Inactive members

[Smiley]

You know, I'm now tempted to say "show me yours and I'll show you mine", but I'm worried you might horribly misinterpret my intentions.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Real members should have real pics up of themselves for starters.

Well for me I find it very strange that you all hide behind cartoons.

It's actually pretty uncommon for a person to put up an actual face pic of their actual face.
...Unless you're on some sort of dating site, the you'd probably see a lot of personal pictures used as avatars.

 

[+paradox]

mines not a cartoon, or is it?

 

[Evil Eye]

It's actually pretty uncommon for a person to put up an actual face pic of their actual face.

Facebook has spoiled people in that regard

 

[Smiley]

To add more to the original topic.

I can't speak for anyone else, but when I become inactive on a forum, it's either because I lost interest in it or because the local population chased me away with their hostility.

Best way for me to lose an interest in a forum is by seeing others not doing anything. Regular members not posting, staff members not caring enough to do something about it, etc. If no one else wants to post - why should I? What's the point? What's in it for me? I don't need an Internet forum to talk to myself. I can do that offlline too.

As for being chased away, I believe that's pretty much self-explanatory. Basically, if I'm constantly hounded by other members and / or staff members, if everything I say is put under the magnifying glass, weighted, measured, taken out of context and used against me, it certainly won't encourage me to be more active.

I also don't respond well when someone tries to engage me in a debate, especially if the person is known for having his / her head shoved up his ass and cares only about winning to get an ego boost. Excellent way for me to become inactive.

 

[Mercedes01]

It's actually pretty uncommon for a person to put up an actual face pic of their actual face.
...Unless you're on some sort of dating site, the you'd probably see a lot of personal pictures used as avatars.

I'm on all sorts of forums which is all about interacting with other people.

I like to know who I'm interacting with dating site or no dating site.

 

[Mercedes01]

To add more to the original topic.

I can't speak for anyone else, but when I become inactive on a forum, it's either because I lost interest in it or because the local population chased me away with their hostility.

Best way for me to lose an interest in a forum is by seeing others not doing anything. Regular members not posting, staff members not caring enough to do something about it, etc. If no one else wants to post - why should I? What's the point? What's in it for me? I don't need an Internet forum to talk to myself. I can do that offlline too.

As for being chased away, I believe that's pretty much self-explanatory. Basically, if I'm constantly hounded by other members and / or staff members, if everything I say is put under the magnifying glass, weighted, measured, taken out of context and used against me, it certainly won't encourage me to be more active.

I also don't respond well when someone tries to engage me in a debate, especially if the person is known for having his / her head shoved up his ass and cares only about winning to get an ego boost. Excellent way for me to become inactive.

You have spoken for me!~

 

[Mercedes01]

mines not a cartoon, or is it?

 

[Cory]

• Why do you think members go inactive and stop logging in?
• What is the best way to get an inactive member active again?
• Would you delete an inactive member who has posted around the forum but hasn't logged in for years?

1. A lack of interest/motivation, found a better forum to suit their needs, too busy with real life, stopped using forums altogether, social media takeover, etc.

2. Perhaps send out mass emails regularly to let your member base know what is going on around the forum, give them some type of incentive to be active, engage with them when they do post on your forum, etc.

3. No.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

1. A lack of interest/motivation, found a better forum to suit their needs, too busy with real life, stopped using forums altogether, social media takeover, etc.

2. Perhaps send out mass emails regularly to let your member base know what is going on around the forum, give them some type of incentive to be active, engage with them when they do post on your forum, etc.

3. No.

Great tips!

 

[Cory]

Great tips!

I guess being on message boards for nearly two decades does give me a few good things to tip-off.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I guess being on message boards for nearly two decades does give me a few good things to tip-off.

20 years! Thats a long time. Well I suppose I've been doing this for almost that long too.

 

[InMyOpinion]

• Why do you think members go inactive and stop logging in?
• What is the best way to get an inactive member active again?
• Would you delete an inactive member who has posted around the forum but hasn't logged in for years?

• Why do you think members go inactive and stop logging in?

I think there are a lot of reasons as to why some members go inactive and stop logging in. I myself tend to go inactive on forums all the time. I just get really busy in real life so I have less time to post online. It doesn't mean that I lost interest it just means at that moment there is more important things that are needing my attention.

• What is the best way to get an inactive member active again?

What I've done in the past to nudge inactive members was to email them asking them how they've been what's been new in their life. I'll also give them links to 5-7 different threads that I think they would be personally interested in. I also let them know that they are missed and would love to see them active again on the forum.

• Would you delete an inactive member who has posted around the forum but hasn't logged in for years?

I would never delete inactive members because though a member is inactive now doesn't mean they will never be active again. I myself tend to go inactive for a while before returning to a forum so if I were to return to a forum to find out that my account was deleted I wouldn't feel as welcomed and I would feel like the past posts and threads I posted weren't appreciated so I would just find another forum to go on. That being said I wouldn't want anyone to feel that way on my forum (when I had one) so I would never delete anyone unless they were breaking the rules.