Comments on: Turning ”I’m outta here” into ”I’m back”

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:33:03 +0000

Like anything people may decide to lie low for a while or even forget that they registered on your site. Just because they haven’t contributed for a while doesn’t mean that they won’t offer a valuable contribution in the future. Sometimes sending a helpful reminder can help

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:25:08 +0000

It can be tough to determine why some people participate and then leave.

Some people can be flakey and act like this while others may get busy with their careers or family life.

Don’t worry about a few members leaving.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:52:06 +0000

I agree that you shouldn’t focus on every missing member. Sometimes I’ll have a member post a “Who do you miss?” thread or something similar, sometimes just talking to members or reading posts people will reference somebody that hasn’t been around. Often times after such an initiative other members will contact the person if possible; they’ll realize that they’ve been missed by the community and not just being asked for activity from the admin!

By: Mr Woc

Mr Woc — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:21:26 +0000

Hi guys some interesting reading there, and ive done well to read it as its gone midnight here lol, I would say getting people back to your website over and over is a bit of an extra skill that I havent quite mastered myself yet.

Woc

By: Jonalyn

Jonalyn — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:28:07 +0000

It can be very hard to get inactive members to come back, but is definitely worth it in my opinion. I do also agree that sending emails is not enough, fixing the problem and inviting them back is the appropriate course of action ( as you said Martin ).

By: Mariann Jabay

Mariann Jabay — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:05:36 +0000

well this is very common to almost all organizations and communities. many members lost the will to be a member after sometime. but with proper persuasion, you can surely bring your member back. one community or organization should have a good leader to be able to do the bringing back of the lost members.

By: sally

sally — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:28:19 +0000

Yes, it was technical. But not in the way that you think. I’m not trying to be coy–I’m just not comfortable saying publicly what it exactly was. The forum is one I am currently still on and it is a very large forum.
I know I’m being too vague for this ‘example’ to be of much use to anyone. But what I was trying to say is that from my piont of view the ‘problem’ was quite obvious and it would be very logical to get it fixed.
The ‘problem’ was one that impacted every member in the end; not just me.

Sometimes forum owners have different objectives from the the ‘members’ Sometimes the members think the objectives are the same and most of the time, they are. But maybe sometimes the forum gets so large that it starts to work against itself. The forum owners lose interest in attracting new members and keeping them. They feel they’ve already got enough. If an individual speaks up and wants a change here or there or has a legitimate complaint—there’s little incentive in helping them. If they stay, they stay. If they go….then let them go. What’s one person, more or less, when you’ve already got ten thousand? It’s not a feeling of hostility but more just a feeling of inertia.
Martin is right—you shouldn’t focus on just the numbers or get obsessed with that. But EVERYONE has “the numbers” always in the back of their head. The number is too large. Or the number is too small. You always keep it in the periphery of your vision…even when you don’t want to.

Sorry for this long post. I drank too much coffee!

By: Nicole Price

Nicole Price — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:08:49 +0000

Was the problem identified by you technical? If so, this is understandable and the moderator may not have been able to attend to it. In any case, the lack of follow up and not acting on the complaint sure is a short cut to losing users.

By: sally

sally — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:53:25 +0000

Here’s an example from another users piont of view. Not very long ago, I posted on a forum about what the problem was and why I found it hard to stay there. Guess what happened? My post was deleted and a moderator sent me a pm; saying in a polite way that I had been rude about it. I realized later on that my post had been a bit over the top and we both *hugged* and so on and so on. In the meantime? the problem, the specific problem never got fixed, and never has been fixed and I am going to assume by this time that it never will. And this kind of thing happens too often. The forum owners or the moderators seem to want to help, they welcome all suggestions, but when it comes to “fixing the problem” in reality they almost come to a complete stop. There is a lack of will. No one seems to want members to leave….but by their own actions, they encourage members to leave. And maybe it’s not even conscious. Maybe they have to fight people higher up to get changes through, and they’re tired of it. Could be a lot of reasons. But I know that as soon as you start thinking of the individual and what you can do, you start thinking of the group and how it will impact them. Maybe there’s only been a few complaints. It’s almost as if you’ve automatically set up a wall in your mind against the individual, because you have to protect the group and think of the group first.

By: Martin Reed - Blog Author

Martin Reed - Blog Author — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:33:14 +0000

fastcars – I agree; sending emails asking members to come back isn’t enough. You need to find out why that member left, fix the problem and then invite them back.