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LadyPact -> RE: What can we do to [train] new posters? (12/19/2013 1:08:12 PM)
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ORIGINAL: lovethyself
LP, I think it's in the Forum guidelines or the FAQ (wherever they list the explanation for the vanilla cone) that if you want to up your post count and rid yourself of the vanilla cone, to go play in the humour and games section. I vaguely recall reading that in the beginning, and that's honestly where the majority of my post count comes from. I figured if I had a higher count, I would get more benefit of doubt on my posts, since I wouldn't appear to be a complete newbie to the forums.
Plus, I like parts of that area (LOTPW is fun *giggles*).
That last part I knew. [;)]
It's great that you found that part. However, if the argument is true that a lot of folks don't read the guidelines and FAQs before diving in, it goes to the same principle. In fact, I think you are a perfect example of the theory that it helps folks to ease in.
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The up coming events is a dead avenue in my city. I think I've come across maybe 2 people in our kink community that are actually on (or have been on) CM, and neither posted on the forums. I know Lucylastic is in my city, but I haven't met her in person yet. Everyone is on Fet, that's where the event listing are, the local groups, etc. Why would I post about my local event in the forums when I know that no one that will come is going to read it here?
For the very reason being that you don't know. Don't get Me wrong. Fet is vastly superior for finding any current event. What it doesn't do is retain your past events.
There's been an awful lot on this thread to say that new people don't stay because they get treated so harshly on the forums. In My opinion, that's not the whole thing. There's also the part where people split because of the three major complaints. That everybody's fake, a scammer, or into fin kink. If there is something solid that posters can do around here is show people just how incorrect of a premise that can be.
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Personally, the positive experiences section, while heartwarming to read, is somewhat hindered by the requirement to name the person you've met. This is primarily a dating site. While there are social aspects of it, that's what most of the people with profiles are interested in. That being said, do I really want to name the person that is now my ex, even if everything is fine between us? I don't know who he is going to date next, or if she will even be sane. I'd be fine sharing my experience, from my perspective. What I don't like is being forced to name someone if I want to share that experience. I don't understand why it's forced for positive experiences, and banned for negative ones.
A lot of people have the attitude that it's a dating site but the demographics of the posters prove that it's not. If it was, you wouldn't have posters like Oside, MariaB, or Des, or a hundred others I could name, Myself included. Some of those new posters are already in dynamics when they get here, too. We are talking about forum posters here and not profiles.
It is heartwarming to see the threads where people have found each other specifically for a dynamic. I'm a sucker for a happy ending on that front. Still, isn't it also nice to hear the other stuff where it was just a couple of forum members that got the chance to meet and have a cup of coffee? They happen to be in the same city and met at a munch? When one member went to a presentation of the other one? Some of the most popular Positive Experience threads that have been on that forum have been about house parties, gatherings of several CM members in a particular city, or where multiple CM folks took the time to meet each other at an event.
If we're going to look at the whole picture, I don't think we can go only on the theory that new posters don't stay because they are treated harshly on the forums. If that was the case nobody would have stayed because the conversations here have never been about patting people on the head. We also have to look at the fact of how discouraging the place must appear when there are more threads about fakes than there are about people who have met each other face to face and that they are <gasp> doing things.
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