Last week @profthadbach@lemmy.world and @mesamunefire@piefed.social and @Libb@piefed.social were talking about the frustrations of being the only poster. I've been thinking about the kinds of things I've seen that make this better/easier.

First, find regular events to post about. For example on !bmoviebonanza@lemmy.world I post about the weekly Monsterdon watch party. On !juggalos@lemmy.world, philipontacos posts about the (mostly) weekly JCW and Shaggy Show posts on youtube. (edit: similarly, you can use a scheduler to make regular posts ahead of time, on piefed or the lemmy scheduler. For example I looked up a bunch of Tintin panels and picked out my favorites, and scheduled a weekly post on !eurographicnovels@piefed.social with a different panel every Tuesday. When I see it posted, I make a comment saying why it was one of my favorites.)

Second, give people resources they can use. For example on !sumo@lemmy.world I periodically post a bunch of links that people can use to follow the bi-monthly tournaments. This resulted in more engagement than when I just posted a lot of content myself.

Third, just ask people to post. If anyone has commented on your posts, reply to them (or send a DM) suggesting that they make posts of their own. On !gothindustrial@lemmy.world I had to ask like 10+ people in this way, but we finally got a nice community of 3-4 regular posters and several other occasionals.

Fourth, think about the kinds of posts that will attract discussion. This will vary by community. Simple links to songs or videos rarely attract much discussion. Articles may attract more, tho you run the rist of "ragebait" or "clickbait". Look through !asklemmy@lemmy.world to get a sense of what questions will attract discussion, and think about how this can be adapted to your community. Memes can get a lot of upvotes, but the amount of discussion they inspire depends on the type of meme.

Fifth, think about "community events" to get people involved. On !superbowl@lemmy.world, @anon6789@lemmy.world does an annual "Owl of the Year" tournament where people vote for their favorite owl.

Sixth, advertise periodically, on !newcommunities@lemmy.world, by cross-posting, by mentioning your community elsewhere (when approriate), by getting it listed in the sidebar of related communities, etc.

Finally, only do things here that are fun. That's just my personal rule. Every once in a while I think I should make regular discussion-provoking "question" posts on !gothindustrial@lemmy.world, but I just don't have it in me. So I only make that kind of post when I think I have a good question that I really wanna see what people answer. (edit: on the other hand, I spent several hours making a "Who is your Favorite Dracula?" meme on !vampires@lemmy.zip, because it was fun.)

Awrite, that's just a couple things I thought of, hope it's helpful to someone.

[–] anon6789@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

OotY seems to have brought in a good number of new users and I'm also seeing some new names in the comments even now that it is over. It feels to have been an even better than average recruitment drive this year.

I did enjoy a bit of the advent calendar thing that tan_eggs had going on. The repetitive nature of OotY or the tan eggs event possibly gets non-regulars to show up more or get involved because it stays in your mind for a few days on end, even if you dont interact with it at first. I wish they had listed what the animals where. There's no need to really do deep dives like I tend to do, but without saying what animal it was, it wasn't easy to jump off into learning more, either on the community page or elsewhere.

I didn't know you did an industrial music community. I saw the other night Lucia did a video for the upcoming KMFDM single and there was a brief appearance of a Burrowing Owl!

[–] Sergio@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

the other night Lucia did a video for the upcoming KMFDM single and there was a brief appearance of a Burrowing Owl!

haha... that's awesome...!

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Excellent stuff, Sergio. I think I agree with just about all of that, and have also tried most of those approaches myself, but not all.

Oh, and how many total /c's do you mod, now? (look at me whining about running a single community 😅)

Sixth, advertise periodically, on !newcommunities@lemmy.world, by cross-posting, by mentioning your community elsewhere (when approriate), by getting it listed in the sidebar of related communities, etc.

I'm constantly doing that in subtle ways, but not overtly, probably because it feels a bit embarrassing to be both the community-runner, main content-creator, and also self-advertiser. This is maybe where it might be good to do a 'vote-swap,' where I talk up other peoples' communities I like, and they do the same for mine. Something like that, anyway.

On !gothindustrial@lemmy.world I had to ask like 10+ people in this way, but we finally got a nice community of 3-4 regular posters and several other occasionals.

Yes, I've had a little bit of success with that when I was going to be absent for some days due to reasons. Not a lot of success, but a little. At other times, when people comment to complain about content not being 'pure enough' for the sub, I've tried to explain the loophole in question, then welcomed them to post the kind of content they like. They never, ever do, and so far I might chalk it up to: 1) I'm sort of turning the tables on them and putting them on the spot, and as you say, that's not a fun mindset for contributing; 2) they simply weren't going to do so anyway, finding it way easier and more preferable to be drive-by complainers with little or any real interest in the community. (cynical take, I know)

So if there's a lesson there, it might be based on one of my favorite quotes: "To get the best out of a man, go to what is best in him." In other words, appeal to users' helpful natures, and not so much going with "oh yeah, well go ahead and show me, buster!"

[–] Sergio@piefed.social 3 points 1 week ago

Oh, and how many total /c’s do you mod, now?

I am a mod of zero communities. Mostly bc I don't want this to be like a job. I like to post on various communities, but I don't want to feel like I MUST post. Also, I think it's a little more welcoming if newcomers see that non-mods are making posts.

[–] Libb@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Lots of good points, thx for sharing. I tried a few of those already. But I may be doing it wrong, or expecting too much, too. Note that I'm not complaining, I'm fine with people making choice. I'm just surprised of the ratio between the rather large number of subscribers and noticeably smaller number of active contributors.

As the admin/mod of the community I want to think it should not be my task to post content and keep the community alive. I mean, beside relaying ‘official’ news and updates to the community ideally I should not be much visible as the admin. I see myself as a mere janitor/plumber of the community, making sure things work. I don't want to weigh in too much.

As a matter of fact, I’m so worried about that that I quickly created a separated account for my admin activities next to my main ID, as a ‘normal’ contributor without any extra privilege. I don't even allow my admin-self to participate in the discussions, for example (I sometimes do it, by mistake as I forgot what account I’m logged in). Maybe it's a mistake to separate them, but I really don't want for subscribers to think I ‘own’ the community when I contribute (which I have not done much in the last few months, as explained)

Edit: typos.

[–] Sergio@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago

I’m just surprised of the ratio between the rather large number of subscribers and noticeably smaller number of active contributors.

There's a saying that I'm trying to remember: something like, for every 1 poster/commenter, there are 9 people who only upvote/downvote, and another 99 who read but only lurk. It makes sense. I usually post or comment SOMEWHERE at least once a day, but there's a lot more stuff that I read but don't interact with. It would be exhausting to comment on everything I read. It also makes sense that there are people who just want to consume but don't feel they have anything to say anywhere.

Maybe it’s a mistake to separate them,

I get it... it makes sense to have a non-mod acccount so you can be like: "I am not speaking in my capacity as admin when I say...."