Are Your Welcome Messages Scaring Newcomers?
Welcome messages
There’s been lots of talk recently about various members trying to game the ranking system by posting a standard long-winded welcome message to any new member asking or suggesting that they should follow them. Not only has this upset the ranking system but far more importantly some new members have suddenly felt bombarded with messages and felt they were being spammed. Hardly a good first impression and it’s damaging for everyone.Since the issue was first raised Kyle and Carson have taken some measures to stop members doing it which personally I applaud. However there are still some people who for whatever reason continue to post messages that are gobbledygook to newcomers and could potentially frighten them off.
This is what I saw in a welcome message today. After one sentence saying hello and welcome it continued ....
“What is Rank?
You will see a rank# in your profile page at the top 1/3 of the page in the center. You may wonder what that is and why it’s there. Actually, it’s difficult to say. Since I don’t have access to the algorithm used, all I can do is relay what I’ve observed. The rankings appear to me to be as a result of the following:...”
This is only the first part. In fact there were 366 words in total all about ranking!Just think about it 366 words just on ranking. An article in SA has a minimum of 400 words. This is a welcome message not an article. This is just foolish. Why on earth would anyone want so much information the moment they’ve joined? Newcomers are not thinking about ranking or algorithms or why there’s any ranking at all. They’ve joined up to find out how to start an online business. It makes a very poor impression and it’s enough to make some people cancel their membership.
I refuse to speculate over why someone might write such a message but it helps no one.
The final part of the message included 5 links to resources within WA. Five! How are they supposed to know where to start? Kyle and Carson have one link in their message – because that’s all a newcomer needs.
So I implore everyone - whenever you write a welcome message - make sure you're really making them feel welcome instead of scaring them off! After all ....
Recent Comments
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Great post Beverley!
I enjoy dropping by a new members profile to say "hello" and "welcome". When I first joined WA, the warm welcome messages I received on my profile page really made an positive impression on me. It made me feel much more comfortable integrating into this community.
I hear what you're saying though. If it's not a genuine "hello" and/or written with ulterior motives....NOT good.
Thanks Dee. There were no welcome messages when I joined as there are now and I can see if they're done in the right way they do make a big difference. I'm sorry that a very small number have been spoiling it for all members.
That's all it does take, a very few bad apples in the bunch. For those who need to communicate to others through their spaces only have about 5 or 6 goes at it per day. However, this is needed to stop the shenanigans. Sad but that's what happens when the few abuse things. Most everybody else uses these responsibly.
The people who insist on doing this should lose their posting privileges, and some have already.
+1. I'm in total accord. Oh, and perfect synchronicity, Diva B. This was being *discussed* in chat with Kyle at the precise moment you'd obviously decided to take action and put quill to parchment. You've brilliantly summed up the feelings of those of us who warmly welcome altruistic commenting on newcomers profiles but despise such nonsensical waffle being copied-and-pasted indiscriminately. It has never benefited anyone and given Kyle's comment below that now includes those spammy FOLLOW ME! people who thought it a clever way to *game* their rank. Kudos, Diva B. Rich. x
Thanks Rich.
I'm so glad it's being dealt with because it really has had an impact on both newcomers and serious members. I'm unfortunately one of the people who has become reluctant to leave so many welcome messages when I see the absolute nonsense some people have been prepared to leave.
I have seen some very long welcoming messages and was curious myself. Mine are short, I thought I was just being lazy!
Unless, Vicky, you're actually *Carson*, huh? http://d.pr/i/B0vo Oh, you people, with your multiple identities. Unbelievable! :(
This has actually just been addressed Beverley. This is not going to be tolerated any longer within the community and we have also made an update to limit the number of profile "hellos" as of last week.
We are going to be taking things even further with a WA rank update, discrediting ALL of this sort of activity from the rankings. You are likely going to see a big shift with some folks (up or down) as a result of this.
We are going to continually be making the WA rank a true reflection of the community and the member contributions here at Wealthy Affiliate! Thanks for your feedback, I think this is something that folks are getting fed up with and we are making the changes to limit this sort of activity.
Thanks Kyle. I know you and Carson have been working on it. I hope people realise though that whenever they write on a new member's profile that their welcome message is a genuine welcome.
And it should be a genuine welcome or it is an attempt at gaming the system. We are going to be keeping a very close eye on this sort of activity and will likely be doing more from a technical side to prevent this sort of automation from happening. If you ever see any more extreme cases of this happening, please bring it to my attention and I will look into it right away!
It is a bit sad that people feel they need to do this rather than just get involved and earn it!
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Great Post Beverley, it is important that WA puts its first foot forward and provides warm and heartfelt greetings to people just coming in. I did make an effort to curtail this member's copy and paste campaign. Apparently it fell on deaf ears.
Thanks Craig. It's sad that some people don't either don't get it or deliberately don't want to get it.