Coyote (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
osteophage) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
getting_started2023-02-04 10:41 pm
osteophage) wrote in getting_started2023-02-04 10:41 pm
Entry tags:
Notes on Migrating an Online Community
Note: At ysabetwordsmith's suggestion, I'm crossposting this post from where it was originally published on Pillowfort. Hopefully some of these ideas may be helpful for thinking about Dreamwidth, as well.
These are some general thoughts about how to encourage folks to shift or expand activity onto a new site, based a conversation withprettyarbitrary, as well as some of my own experience. This list is not exhaustive and comes with no guarantees, but I wanted to pass these suggestions along for anyone who might be interested. Feel free to add in your own tips and observations in the comments.
- Pick a community (fandom or otherwise) where you already have connections. It does not need to be your favorite or the biggest numerically, just a group where you have a network to start from. This can be your area of focus.
- On the old site, explain your goals and priorities. For example, maybe you're moving to a site with stricter moderation in the interest of avoiding certain behavior, or you're moving to a site with privacy controls so that you can limit access to some of your sensitive posts, or you're moving to a site that's user-funded in the interest of data privacy. Try to include both elements: "I'm going to shift more of my activity onto a site with [blank] because I want [blank]."
- Make posts on the new site by copying over your old material. If you've already been a part of your target community a while, you probably have a few things to start with. Even just casual text posts can count for something.
- Crosspost your new material on both the old site and the new site. Ideally, include a link to the new site version on the old site version.
- In the case of a fan community, pitch the fandom to the new site. Make a media rec post to your own account, and see if there are any related comms where you might be able to share that media rec. If the site has a comm feature [Dreamwidth does!], check for an existing comm. If a relevant comm doesn't exist, consider making your own. In the case of Pillowfort, you can also share a promo post for that comm to CommunityAds.
- On the old site, share ongoing updates about the new site. For example, if the new site releases a new feature, changes the UI, or has any other official sitewide changes, boost an announcement or share your thoughts on the old site. This helps remind people the new site exists, fosters the impression that the site is important to you, and presents the site as actively evolving in a way that's worth paying attention to. [In DW's case, fandom events like thesnowflake_challenge may also present a good opportunity to do this.]
- On the old site, extend an open invitation to come join the new site. Explain the appeal and provide express instructions for how to join. Provide invite links if applicable.
- Actively recruit individual friends! You may only know one or two people who might be interested, but that's a place to start.
- If you're moving to a site with decent image hosting, angle for the artists. Artists can be instrumental for attracting the attention of other users, especially in the case of a fan community. You may want to save this step for after you've convinced a few other people, since very popular artists may be reluctant to set up shop on a site without much of an "audience," but some artists may be more approachable. Note if the tedium of crossposting is what puts them off, you can recommend Postybirb.
- Set up a welcome post on the new site for people to introduce themselves and see who else is there. It may help if you provide a little form to fill out. Here's an example.
- Actively provide tips on finding people to follow. You can recommend specific accounts or comms, but also provide general suggestions on how to track down more people, such as by checking the comment sections on other people's posts.
- Make an extra effort to be interactive on the new site and welcome the newcomers. Follow other people's accounts, share their posts, leave comments, reply to comments, or whatever else applies. You may also try posting discussion prompts or trying to connect newcomers with other circles beyond your migrating community.
- Set up links on the old site in your bio/pinned post/etc. explaining that you can be found on the new site.
- If other people still post interesting stuff exclusively on the old site, try to reduce that exclusivity by posting links on the new site, so that users on the new site can still easily keep up with activity from there.
- Find or start some discussions happening exclusively on the new site, then link to those discussions on the old site. Include a teaser quote or description of why those discussions are interesting, in order to entice people to click the links.
- If you intend to fully move rather than just split your attention, start to phase out your activity on the old site. Try to limit your scrolling time there, and when you think of a post idea, remember to go post on the new site, either exclusively or as a crosspost.
- If you're still spending time on the old site, look for opportunities to talk about the new site. Don't overdo it, though -- just keep an eye out. For example, when someone talks about a structural problem on the old site, you can reply by talking about how your experience on the new site compares. This is best suited to the problems that drove you to migrate your activity in the first place.
- If you haven't completely quit posting to the old site, occasionally remind people where to find you on the new site and that you're still active there. Emphasize your positive experience with whatever aspect applies.
A word of caution: migrations like these don't happen overnight. Expect to have to put elbow grease into this for months, at minimum. Don't expect to be able to attract the entire community you're angling for, either. I and others have had modest success with these methods, and in my experience, it's best to view this as a gradual project to chip away at rather than something to completely transform your experience all at once. With persistence, though, it can be possible to expand out your network on the target site and build a thriving little community.
ysabetwordsmith's suggestion, I'm crossposting this post from where it was originally published on Pillowfort. Hopefully some of these ideas may be helpful for thinking about Dreamwidth, as well. These are some general thoughts about how to encourage folks to shift or expand activity onto a new site, based a conversation with
prettyarbitrary, as well as some of my own experience. This list is not exhaustive and comes with no guarantees, but I wanted to pass these suggestions along for anyone who might be interested. Feel free to add in your own tips and observations in the comments. - Pick a community (fandom or otherwise) where you already have connections. It does not need to be your favorite or the biggest numerically, just a group where you have a network to start from. This can be your area of focus.
- On the old site, explain your goals and priorities. For example, maybe you're moving to a site with stricter moderation in the interest of avoiding certain behavior, or you're moving to a site with privacy controls so that you can limit access to some of your sensitive posts, or you're moving to a site that's user-funded in the interest of data privacy. Try to include both elements: "I'm going to shift more of my activity onto a site with [blank] because I want [blank]."
- Make posts on the new site by copying over your old material. If you've already been a part of your target community a while, you probably have a few things to start with. Even just casual text posts can count for something.
- Crosspost your new material on both the old site and the new site. Ideally, include a link to the new site version on the old site version.
- In the case of a fan community, pitch the fandom to the new site. Make a media rec post to your own account, and see if there are any related comms where you might be able to share that media rec. If the site has a comm feature [Dreamwidth does!], check for an existing comm. If a relevant comm doesn't exist, consider making your own. In the case of Pillowfort, you can also share a promo post for that comm to CommunityAds.
- On the old site, share ongoing updates about the new site. For example, if the new site releases a new feature, changes the UI, or has any other official sitewide changes, boost an announcement or share your thoughts on the old site. This helps remind people the new site exists, fosters the impression that the site is important to you, and presents the site as actively evolving in a way that's worth paying attention to. [In DW's case, fandom events like the
snowflake_challenge may also present a good opportunity to do this.]- On the old site, extend an open invitation to come join the new site. Explain the appeal and provide express instructions for how to join. Provide invite links if applicable.
- Actively recruit individual friends! You may only know one or two people who might be interested, but that's a place to start.
- If you're moving to a site with decent image hosting, angle for the artists. Artists can be instrumental for attracting the attention of other users, especially in the case of a fan community. You may want to save this step for after you've convinced a few other people, since very popular artists may be reluctant to set up shop on a site without much of an "audience," but some artists may be more approachable. Note if the tedium of crossposting is what puts them off, you can recommend Postybirb.
- Set up a welcome post on the new site for people to introduce themselves and see who else is there. It may help if you provide a little form to fill out. Here's an example.
- Actively provide tips on finding people to follow. You can recommend specific accounts or comms, but also provide general suggestions on how to track down more people, such as by checking the comment sections on other people's posts.
- Make an extra effort to be interactive on the new site and welcome the newcomers. Follow other people's accounts, share their posts, leave comments, reply to comments, or whatever else applies. You may also try posting discussion prompts or trying to connect newcomers with other circles beyond your migrating community.
- Set up links on the old site in your bio/pinned post/etc. explaining that you can be found on the new site.
- If other people still post interesting stuff exclusively on the old site, try to reduce that exclusivity by posting links on the new site, so that users on the new site can still easily keep up with activity from there.
- Find or start some discussions happening exclusively on the new site, then link to those discussions on the old site. Include a teaser quote or description of why those discussions are interesting, in order to entice people to click the links.
- If you intend to fully move rather than just split your attention, start to phase out your activity on the old site. Try to limit your scrolling time there, and when you think of a post idea, remember to go post on the new site, either exclusively or as a crosspost.
- If you're still spending time on the old site, look for opportunities to talk about the new site. Don't overdo it, though -- just keep an eye out. For example, when someone talks about a structural problem on the old site, you can reply by talking about how your experience on the new site compares. This is best suited to the problems that drove you to migrate your activity in the first place.
- If you haven't completely quit posting to the old site, occasionally remind people where to find you on the new site and that you're still active there. Emphasize your positive experience with whatever aspect applies.
A word of caution: migrations like these don't happen overnight. Expect to have to put elbow grease into this for months, at minimum. Don't expect to be able to attract the entire community you're angling for, either. I and others have had modest success with these methods, and in my experience, it's best to view this as a gradual project to chip away at rather than something to completely transform your experience all at once. With persistence, though, it can be possible to expand out your network on the target site and build a thriving little community.