I think engagement is the key to retaining new members and also building communities. This post today in the Shadow Hunters Community expresses something I hear often. We all need to put more focus on engaging with new users!
Building community is the heart of Hive. That's a good point in the post.
Agree with you that engagement is the key and it was always like that... Hive is a bit different compared to other social media as people come here without knowing more than 1 person on the chain... It's hard to expect that anyone can get 10 friends on the first post, but also there should be a healthy "system" of showing newbies where to go, and how to start... It sounds ridiculous in some way as it looks like taking a small child by hand on the street, but there is a need for something like that...
On the other side, engaging just for the sake of engaging has no sense in the same way as creating posts just to create... Don't know the secret formula of "showing to people" the real values of engagement... I suppose that's personal and unique for everyone...
Thanks for the comment! It made me think :)
The Shadow Hunters Community is friendly and easy for newbees to enter contests. It's not about fine photography and they only must write 50 words. By entering they begin to learn how to create a post. They must learn how to copy their link and include it in a comment on the contest post. All babysteps, but each one gives confidence that they can do this! We have 13 winners every week, with our goal being to spread prizes around within the community, not necessarily award the best photos. As the contest has grown it has become more difficult for me to always write meaningful comments, but everyone gets a vote and a comment from me and from the community account. Sometimes it is the first time their efforts have received any response at all. I believe there are a few contests and communities that encourage new users to stay on Hive!
You are doing a great job for the community, Melinda! Those baby steps are crucial to make toward creating something more... I have checked out the post that you linked in the comment above and left my reply... That post was a great example of how the Shadow Hunters community isn't only about shadows... :)
Thank you for all the work you are doing on, and for HIVE! ❤️