Moo's Vision For ADISC

[Raccoon]

Dear Moo,

Could you please, at your convenience, create a Mission Statement describing what you want ADISC to be? This would help us be better in synch with achieving it.

I suspect since ADISC changes in nature over time with respect to advances in technology, it size, membership input, and the results of various experiments, you may well prefer to define this in terms of what ADISC aims to DO, it goals, rather than its state.

I assume that we want to be a tight-knit community, a welcoming place for newbies and veterans alike, directly supportive in terms of information, advice, and moral support, and indirectly (though equally importantly) supportive through fostering close and meaningful interpersonal relationships. But how we are to attain this - according to YOUR opinion, YOUR vision, isn't always completely clear.

For instance, to what extent should we rely on newcomers to figure out for themselves how to fit in, as opposed to teaching them, leading them, even coddling them?

Are we moving back to an organic growth model - where people find their own way here, and expend effort to learn our ways?

Or do we want to go all out to grow fast, mandating new ways to ensure newbies are not simply greeted but are given other ways and means to be incorporated into our social fabric?

Are there set quantifiables, like an ideal size, rate of growth, average growth in rep/member/day - or are these flexible and subordinate to qualitative, descriptive goals?

I pose these ideas as points to consider, not as pointed questions demanding a specific answer. You built the site, incorporating all the features that made it what it is; I merely ask for some guidance so we all are on the same page.

[Cupcake]

Why wouldn't you just PM him?

[jter42]

Originally Posted by Abby

Why wouldn't you just PM him?

Because he wanted others to know Moos plans.

[Moo]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

Dear Moo,

Could you please, at your convenience, create a Mission Statement describing what you want ADISC to be? This would help us be better in synch with achieving it.

I suspect since ADISC changes in nature over time with respect to advances in technology, it size, membership input, and the results of various experiments, you may well prefer to define this in terms of what ADISC aims to DO, it goals, rather than its state.

I assume that we want to be a tight-knit community, a welcoming place for newbies and veterans alike, directly supportive in terms of information, advice, and moral support, and indirectly (though equally importantly) supportive through fostering close and meaningful interpersonal relationships. But how we are to attain this - according to YOUR opinion, YOUR vision, isn't always completely clear.

For instance, to what extent should we rely on newcomers to figure out for themselves how to fit in, as opposed to teaching them, leading them, even coddling them?

Are we moving back to an organic growth model - where people find their own way here, and expend effort to learn our ways?

Or do we want to go all out to grow fast, mandating new ways to ensure newbies are not simply greeted but are given other ways and means to be incorporated into our social fabric?

Are there set quantifiables, like an ideal size, rate of growth, average growth in rep/member/day - or are these flexible and subordinate to qualitative, descriptive goals?

I pose these ideas as points to consider, not as pointed questions demanding a specific answer. You built the site, incorporating all the features that made it what it is; I merely ask for some guidance so we all are on the same page.

ADISC is meant to be a supportive social community for (mainly young) people who like diapers. There are lots of groups who we are here for (ABies, TBs, DLs, babyfurs, incontinent folk... etc) but 'people who like diapers' is our core audience.

We should help newcomers fit in, but more important than that is that we are friendly to them, we come across as trying to help, rather than lecturing or demanding.

Growth is essential - because if we aren't growing, we're stagnating. On the other hand, welcoming newbies isn't really about growth, its about simply being a good, supportive community. I'm not aiming for a huge amount of growth right now, I'm actually more concentrating on the friendliness and social interaction within the community.

These goals aren't really quanitifiable, though if I had to quantify them I'd measure them in terms of what percentage of new people registering go on to become productive members of the community. The percentage of new people that we convert from lurkers, into people who are active and nice members of the community. That, for me, is my primary metric by which I measure the success of the site.

[Raccoon]

Ah yes. Now first of all let me apologise for my recent thread-spamming; I apologise to Moo, the mods, and the membership in general; I caused unnecessary fuss and work. The fact that no harm was meant or done, and my intentions were good is beside the point: I set a bad example.

That having been said the experiment yielded an important result: that newbies being greeted is not enough. Now most I believe were sincere in registering: they did register and were active in their greeting threads. But after a 4-10 post greeting thread very many went inactive. Why?

Let's quickly look at the ones who came through "organic growth" - the ones who made their way here, stopping off at the other sites on the way, and finding them not to their liking. They lurked, reading posts, and deciding this was where they were meant to be. They would be familiar with Teenbaby, Off-topic, and the other forums where they would want to be involved; they would post, and when they made mistakes, they would learn from the advice, redirection (we know you like ageplay, wearing in public, or other diaper-fun, but if you give us some more info that will help us get to know one another.) So they would work, and sometimes struggle, to fit in, not by "sucking up" - by telling us what they thought we wanted to hear - but by establishing person-to-person interaction, saying interesting things, asking questions, telling their story, and commenting on others'.

Then there were the many new ones who signed up expecting we were all about diaper play, in its many forms, but either didn't want to or didn't know how to go beyond that. Didn't want to - they should have lurked more, or been told about our nature, so they didn't waste their time, and ours. But if they didn't know how:

these are the critical ones. Now some who come here - with their wide range of ages, intelligence and forum experience - can cope, being quick on the uptake or having experience on other social sites. Fot the others, there should be a tutorial detour, whereby, if they choose, they can familiarise themselves with where they might go outside of greetings, the forum utilities, and tips on participating. This is for the shy ones, the timid ones scared to post for fear of grammar-nazis or making a critical flame-attracting post, and the lost ones.

Ideas for them include a guided interactive tour: find and post to a forum-games thread, huggle a furry, report a post (pre-supplied,) edit the wiki, start a blog. This would also work for existing members who haven't explored the site's utilities, and hidden corners; there is a perfectly good twitter (Abby, Incomplete Dude) ADISC.org Unofficial (adisc) on Twitter that deserves more views, for instance. Having a wiki-based Encyclopedia ADISCIA with all our rules, customs, and site-specific info in one place would serve many functions as a reference. A post-registration voluntary questionnaire might work: what tempted you to join, how do you like it so far, did you come looking for something we don't offer, etc. Obviously, just for the "obviously lost" ones, not the ace detectives who know what they are doing.

But besides prodding them to participate, a key issue concerns the site mechanics. Once a newbie has had an active intro thread, they tend to be ignored, and their thread is bumped; when the thread isn't visible it goes on to be really ignored. All I can suggest is:
1. more careful marketing to not attract the ones who aren't going to enjoy ADISC in the first place
2. In that marketing, a SMALL primer of what we are about, to pre-familiarize people
3. more intense methods of getting the newbie to travel outside of intro forum and participate in the rest of the forum
4 Ways (threads) to engage a newbie's attention and enjoyment quickly: a non-static list of a member's 3? 5? highest-repped posts, with an icon in the post-bit? option on clicking their name

View Public Profile
Send a PM
Find More Posts by Him
Contact Info
See His 3 Best posts

This list being non-static is key, or it will warrant only one view; maybe it could be structured as a slideshow whereby each new view/eack click displays 3 new posts in rep-ranking. Maybe the click would not expose the post, but its url so as to promote its thread. Maybe the list could be member-made and not rely on rep; it could be images, poems, cuddling a member in grief, or debate on something, or a suggestion they made that got incorporated. And its oldest posts age out so it would be added to constantly.

Basically, we would give, and make obvious different paths: Jump right in, or get tips along the way, or have a place to study if you really want to fit in but JUST can't get the hang of it.

[Lil Snap]

It seems,through all of the threads that you have launched and continuing these conversations, that you think that ADISC is broken and that the way we work is flawed and needs re-forming.

I would beg to differ.

You can't make someone participate in something that they (ultimately) don't want to participate in. Going to all these extraordinary lengths to coerce newbies into any form of participation rather than allowing those that are truly interested in this community to step up, get involved and contributing in a genuine, honest, straightforward manner doesn't help the community and would provide a disingenuous result at best.

We have a thriving community of like minded people who generally enjoy being here and participating (on some level, at the least) otherwise they would leave. It's unfair to expect that EVERY person that signs up here and has a peek around is going to have that same level of interest. It's up to the individual to decide if, when, and how much they join in.

We have hundreds of signups a month. Why is it necessary to fret if 8 out of 10 decide that this isn't what they are looking for, especially if the 2 remaining work at becoming solid members of the community?

[Dreamaker]

Just to add to Lil Snaps post. My forum had 500 members, 30 of which were active. Me and the other admins knew this was quite average. Some of our members were, like Racoon is here, quite bother about that. If you want to find out more about what's normal or not on small/medium forums, to to theadminzone.com and talk to some of the people there.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by Lil Snap

It seems,through all of the threads that you have launched and continuing these conversations, that you think that ADISC is broken and that the way we work is flawed and needs re-forming.

Not at all. Adisc is thriving; I love Adisc and am committed to it. But there are spots that could be improved; the constant urge to reform and adapt is part of the growth process, as much as size growth. The constant seeking of ways to improve prevents us looking like DPF or falling behind the times, and just plain keeps the site interesting as it changes incrementally.

Plus it is not only important for present members to have a good experience and for the site to function. Each and every person's experience is important: members', newbies', future members'.

You can't make someone participate in something that they (ultimately) don't want to participate in. Going to all these extraordinary lengths to coerce newbies into any form of participation rather than allowing those that are truly interested in this community to step up, get involved and contributing in a genuine, honest, straightforward manner doesn't help the community and would provide a disingenuous result at best.

Encouraging is not coercing. Providing opportunity is not legislating. Allowing for different paths into participation reaches out to everyone, instead of a one size fits all model.

We have a thriving community of like minded people who generally enjoy being here and participating (on some level, at the least) otherwise they would leave. It's unfair to expect that EVERY person that signs up here and has a peek around is going to have that same level of interest. It's up to the individual to decide if, when, and how much they join in.

And they have that choice; but we can make it easier for each and all to EXERCISE their choice.

We have hundreds of signups a month. Why is it necessary to fret if 8 out of 10 decide that this isn't what they are looking for, especially if the 2 remaining work at becoming solid members of the community?

because in those 8/10, 5 won't stay and be active anyway, but the remaining 3 are the ones whose inability to fit in though they want to needs to be addressed. Who knows what great contribution they have made? This is both for their sake and ours. Besides which, per Moo, the rate of new members joining has already dropped; each new person is proportionately more important.

[avery]

Originally Posted by Raccoon

Ideas for them include a guided interactive tour: find and post to a forum-games thread, huggle a furry, report a post (pre-supplied,) edit the wiki, start a blog. This would also work for existing members who haven't explored the site's utilities, and hidden corners; there is a perfectly good twitter (Abby, Incomplete Dude) ADISC.org Unofficial (adisc) on Twitter that deserves more views, for instance. Having a wiki-based Encyclopedia ADISCIA with all our rules, customs, and site-specific info in one place would serve many functions as a reference. A post-registration voluntary questionnaire might work: what tempted you to join, how do you like it so far, did you come looking for something we don't offer, etc. Obviously, just for the "obviously lost" ones, not the ace detectives who know what they are doing.

But besides prodding them to participate, a key issue concerns the site mechanics. Once a newbie has had an active intro thread, they tend to be ignored, and their thread is bumped; when the thread isn't visible it goes on to be really ignored. All I can suggest is:
1. more careful marketing to not attract the ones who aren't going to enjoy ADISC in the first place
2. In that marketing, a SMALL primer of what we are about, to pre-familiarize people
3. more intense methods of getting the newbie to travel outside of intro forum and participate in the rest of the forum
4 Ways (threads) to engage a newbie's attention and enjoyment quickly: a non-static list of a member's 3? 5? highest-repped posts, with an icon in the post-bit? option on clicking their name

...or couldn't we just give our new members some peace...?

most people who join a new forum probably don't want to be harrassed and pestered with a bunch of intrusive schemes to get them posting. they just want to shake hands and say howdy and then decide for themselves whether they want to stay or not.

the best way to encourage them to stay is to contribute quality material to the forum discussions. that way guests and new arrivals will see a healthy, thriving forum with a warm community feel and lots of interesting things to talk about.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by avery

...or couldn't we just give our new members some peace...?

most people who join a new forum probably don't want to be harrassed and pestered with a bunch of intrusive schemes to get them posting. they just want to shake hands and say howdy and then decide for themselves whether they want to stay or not.

the best way to encourage them to stay is to contribute quality material to the forum discussions. that way guests and new arrivals will see a healthy, thriving forum with a warm community feel and lots of interesting things to talk about.

Under the organic growth model, the people coming here are already mostly committed to making the effort to be productive members. Under that model the number of new members per day will be small enough that it is easy to engage each individually. The ideas I proposed really apply to coping with a surge of new members, to ensure that they don't get trampled under or ignored. And if in the future we do experience the kind of sudden massive growth we saw recently then these ideas offer ways to cope.