How can we increase Forum Participation

[Peter McLennan]

...their accounts will be removed in XX days if they don't login and post

I know how I'd react to receiving such an ultimatum!

[AJ Konlucko]

...their accounts will be removed in XX days if they don't login and post

I know how I'd react to receiving such an ultimatum!

A few forums I am / have been a member of do this. Some advise you after 90 days and then removed your account after 180 days, others stop you from accessing / posting in some sections if you have not posted in xx days. When I ran my own forum a few years ago we used to send reminders every 6 months and then remove accounts after 12 months. It often would get people posting again which is the whole point of a forum. We also would give new members 30 days to post when they first joined up, after that they were removed. I would rather see a forum with 200 members who post than 1100 members, half of who have never posted anything. Having "unused" accounts can also be a security risk.

I know myself that at times I have received emails like this and they have prompted me to post on a forum I might have forgotten about...

[Peter McLennan]

Yes, I certainly should clean out all the old accounts. I do kinda like the look of having 1,000+ members though—and it adds to our credibility when I try to get writers' groups to advertise us.

[Star Greywood]

I actually have no issue with the kind of emails/PMs PGB is referring to. I've received them from other forums too, and like Paul said, it has either prompted with with a, "Crap! I haven't been there in AGES! I should post!" or a, "Oh well, I'll leave them to cancel it. Better than them having my email address on their system" etc, (And to be honest, I'm quick to take things to heart!! But I know that those sorts of emails are common and not a personal attack )

I also sympathise with Peter's comments about the member number being above 1000 That's a hard one bc we want credibility, but we also don't want empty seats. There's no point having inflated numbers that are nothing but hot air We need to get 1000+ legitimate members and the trick is to attract them That's all in advertising. (That's not a hint for you to investigate it etc, that's just a statement. My advertising experience is on the FB platform, but I can look into more if you'd like )

You've also made mention in the past about some places having reservations that the AWF is (somehow) self-serving. Thinking of a work-around, would you consider partners? That way they can't just say it's about one person??
Just thinking out aloud

✯

[AJ Konlucko]

That is an excellent reply, we thought out and I am glad you agree with me to some extent.
I agree we need to get more active members, I am a member of a few different forums and groups, the couple on Facebook seem to be the most active...

We do have a Facebook page but it does not seem to get a lot of use: https://www.facebook.com/Australian-Wri ... /timeline/

[AJ Konlucko]

Just as a side note, I have just checked all the websites that members have listed in their profiles. At least 50% don't exist any more or are for selling things like shoes and sunglasses.

[Star Greywood]

LOL! We need to re-name you "PGB Holmes" lol
You're either procrastinating (on your writing work) or very thorough lol

I have PM'd the Admin who has been looking after the AWF FB page in regards to helping out. I'm a liker of "The Writers' Circle" and they often post things that could be shared on to the AWF page etc. The more action on there, the better. I think that could help to encourage people across to the forum. time will tell

I manage my business FB page so have learned a few nifty things along the way. It's interesting to note the mentality of the masses these days. They want things to be convenient, and what's more convenient than logging into one app to see the updates from ALL of the pages that they've liked in one place? FB is currently driving sales and publicity for countless businesses/community groups/fundraisers/events across the world, and as much as I hate to give them credit (and pay them!!) for those sorts of things, I have to concede that they're managing to target a huge portion of the population so it's a train that businesses and others listed previously are well-advised to jump on.

[AJ Konlucko]

LOL! We need to re-name you "PGB Holmes" lol
You're either procrastinating (on your writing work) or very thorough lol

I like to be on top of things I have written around 1,000 words today but now need to do some research so had a look at the websites while doing some other jobs

I agree that Facebook is becoming more and more important, I am finding I am using that more and forums less.

[Peter McLennan]

Righto; I've added a task to my to-do list to email unused accounts, then close them (after waiting). I'll ensure that I leave us with at 200 members, for the sake of credibility.

I suck at advertising, so suggestions and efforts from others is vastly welcome. Having a formal AWF PR/advertising/marketing person could help.

And yes, I'm highly amenable to sharing the site admin responsibilities (which pretty much means site ownership). Unfortunately, and topically, we seem to have difficulty retaining moderators who may aspire to becoming admins!

Paul, if you've identified any spammers, please point them out to me. Bear in mind that writers almost always have non-writing jobs.

[AJ Konlucko]

Here are three that are just advertising:

http://www.australianwritersforum.org.a ... ile&u=1337

http://www.australianwritersforum.org.a ... ile&u=1340

http://www.australianwritersforum.org.a ... file&u=528

I have also found a lot which have websites which don't exist any more but I guess these are not so much of an issue.