Am I welcoming incorrectly?

Wait you’re Flutherbot!?! :p

I send PMs when I notice that someone is new.
However, I tend to wait and see if they are contributing, which is probably bad. So I’d guess you’re doing better than I am. :)

The fact that you take the time to try to welcome says to me you are doing it right.

If those who receive your greeting choose to ignore it or think you are a bot, they are doing it wrong, not you.

Just keep being your lovely self @zensky. It people don’t respond to who you are, it is their loss.

I think you do it just find, my friend @zensky. If people don’t appreciate it, then eff ‘em, I say. As @Bellatrix said: “Just keep being your lovely self.” Your lovely self is more than good enough for us. :-)

I feel it is very good etiquette to welcome people to the site right on the Q. I encourage you to keep doing it.

I think it’s because so many websites do have bots that welcome you, and most people don’t like spam. It’s sweet that an actual person does it here, but they don’t know that you’re a real person yet.

Maybe some of them hold more than one account & thus take umbridge at the very notion of noobishness being thrust upon them. Or perhaps they’re anally retentive, just two schools of thought worth pondering, possibly.

Psh. Unless you’re calling them a noob (some people hate the term) in your welcome, what would they possibly find offensive? The bot confusion I can understand, because some places do send automated welcomes. I’ve been asked if I’m a bot before, too. I always make sure to reply so they know I’m a human.

Wait…you guys are not bots?!?!?

I thought this was just a big virtual reality game.

@zensky I leave a greeting after I see they post an answer or a question. Mainly because I do not want to send pm to spam bots and receive spam instead of thanks ^^

@zensky I usually answer their question and then welcome them to fluther in the thread. Never noticed a problem with that.

@zensky I think you will like this Q about welcomes to fluther.

I try to welcome new jellies often, and I have about half of them respond and half of them ignore me. Whenever they have responded, it has always been positive.

When I welcome someone, I always wait until after they post a thing or two. If I am answering their question, I will welcome them in the thread, but I usually send them a pm since it’s more personal. I’ve always thought a pm actually held some meaning, while a rote “welcome to Fluther” in a thread was simply expected (I know that’s not the sentiment of many of those that welcome in threads, it’s just how I would perceive it as a new jelly). If they have good posts, I will say something that I appreciate about what they have contributed so far. If their posts are way outside our writing standards, I will say something I have appreciated about their contribution, and I will gently steer them towards the list of writing standards. I have received thanks for this several times from people that didn’t realize the standards were there.

I have sent a welcome PM a few times, because someone did the same for me… I’ve never received a response.

Thinking about it – when I received my first PM, my first thought was that it was a bot. But I wrote back just in case. :P

Do you PM or say welcome in the context of a question? I will say it in the context of a question; a PM might come across as a bit stalkerish.

In reading the replies before me… this “n00b” would agree that you are doing just fine ; )

The impression I got when I first joined this site was that it seemed to be a pretty tight-fit community (it felt like signing up for an extra curricular activity everyone had been going to for years). It was and still can be somewhat intimidating for me. Not because of anyone here, it’s just the way I am until I find my cozy spot : )
Everyone who PM messaged me a welcome I sent a reply. If I saw a welcome was posted via thread I thanked them there. To not at least acknowledge someone, in my personal opinion, is extremely rude.

i take no offense to the term n00b ; )

@EnchantingEla Nice answer!

If they had asked a question, I will answer and then welcome them, if I noticed they are new. I’ve sometimes seen people welcome someone new and not answer their question. So I can see why they may think its a flutherbot if that is what you are doing.
So it could be they don’t respond because they don’t think you are a real person.
Some also don’t know how to navigate back to their question if they come back. So I might pm them as well.
Some just don’t come back after one question or a few.

@augustlan Actually – I have been welcoming them exactly like this: Welcome. Or sometimes, Welcome to Fluther.

What! @zensky Called me a nOOb like 4 hours ago!!!

That was because you are a 5k n00b.

What exactly is a nOOb?

A Noob is a newbie who is kind of a pain in internet speak.

I would say their undies are in a pretty tight bunch @zensky : (

A passage right of n00bdom is being a pain @Imadethisupwithnoforethought (as long as it doesn’t persist on and on and on… ) ; )

I rest my case.

foiled by facts!

So are we calling you Nick now?

@zensky Actually – I have been welcoming them exactly like this: Welcome. Or sometimes, Welcome to Fluther. If that’s all you say, most probably do assume you’re a bot.

So – I have been welcoming incorrectly, according to you. So what would you suggest?

If you’re welcoming before they’ve posted anything (question, answer, or filled out profile), then I have no idea. However, once they’ve written something, you can go from that to say something personal.

So you think I shouldn’t just welcome them – but rather wait until they’ve posted something?

I don’t know. It would be kind of cool if we could effectively welcome those that haven’t posted to see if we can encourage them to join in. I’m just not sure how to welcome someone that hasn’t contributed anything without sounding like a standard welcome bot. Maybe say something or ask about their chosen username? But if someone doesn’t post something after they join, I’m not sure how likely it is that they’ll respond to PMs, either. Of course, I don’t know the logic behind joining without participating. It would be fascinating to pick their brains.

I had though of that – over the years – and have attempted variations on the theme.

It seems that most do not even know what a PM is, or how to reply to it – so I thought it might be too frustrating – and indeed stalkerish – if I were to write something about their username – or ask about it.

Which is why I whittled it down to Welcome to Fluther.

Bot-like? Indeed it is. But I am awaiting a better suggestion.

Perhaps if a few of us team up to try to send all of the new users PMs as soon as they join, they will see that we really are just welcoming jellies rather than stalkers or bots. After all, it’s unlikely that Fluther would have several bots PM each person.

True – but this is difficult to coordinate.

I asked this in the hopes that more jellies would get interested in welcoming newbies.

Maybe there should be an introduction tab where peeps can intro themselves and jellies who want to welcome them can do so? Or possibly a tab where it lists newbies and there is a link to send them a welcome? That may one way of knowing the welcome is from a bot.
Other then their lurve count or seeing them listed in the Community Feed column, there’s no form of telling they have even joined the community (that I have seen).

@EnchantingEla GA. I’ve had a couple new jellies mention the site is a little intimidating at first.

Thanks : ) They could shimmy it right in there between “Chat” and “Blog” ; )

I’m tapped, sorry. I think you’re doing just fine. I’d answer “botlike” welcomes cuz bots need lurve too ; )
btw… I think it’s somewhat egotistical for a person to think they’d have a stalker as soon as they joined a site…

@EnchantingEla Other then their lurve count or seeing them listed in the Community Feed column, there’s no form of telling they have even joined the community (that I have seen).

Isn’t that enough?

@zensky It is if you specifically look for it. The Community Feed scrolls pretty fast sometimes, though. Personally, I rarely see who has just joined there and I am not able read every question that gets posted before it falls down on the list.

@zensky I would say that it’s not enough for people to consistently receive a welcome. If it’s one of the people that’s too intimidated to post, the only way we’ll know they joined if we happen to catch it in the community feed. I watch the community feed for new jellies because I like to welcome them, but I’m on the site rarely enough right now that I almost never catch anyone as they join. As it is, even those who would like to be welcoming can struggle to regularly find the opportunity to do so.

@EnchantingEla I love the idea of having a place where we can see everyone who has joined in the last few days. It would help those of us that want to welcome the new jellies be able to find them and do so. But I do wonder if that would make people even more intimidated to join.

Maybe someday we’ll hire @johnpowell and he can implement all of the things we’ve been dreaming up.

Hmm. I think if I’d had a PM when I first joined, just saying “Welcome to Fluther”, I would also have assumed it was a bot and I’d have ignored it (but not been upset or offended by it).

I don’t think there really is any better way of approaching it though, except maybe wait until they have posted and welcome them in their debut thread. At least then you have something to talk to them about.

Actually I do think there needs to be a bot sending a welcome message explaining the purpose, tone and rules of the site to all new members.

I usually welcome after they’ve posted something that caught my eye, but occasionally before. I say something like “Welcome to Fluther! I’m glad you found your way here.”

Maybe I’m ot of the loop, but I wouldn’t think (nor thought) a PM on site was from a bot. Usually they send welcomes via e-mail.

I think it’s possible that they could think you’re a bot – there are a lot of websites where they automatically send a welcome (last.fm for instance) – but I don’t think you’re going about it the wrong way. It’s really kind of you to send welcomes.

I just send their names to the Welcome Wagon and let those ladies do their thing!

Just answer their question.
Then say welcome.

They didn’t come upon the site looking for bonus stars or awards but an answer or opinion.

No matter what you say, a noob is going to think any welcome message is from a bot. Make sure you say something in your next welcome like, “By the way, I’m not a bot. I’m a real person. Feel free to reply if you have any questions.”

Oh, and don’t ever call a noob a “noob!”