Community Guide: Activating Lurkers

Thank you for your comments Simon!

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” :slight_smile:

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.

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).


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.

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 :slight_smile:

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