Ways to attract new members to TechEnclave [Discuission]

[rootyme]

TechEnclave could be much bigger than it is at the moment. This forum is just as engaging, entertaining and informative as any other Social Media minus the toxicity.

But I mostly see older members posting limited stuff every single day. What can we do about this?

I can't think of any significant crowd puller off my mind. Maybe some brainstorming by fellow members could help us figure a way!

What if we send official invitations to the admins of smaller tech blogs to join this forum?

How about an official subreddit named r/techenclave? That could be used to promote the ongoing discussions here and invite humans to join TE.

 

[napstersquest]

I think onboarding here for new members is rough. Most members only join for the classifieds, and hence the general discussions gets flooded with messages that don't add anything of value (to achieve the criteria for disciple).
If we plan something for new members that would allow TE to remain safe and scam-free while allowing new members to engage without much spam, that would be very helpful.

Another thing is, I feel the longer-form text format of forums isn't actually for everyone. Nobody has time to read nowadays. Plus, most of the current-gen users are on mobile and mobile-usability of the site is still way off.

 

[gourav]

Forums like these are the remnants of the old, early 2000s, World Wide Web. Most such forums will have majority older members.

People who grew up with new age social media, i.e., post Facebook, prefer a single source of information. It's easier to have all types of interests catered to in one place.

Facebook groups, subreddits, Discord servers have replaced forums a long time ago. We here are mostly some oldies continuing the legacy of the old internet. There's nothing we can do to attract new members. This format is not compatible with current gen social media.

 

[rootyme]

If we plan something for new members that would allow TE to remain safe and scam-free while allowing new members to engage without much spam, that would be very helpful.

I reckon we could've be a more streamlined on-boarding process here. Newly joined members should be greeted with a page dedicated to introducing them to the diverse range of topis/subtopics this forum covers.

For eg. in the greeting page, they could be encouraged to:
i) Post the pics of their rigs with specs in one sub-section. They should also be encouraged to post their past rigs, if any.
ii) Post the pics, wallpapers of the smartphone(s) they use in another sub-section. They should be encouraged to detail experiences with them.
iii) Post their hobbies, interests in a separate sections.

This should make them feel at home. They can then gradually fit in with the community naturally.

For the scam-free Market thing, I think the best we can do is ensure that the contact/bank details of all the patrons are verified if they think of selling sth before being old enough here. Two months can be a good time limit to have. As for the new buyers, they will have to remit the full amount before the item is shipped.

In case the seller is somewhere in the middle, who has decided to scam after having a good rep here, his details are already with whoever he previously dealt with.

Nobody has time to read nowadays.

People waste more time scrolling, that is what you mean, right?

Plus, most of the current-gen users are on mobile and mobile-usability of the site is still way off.

Could you elaborate? It seems alright to me.

People who grew up with new age social media, i.e., post Facebook, prefer a single source of information. It's easier to have all types of interests catered to in one place.

Facebook groups, subreddits, Discord servers have replaced forums a long time ago. We here are mostly some oldies continuing the legacy of the old internet. There's nothing we can do to attract new members. This format is not compatible with current gen social media.

There is no accounting for tastes. I know many who have ditched Facebook long back and they have nothing to do with tech and stuff. They use Insta instead. I know I don't represent the majority but all three platforms you mentioned can and do get toxic very very easily. Telegram replacing XDA is sth that I can agree on.

I just hope that this forum lives on.

 

[roadrash99]

High quality content will attract people, there is no alternative to it. Becomes a chicken and egg problem though as fewer people leads to fewer content which leads to even fewer people. I think reddit/youtube might be the preferred platforms these days but something like techenclave does have its place though it won't attract massive engagement like those sites that have an algorithm to get people hooked. What techenclave can aspire to be is something like TeamBHP, which is a treasure trove of information that is much higher quality than on reddit for example. But from what I see the older users here also have low engagement.

 

[Futureized]

Most members only join for the classifieds, and hence the general discussions gets flooded with messages that don't add anything of value (to achieve the criteria for disciple).
If we plan something for new members that would allow TE to remain safe and scam-free while allowing new members to engage without much spam, that would be very helpful.

Completely agree

People who grew up with new age social media, i.e., post Facebook, prefer a single source of information. It's easier to have all types of interests catered to in one place.

Still there are forums in specific niche, where old/new members are very active.
Including tech forums.

 

[PunkX 75]

Forums like these are the remnants of the old, early 2000s, World Wide Web. Most such forums will have majority older members.

Pretty much, and this is the format I prefer. Nothing can replace old-school reading, commenting, and discussing in my book. Even websites like Overclock.net are similar and comprise mostly older members.

 

[Futureized]

Search "Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2023 XenForo Ltd."
With niche or keywords you will find lots of forums.

As well, There are forums where, footer line is not present.

 

[variablevector]

I may be completely off base here but I get the feeling that mods/admins here would prefer to keep it from growing too large. For example, the forum more or less makes an intentional decision to be less friendly to newbies. When you sign up, there are no welcoming messages with rules and guides etc. Generally not much communication is given to recruits at all and they're mostly met with silence when they ask things. I don't mind this attitude tbh -- not everything needs to target growth and expansion. And the difficulty of moderating the classified sections probably scales non-linearly with the number of people posting on there.

Also, more people != better content. It's usually the opposite. The more people you have, the more it is a race to the lowest common denominator among them.

 

[napstersquest]

People waste more time scrolling, that is what you mean, right?

Yes and no. The tech news, guides, answers to most questions are now available on short video format which is more entertaining and takes less time to extract information from, people might prefer that.

Could you elaborate? It seems alright to me.

Too many stickies on some subforums.
This is classifieds page 1 that contains 0 actual classifieds.
Not totallt against the stickies, but not ideal.

 

[rootyme]

Too many stickies on some subforums.
This is classifieds page 1 that contains 0 actual classifieds.
Not totallt against the stickies, but not ideal.
View attachment 192437

This can be easily fixed. @Crazy_Eddy Can create a new thread and mention links to all four of these sticky threads and pin that instead. The contents of that one sticky thread would be:

1. Guidelines on using the Market Section

* READ FIRST ! * Guidelines on how to use the market section

General Guidelines for using the market section How to start a For Sale (FS) thread How to start a Want To Buy (WTB) thread How to pack the goods for shipping How to submit the experience rating for deals that you participated in as a buyer or seller How to handle a dispute with a rating that...

techenclave.com

2. List of fraudulent members - Please check before dealing!

List of fraudulent members - Please check before dealing!

With the influx of members into the TE market, reported cases of fraudulent deals have increased. Sometimes it is lack of communication and misunderstanding between the members. However for the cases when its actually a fraud, let this thread be a reference. Since you are responsible for the...

techenclave.com

3... 4... In that order. This way, many more threads can be pinned in that one mega-thread without eating up so much space up top in classifieds.

 

[TEUser2K1]

Considering this is a technical forum, technical, hack stuff like the ones posted by blr_p, rsaeon, etc., they provide tremendously helpful info.
Episodes like mitsui are eye openers.
May be screen-by-screen guides on implementing FOSS s/w for selfhosted applications in Indian context can be helpful.

 

[jiith77]

Is there any purpose to attract extra members by going to Reddit etc. Wouldn't anyone who is interested in such a forum end up here anyways as it doesn't have a competition.

 

[nRiTeCh]

For every new joiners, distribute sweets and goodies, blow candles blast balloons etc. which will keep them motivated to keep using the forum
Go ahead, show your token of appreciation..

 

[spaceinzero]

New to techenclave here, earning Trophy points itself pain.. SMH

 

[njsam]

Speaking as a new member, I don't understand why commenting on posts doesn't count towards your activity and only making new posts does. I feel like that encourages spamming for the sake of moving up in ranks rather than encouraging contributing and adding to existing posts

 

[Spidy_Tm]

How can I increase my reputation without spamming