Poll Time!

[quarantedeux]

Well, it's been an interesting week for [former] Livejournal users, to say the least! I started this community after seeing person after person on the epic news post comments say that they were heading over to Dreamwidth, even though they were sad about leaving friends and communities behind. I figured that if people were really going to leave and make it stick, we'd need a support structure on the other side.

lj_refugees now has 225 members! Seriously, my mind is boggled. Thanks to everyone who has joined up, participated, and/or spread the word about this comm. Obviously, it would be nothing without you (wow, that was so sappy)!

Obviously with more members comes more activity, so I thought it would be a good idea to put up a poll to gauge members' feelings about several things. The last thing I want this community to become is a nuisance, so if people feel as if they're getting spammed, I'd really like to know.

This poll will be open until next Monday (September 13th)

Some things I hope to do this week:

• Locate a new layout. I chose this one on the fly, and now I'm thinking a different one might work better.
• Create a sticky post with quick reference links for new DW users.
• Work on a FAQ post.

Once again, thank you, and stay awesome!

Poll #4320 LJr member poll

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 62

View Respondents

How do you feel about the number of posts at lj_refugees thus far?

View Answers

Too many
5 (8.2%)

Just right
31 (50.8%)

Too few
3 (4.9%)

No opinion
22 (36.1%)

Would you prefer if lj_refugees was on moderated posting (with a group of several posts let through the queue at one time, instead of being posted one-by-one as they're submitted)?

View Answers

I like the community as it is, with open posting and new entries posted as they come in.
48 (77.4%)

I would rather have moderated posting with new posts approved several times per day.
1 (1.6%)

No opinion
12 (19.4%)

Other (post suggestions in comments)
1 (1.6%)

Individual introduction posts: yea or nay?

View Answers

I'm okay with introductions being posted individually to the community as they currently are.
22 (36.1%)

I would be okay with introductions being posted individually if the community was on moderated posting.
4 (6.6%)

I would prefer a weekly or biweekly post in which new users can introduce themselves in the comments.
33 (54.1%)

No opinion
9 (14.8%)

Other (post suggestions in comments)
0 (0.0%)

Individual community promotion posts: yea or nay?

View Answers

I'm okay with promotions being posted individually to the community as they currently are.
34 (55.7%)

I would be okay with promotions being posted individually if the community was on moderated posting.
4 (6.6%)

I would prefer a weekly or biweekly post in which communities can be promoted in the comments.
25 (41.0%)

No opinion
4 (6.6%)

Other (post suggestions in comments)
1 (1.6%)

There have been a lot of new members since the first friending meme, and with 550+ comments new folks might be hesitant to jump in. Would you like to see Friending Meme: Part Deux? This would probably be posted either Thursday or Friday.

View Answers

No, thanks
1 (1.6%)

Sure
36 (58.1%)

Lets wait until at least next week
14 (22.6%)

No opinion
11 (17.7%)

Do you think it would be helpful to have a post for people with similar interests to get together with the specific purpose of forming new communities?

View Answers

No
3 (4.8%)

Yes
39 (62.9%)

No opinion
18 (29.0%)

Other (post suggestions in comments)
2 (3.2%)

Comments

[cesy]

For forming new communities, it would be great if create_my_comm could be used, as there are already some great ideas and some longstanding members there. And don't forget to advertise in dw_community_promo.

[peaceful_sands]

I think it would be a good idea for some sort of post but maybe do it once or twice a week (different days to the other items running?) with people posting something and seeing who else would be interested and circulating their ideas to create new comms etc. but then I'd be happy with whatever - so far this seems a really friendly place to hang out :D

[blackmare]

I think we might want to aggregate individual introductions and community link posts to one per day, if we take them off post-as-you-go status at all.

Clumping everything together into a weekly post will make this place look less active and discourage new people from joining us, I think. For now, I am enjoying the evidence of life over here, largely because I get to direct others to this comm and have them see just how many of us there really are.

[future_guardian]

I'm fine with the way things are being done right now (but I might be biased because I posted during the big leave-LJ-yay-Dreamwidth thing and got more people interested in my community than I may have otherwise) but I have a few specfic thoughts.

On user introduction posts: I like "meeting" new people, but I think the "Hi, I'm *user name* posts should be grouped together. Never mind that if there were twenty individual introduction posts that might swamp the community, what if you could've "met" some cool users but didn't because you only wanted to read the first page?

On community posts: I like the community posts. I made one myself, and I got a lot of good feedback. It's that very reason I think those things should stay individual, because if it helped me I know it can help others. I personally wouldn't want to sort through an "All communities" post to find communities I may or may not like.

[hyaena]

Don't get me wrong -- this is a great community. I love that it's here. It has made the transition from LJ to DW a lot less scary for many people.

That being said, this community lacks structure. (Wait, since when did I argue for structure?!) There's a billionty posts from people introducing themselves, which is fine for now. However, with so many members, that has the potential to flood everybody's Reading pages.

I'm a fan of the weekly introduction/friending post as well as the weekly community promotion posts. You can post comments to these threads as much as you want to, and it's not going to cause people to get overwhelmed.

[dcgelfling]

I definitely like the idea of another friending post, and I think maybe it should be a repeating thing. Every week, every other week? Maybe every week to start, and once the initial rush slows down, every other week? Or maybe there's no reason not to do it every week forever, I don't know.

Also, it's a minor point, but I do wonder if calling it friending will make it harder to get used to our new digs. Subscription Saturday, to kind of go along with Follow Friday, maybe? Sadly, none of the days start with A, so no cool alliteration for Access. XD

[azurelunatic]

I tend to subscribe first, access later, after I get to know someone a bit. YMMV, of course.

[dcgelfling]

Yeah. I suspect, given the reason we're here, most of us are probably like that. :D

[azurelunatic]

I'm really amazingly no-opinion, aren't I?

I'm sort of mostly here because I've been around DW for a while and wound up more involved than I'd thought I might be and thus have a good grasp of most things that aren't Styles, I came from LJ and sympathize with the OMFG GET ME OUT OF HERE impulse even though I haven't completely fled, and I have this general tendency to be helpful.

[inner_v0ice]

re: people with similar interests forming new communities; that's what create_my_comm is for. I don't think that LJ refugees should isolate themselves from the pre-existing DW users by making a separate "create my comm" function in this community.

I think you should put together a sticky post and/or sidebar link-list with links to different helpful pre-existing communities (+other resources too) so that the refugees can go out and mingle with the older DW users.
Suggestions for inclusion in the sticky post: create_my_comm, dw_community_promo, getting_started, A Guide to Dreamwidth for Livejournal Users (also possibly a link to the community promo post and a link to the friending meme, since those posts have gotten pushed back a page by now)

[blackmare]

You know, the notion of a sticky post with Helpful Links and Communities is excellent.

Heartily seconded.

[rydra_wong]

Thirded -- I was about to ask if it would be helpful to compile a bunch anyway.

kate has a collection of links here which would make a great basis. Maybe have a post where people can suggest good "starting place" links, then turn it into a sticky post?

[kitters]

I like this idea.

[meowsings]

I think you're doing a grand job with this. Thank you.

[lurkingcat]

I think you're doing a great job here :)

Non-moderated posting feels more friendly and possibly less nerve-wracking for people brand new to DW than waiting to see your post come through the queue, so unless you're getting a lot of complaints about floods of "Hi, I'm new" posts you might want to leave it as is for a bit and see how it goes.

This is also another vote for putting things links to places like dw_community_promo, getting_started, and create_my_comm in the sticky post/FAQ/sidebar link list. These comms are watched by a lot of folk who were here prior to the latest LJ exodus so if you post there you're increasing the chances of people being able to answer your question or join your new comm or maybe creating a new comm now that they know someone else is interested and that's all good, right? :)

[kitters]

I'm fine with how things are now, but I wouldn't mind having specified entries for people to introduce themselves and promote comms. I'm fine either way. XD

[skund]

I was going to suggest stickying the friending meme, but if another one is going to be made that's kinda redundant. Bring on the friending meme!

[boonesfarmgirl]

As a new member of DW and lj_refugees, I find going through all the post daunting to say the least. I would say a post once a week where we can introduce ourselves in the comments would be easier than a lot of separate posts. I think it should be a permanent thing.

Thanks for having this comm set up!

Chelle

[mickeylover303]

Already suggested above, but I like the idea of a sticky post with resources for new users, as well. Especially with the inclusion of the links to the friending meme(s) and comm promotion post(s), I think it would be easier for people to find familiarity with other users based on interests since everything would be accessible in one place.