfort which may cause their exit to somewhere less ‘expensive/painful’

Yes, we should indeed be careful not to hard-push people. But a gentle nudge here and there can be beneficial. It’s fairly similar to real life, where the balance between disturbing, ignoring or engaging with a quiet person is quite hard.

@51mon

Recognise that for some you may have just increased that discomfort a notch. The phrase “holding them back” suggests that they want a behaviour and struggle to achieve it but they may have exactly the behaviour they want and far from being held back they are now being pushed over a precipice. This would be particularly true for long-term readers who would seem to have found a stable cost to value ratio that is satisfying them

Of course there are those who suffer from all the challenges you itemize such as impostor syndrome and knowledge gap, the lack of helping hand so your suggestions maybe all good for that population. Perhaps therefore you’d be better off reaching out to new ish readers EG those on their way to trust level 2, those that have already gone from 0 to 1+?

Again, the balance is hard.

I like the idea of focussing on those moving towards level two (note that you cannot achieve TL2 without active participation).

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With the rest of the comments too: I think you are making some very very valid points.
But we also shouldn’t be completely paralysed and afraid to reach out to other humans. Yes, you might cause a small bit of discomfort, but that’s life. If the intent is good, you provide a safe space to say no and you don’t keep pushing… I think it’s OK. If your personal style is different, than that is OK too.

@51mon

@Bas

think about what your members want out of their community.

this is a suggestion that I suggest needs guidance on how to break it down. Perhaps it’s your most valuable observation but too massive and implacable as it stands?

Yeah, this might warrant another full post indeed. It’s pretty much the core of what community management is: balancing your user needs with the company/orgs needs