Suggestion: would a buddy system be useful?

[CliCliW]

Hi there! I often browse through the new users section and I've read the complaint once or twice that it's difficult To talk To people when the forum is so massive. I've experienced it myself where I'll send someone a message and barely get a reply. It's pretty disheartening if you ask me.

With that in mind I'd like To ask would a buddy system be of any use in the forum? Basically more experienced members pair up with new members who would like a friend starting out and chat, encourage them To post threads or comments and in general make sure all is well. Would it be of any benefit To the forum at all?

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

Isn't that what Welcome Lounge is for?

 

[Hikamaru]

I think we've had "Adopt A Newbie" initiatives before, but I can't seem to find them. Someone else will be the expert at that.

What Sotomura was talking about was the old "PC Adoption Center" that The Welcome Lounge had for a while. It was initially started back when [supporter]Meganium90[/supporter] was modding the section and continued into the period where Cirno took over the position but it was closed back in January because it apparently put stress on the members involved who had mentor roles and the newbies were joining the program for purposes other than what it is intended for, as well as the recruited newbies often going inactive shortly after joining. So yeah, it was closed by mod discretion and has not yet been re-opened since.

Here's a link to the old thread to give you an idea on how it worked.

 

[Sheep]

Yeah, the Adoption Center was originally intended to be a way to help show newbies around sections of the forum they were interested in, but Hikari hit the nail on the head with saying that it started being used for other purposes; I've received several complaints from mentors across the half a year I hosted it. I'd say less than 5% of the newbies "adopted" by more experienced members actually went through and were successful. It wasn't very useful at helping new members find a friend, either. It was a tough decision to close it but I did have a thorough discussion on that topic with my mod partner at the time and we were both in agreement.

I do try to talk to every newbie I meet and do my best to encourage people to befriend and chat with me, but there's only so much you can do on a forum of this size. :( Some people are either not very interested to talk, might forget to reply, are having a bad day, and so on. Not receiving a reply sometimes happens to everyone, regardless of whether they're a new or old member. It's something that's out of our control and I'm sorry that it puts some new members away from the community.

I'm not sure how well an actual buddy system would work here given the Adoption Center's circumstances, but we do have the New Users' Hangout where peeps (regardless of if they're a newbie or not) are encouraged to chat with others and make friends. Everyone that frequents the welcoming boards are up for a chat anytime!

 

[Meganium]

To add on what Cirny said in regards to the Adoption Center program, it was also closed because not many new members were taking the program all too seriously, which was the main reason why it placed a lot of stress with the members. As we get a large influx of members that are interested in ROM Hacking, trading, or team building, they see the program and assume you'd get all of your questions answered there instantly, when really...the mentors are there just to show you around the forum or section they're in charge of.

I wouldn't mind seeing it once more, just that it should be more controlled and less stressful this time. The NU Hangout is more of a lounge for new members to meet each other as well as get to know older members who want to meet new members, so it kinda works the same way as a buddy system or the adoption center, without barriers.

It's all up to you or the new member if you need any guidance. Basically anyone who posts in TWL has has some experience around PC and is willing to share said experience to you. I also try to keep in touch with as many new members as possible but with my current schedule atm, my replies tend to be extremely slow. There are a lot others that are more than welcome to help you out, or just have a chat. I'm sorry if you haven't had a lot of communication between members yet, I hope that gets fixed soon... you just gotta be a little more patient. <3

 

[THZskillz]

I've had an account here for a little while now and it's honestly been hard to find people who honestly don't mind talking to new comers. I feel like a stronger focus should be put on the new comers because they are the ones who will enlarge the community you already have. If they don't feel welcome they'll leave. I was on the verge of leaving until CliCli decided to v.message me.

 

[Sheep]

I've had an account here for a little while now and it's honestly been hard to find people who honestly don't mind talking to new comers. I feel like a stronger focus should be put on the new comers because they are the ones who will enlarge the community you already have. If they don't feel welcome they'll leave. I was on the verge of leaving until CliCli decided to v.message me.

PC does its best but there's only so much we can do. I'm sure we'd all love to hear any suggestions you guys may have since it certainly isn't easy to make every new member settle in nicely given the size of the forum, especially as many members choose not to post an introduction (and even if they do it might not be a "dealbreaker").

Glad to hear you decided to stick around, by the way. :3

 

[THZskillz]

PC does its best but there's only so much we can do. I'm sure we'd all love to hear any suggestions you guys may have since it certainly isn't easy to make every new member settle in nicely given the size of the forum, especially as many members choose not to post an introduction (and even if they do it might not be a "dealbreaker").

Glad to hear you decided to stick around, by the way. :3

Well I found a good friend ^_^ and hope to find many more

 

[CliCliW]

So taking on board what everyone has said, fair enough :) I can see now after you all mentioning it how it may not work as idealistically as I'd think. While it is a very rose-tinted impression where everything goes smoothly There are bumps to go over.

Maybe not so much a buddy system is needed than just to let new users know that there are members who are delighted to VM newer people if they want it :)

Not to mention as Meganium90 said, I didn't even consider the stress on the mentors! I suppose in that respect is can be a negative thing too :/

Anyways, thanks all for actually describing the past experiences with the buddy system to me: I didn't even consider them! :)

 

[Elaitenstile]

One thing you could go around doing is browse the forums and make posts everywhere, and generally increase activity. If you found a helpful/witty/worth noticeable post just like them and someday you'll get a like back. If you found someone who posted around nicely and made many posts deserving a like, then you can friend request him and v.message him. The problem is, unless you do something noticeable, you won't get noticed.

So other than nice users welcoming a person, he/she gets to start at the bottom. So it's good to get some friends along the way (and sometimes meet them at fun events such as the Get Together), but you can't expect anyone to help you around when you're new. Probably that's the reason why new users quit so much. That's why most dedicated PC members (other than the long-time users) have something to do with Creative Discussions (RPs, fanfics, ROM Hacks, GD, GFX & Art etc.) that make them dedicated to this forum while doing something fun and productive themselves. Many a PC member's story is that he/she joined PC at the beginning to ROM Hack/RP/Fanfic/GD/Art.

... right, so I can ramble A LOT sometimes. The thing is, posting around the forums on random topics on Pokémon discussions can become boring very fast, so people who join "just because they love Pokémon" often leave pretty fast. It's often you see many people posting here and there on the forums on ROM Hacking questions, right? Just give it a thought...

Regarding the buddy system, this above may explain another reason why new members are not very interested and leave so fast.

The forum gets really big clamping all these topics, but like I said, it's nice to confine yourself to a certain "home" forum (preferably one in Creative Discussions) and slowly extend out. Another thing a new user can do is welcome other new users saying he/she is new too and find a new friend who is a new user. I reckon this helps make friend fast, but doesn't really improve the "PC is too big" thing.