Member Introduction Section

[Mike Cash]

I've recently been reflecting on the phenomenon of people joining the site, making an introductory post....and then permanently disappearing into the ether. It happens so much it is not an exaggeration to say it is the norm. It must have the highest incidence of drive-by posters of any section on the site.

Could we not get along just as well without it?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

But that would end my 10 or twenty posts a year I get . Maybe we need male & female stripers to keep them coming back.

 

[thomas]

Thanks for your suggestion, Mike!

Even though we encourage new members to introduce themselves by linking our welcome mail to the Membership section, only very few signups comply. I haven't really compared the numbers, but most of the more active fora see their fair share of fly-by posting. Given the tiny trickle of members still posting at all I'm a bit reluctant to deprive them of that opportunity.

In order to streamline the forum I'm thinking of merging the Community and the Member Introduction sections. Other inactive sections could be converted into subfora in order to take up less real estate on the forum index page. Of course, I'm open to suggestions.

We might be in for a little clean-up before the New Year.

 

[Mike Cash]

My suggestion would be to have a minimum post count requirement before anyone can start a thread in the Member Introduction section.

It would eliminate the pointless and useless threads from people who never say anything again after introducing themselves. If that's all they were going to do then I'd just as soon not hear from them in the first place.

 

[nice gaijin]

if they don't have an apparent home, those posts may spill out elsewhere. I don't mind the idea of making a minimum post requirement to make new threads, if we can specifically tell users trying to create their introduction thread that they must first participate in some other discussions, then they can create an intro thread...

This may have some unintended consequences on user behavior. I personally don't really reference the member intros unless I'm interested in knowing more about a member I'm unfamiliar with.. so this issue doesn't really affect me.

If the member threads bother you and you aren't the kind to respond to lots of them and roll out the welcome mat for people (sorry, I don't do this kind of thing anymore), you can hide the member intro sub-forum from showing up when you search for "New Posts"

 

[thomas]

Update - Forum cleanup | Japan Forum

I'll think about the minimum post requirement for the Community section. If I remember correctly, in vBulletin the Member Lounge could only be accessed by senior members.

 

[Weegee]

I've recently been reflecting on the phenomenon of people joining the site, making an introductory post....and then permanently disappearing into the ether. It happens so much it is not an exaggeration to say it is the norm. It must have the highest incidence of drive-by posters of any section on the site.

Could we not get along just as well without it?

Well, I'm the opposite. I have been on hundreds of forums since 1998nand never introduce myself. I just join in and look at all the forums as one big family. But since JREF keeps pestering me for an intro I will do it.

 

[mdchachi]

Update - Forum cleanup | Japan Forum

I'll think about the minimum post requirement for the Community section. If I remember correctly, in vBulletin the Member Lounge could only be accessed by senior members.

My working assumption has been that any new content is good for you. Even if the member never posts again, that is one more post that is picked up by search engines, potentially shows up in search results, potential ad impressions and potentially clicked on by someone earning you 1 yen or whatever it may be to pay for your costs and, hopefully, beer money or more. If that's correct, then it's not helpful to add barriers to new "content."

 

[Mike Cash]

My working assumption has been that any new content is good for you. Even if the member never posts again, that is one more post that is picked up by search engines, potentially shows up in search results, potential ad impressions and potentially clicked on by someone earning you 1 yen or whatever it may be to pay for your costs and, hopefully, beer money or more. If that's correct, then it's not helpful to add barriers to new "content."

Then we should allow spambots.....

 

[mdchachi]

Then we should allow spambots.....

That goes against the TOS, for obvious reasons.

 

[thomas]

Well, I'm the opposite. I have been on hundreds of forums since 1998 and never introduce myself. I just join in and look at all the forums as one big family. But since JREF keeps pestering me for an intro I will do it.

Some people introduce themselves, some don't. Generally, introductions are seen as a friendly gesture towards the community. I agree that if you have no intention to stay and contribute, they don't make a lot of sense.

Anyhow, as we don't intend to pester new members I've done away with the pop-up notice.