Have you introduced yourself yet?

Have you introduced yourself yet?

Did you know that in a typical online community, 90% of members never post? But we’d love to hear from everyone! Help us be different by simply saying hello.
Say hi :wave:

I thought it would be interesting to provide a bit more context around this, so here goes…

Why does introducing yourself matter?

- Participation inequality in online communities -
Adapted from the classic work of Jakob Nielsen

Most online communities like ours tend to follow a 90—9—1 rule:

...../*\ 1% of members participate a lot and account for most contributions
..../+++\ 9% of members contribute occasionally, but other priorities dominate their time
.../-----\ 90% of members are lurkers (i.e., read or observe, but don’t contribute)
../-------\
./---------\
/-----------\

There are lots of reasons for this, from people not feeling like they have anything to offer, to not having enough time and so on. Communities are different things to different people, and that’s OK.

Given a small number of us are particularly active, it’s normal that we’ll post the most. But the risk we run is not hearing from 90% of the community. In fact, we can flip the triangle on it’s head:

.\*********/ 1% of members make 90% of the posts
..\*******/
...\*****/
....\+++/ 9% of members make 10% of the posts
.....\+/
......v 90% of members don’t post at all

This ‘participation inequality’ is to be expected to an extent. But it can be a problem when it comes to discussions that affect the community (e.g. how we can build an effective network) or decisions we make collectively (e.g. voting on requested features). If we don’t hear from 90% of members, how can we be sure we’re being representative?

Everyone should feel able to have a say in the discussions that affect the community. So, we want to make sure that everyone is comfortable enough to participate if they want to.

Introducing yourself is a great start. We’re a friendly bunch and are always keen to hear from anyone interested in community repair (no matter whether you’re already involved or not).

:bulb: No time to post or not ready yet?
You can still make your voice heard by :heart: liking posts, :ballot_box: voting on requested features, or joining a :busts_in_silhouette: regional discussion group

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