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comment by uh_oh
uh_oh  ·  3719 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Buddies

Pleasure to be noticed:D I've certainly gotten the warmest of welcomes and absolutely love it here. But for the many who haven't had such an easy time, I've been thinking about what the hinderance could be..

As I just mentioned to Kafke, it is easy for outgoing people- who know (or think) their contribution will be appreciated- to jump right in and start talking, sharing, and really digging deep in the good stuff that seems to be key to Hubski. It isn't easy for careful, reserved folks to throw themselves out there and say "Look at me!" Even if what they're sharing isn't about them. Who knows how many priceless ideas and discussions we're missing because the person who thought of them shied away from posting.

Who knows how many lurkers look at this friendly, awesome atmosphere of the same handful of people-minuscule compared to the innumerable commenters most are used to on places like reddit- and think, "holy shit, these guys all know each other and are best friends. I have no business here, I'll just listen to what they're taking about." It is to me much like sitting at the dinner table- or the bar- next to some intelligent or attractive people, and listening in because its not your place to really butt in. The only difference is- and this is what makes Hubski awesome- is that once you put yourself out there and do butt in, everyone gives you a big welcome and invites you into the discussion.

I dont have a solution per se, just making an observation.





insomniasexx  ·  3718 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Who knows how many lurkers look at this friendly, awesome atmosphere of the same handful of people-minuscule compared to the innumerable commenters most are used to on places like reddit- and think, "holy shit, these guys all know each other and are best friends. I have no business here, I'll just listen to what they're taking about."

I know this might come out badly but...here it goes.

That's kind of what makes amazing communities amazing. Other sites used to be like this. People would lurk forever, unsure if what they were saying wouldn't be up to par with the community standards. But when they finally joined in, it was usually about a subject or conversation that they really wanted to comment on. They spent a bit extra time perfecting this first comment. It usually started with "Long time lurker, first time poster" and off they went making a comprehensive and comprehendible comment on the subject.

So, I'm not sure this insecurity is inherently a bad thing. Because if you are hesitant to join in it means that (1) this community is awesome and (2) you are self aware enough to realize that you want to add to this community, not detract from it and (3) that will fact alone increases your chances of being a great part of the community and (4) the community will remain awesome.

The past problems we've had with influxes of new users result in massive amounts of #askhubski posts about reddit and general trolling and circlejerky behavior. I can guarentee these people did not have insecurities about whether or not their comments were up to par.

That said, I never want Hubski to be too unwelcoming or exclusive. People shouldn't be deathly scared of joining us because we are all really nice people and really just want more amazing people to have discussions with. The more the merrier, IMO.

uh_oh  ·  3718 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That's certainly true, I didn't mean to say we should start recruiting users from r/AdviceAnimals in case anyone has an epiphany to share. Still, it's certainly valuable to keep a higher bar of expected quality, to an extent.

PeterC  ·  3718 days ago  ·  link  ·  

You make some great points! Hope you stick around.

I definitely catch myself "listening" to the conversations here. Everyone's just so damn interesting! Especially the #weeklymusicthread, and if you haven't found out about that yet, you need to immediately.

Solutions weren't asked for so that's just fine! Only looking for opinions and ideas.