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What are your thoughts?
- Have you had one of those days, where you see a new member has posted in a discussion forum or a discussion group that is way beyond your experience? (or instance I can talk transplant, but I don't know how to talk heart disease) - Secretly hope someone else sees it? Make a welcoming statement and wish them well? Tag members or mentors or moderators?
-How do you respond when you are tagged to a discussion that you are not experienced with: Ignore it? Respond in a kindly manner so the new member knows he/she is worth being acknowledged?
-Do you have thoughts on whether to 1) Provide the link to the relevant discussion, and invite them to check it out? or-Do you go to that discussion thread and invite them there by using their @name?
Rosemary
Replies to "What are your thoughts? - Have you had one of those days, where you see a..."
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These are FABULOUS questions, Rosemary. Here are my thoughts though I'm not convinced they are the only answers. I look forward to talking about them as a group.
1. Yes, I often see posts from a new member and hold my breathe until someone with a related experience answers. As the community gets more and more active, I find it prudent for me as Community Director to hold back for a bit and wait to see if someone answers. But I also know that I don't want to let it go too long, so I do one of 2 things and in some cases both:
a) Private message a mentor or member and make them aware of the post and ask if they might be able to respond.
b) Welcome the member myself and tag members who may be able to respond. I also ask the new member a question to keep them talking until others arrive. Keeping them talking gives others more information to join into the conversation.
Good reminder from this discussion about Ask a Question: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/case-study-keep-the-conversations-going-by-ending-with-aquestion/
2. When you've been tagged in a discussion that you've no experience with, I suggest:
a) respond kindly so the new member knows they are worth being acknowledged. Sometimes it's helpful to just know they're being listened to. Use the method of asking a question so other members get more information that might help them join in.
b) if you were tagged by a moderator or fellow mentor, PM them to let them know that you don't have experience in that topic, especially if you're not comfortable with the topic. This will help us avoid tagging you again for a similar situation.
3. I tend to tell a member about a particular topic, give them the link and invite them to join there. This gives them the control whether to join or not. However, I understand your method of @mentioning them in the discussion you want them to join. Then they get an email notification that takes them right to the discussion. Keep in mind that tagging people automatically subscribes them to that discussion and they continue to receive email notifications until they manually unsubscribed. So be cautious when using that method to highly active discussions. This may be a source of annoyance.
I welcome the thoughts from others on these 3 topics that Rosemary raises.