Quote by TheAnalogKid
I think you missed my point...
It's not that people should seek out newbies day and night and welcome them... it's just that when a newbie does make an effort, ot should be embraced. There's a bit difference.
I'm not missing the point, and to a large extent I agree with it, I just don't see that anyone should feel obliged. New people in general are welcomed with open arms by many of the regs, the exceptions being those who get off on the wrong foot and make asses of themselves with their first post by attacking the site, and even those are given a lot of leeway, encouraged to look around and get a feel for the place and join in.
If a new person comes in a pub and does say hi, then sure, you can't expect the whole pub to stop and say hi back... but equally, you've got one hell of shitty pub if nobody says hi back.
Totally agree, and SH is not such a place. People do say hi back.
So yeah, you can say "not my job" or "can't be arsed", or "somebody else will do it". And often it will suffice, cos somebody else did it. But eventually, it will make for a lousy atmosphere with newcomers feeling less and less welcome in the end.
You seem to be looking at welcoming new people as some kind of chore which people would rather not do, and OK maybe there are people who feel that way, but there are plenty who don't, and who do embrace newcomers because they are genuinely pleased to see them and want to let them know that.
Here's the typical evolution of a site....
1) The site opens
2) The owner works off his nut and recruits a few good friends who help get the site roling
3) A few people join and leave cos it's new and small
4) A few people join and stay cos they like the idea of the site, and post, and spread the word etc...
5) The site gets a bit bigger, and a few more folk join up, they don't contribute quite as much - cos they think that the site owes them a service, not the other way round.
6) The site increases futher... the owner needs more help still, and has to recruit mods to help out, some of whom he knows, some he take s good guess at suitability
7) SOme of the mods keep s level head, some don't
8) Some of the regulars wonder why they aren't mods... and some of the mods don't like some of the regulars...
9) things settle down, with a contunuous undercurrent of criticism about certain members, but both appear to cope with each other
10) New people start coming in, and a few of the regulars and a few of the mods get some silly insecurities, and start being excessively harsh with newcomers and ban them, or take the piss out of them etc
11) Other newcomers notice it, and start to feel it's a bit 'unwelcoming' so stop coming
12) There's a power struggle brewing up... usually between 2 or 3 by now established cliques in the site...
13) There's a stupid argument that gets out of hand... resulting in about half of the regulars sulking and going off to another site, whilst the remaining half feel it's a fresh start with the 'decent' ones left (themselves)
Go back to step one
Yep, seen it plenty of times, and my answer is, this is not a typical site.
this really does happen time and time again, and most of it because people on the inside can't see from the outside, and refuse to acknowledge the outsiders view.
I think that's true of some established members, but I honestly think they are, at least in this community, in the minority among those who are active in the forums.
What does it say when people claim "if you want to fit in, then you can do so by doing all the work yourself, don't expect any favours from us?" Not that good reading is it?
/Kid
I've never seen anyone say it quite as dismissively as that, but it is largely up to the individual to make their contribution, not have it dragged out of them. Once people show that they want to join in, I think they get tremendous encouragement from many of the established members, but I think it really is up to each individual eventually to make their own mark. There are just too many people coming and going all the time for everyone to be hand-held. I don't mean that to sound uncaring, it's just that a lot of people will come in, have a look around, decide it's not for them and quietly leave. Beyond saying "Hi and welcome" and waiting to see if that person looks like they want to get involved, I don't think there's a great deal more we can do, simply because there are so many new arrivals all the time.
It's easy to miss a newbie if you haven't been in for a while and there are several pages of unread threads on the index page and you just have a little time to kill between getting home from work and cooking your tea, and I'm personally disappointed when I do miss them, but I don't think anyone has ever had a "Hi, I'm new here" post completely ignored.
Actually, I've just had an idea for how to make new arrivals easier to spot on the index page. I'll have a word with Mark about it.
In summary, no it's not perfect, but I do think it's pretty damn good.
Regards,
Ice
