How can you turn a lurker into an active contributor?

šŸ—ŗ Strategy
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How can you turn a lurker into an active contributor?

(I saw this asked somewhere else and thought it would be worth adding here to get input from the community, Iā€™ll come back to it shortly.)

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Perhaps avoiding the term ā€˜lurkerā€™ may help. The term seems rather pejorative and if a lurker becomes aware that the community leaders think of them in this way, it is more likely to distance them, than move them closer.

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Sure, I donā€™t like the name either, but itā€™s also one that people recognise.

What would you use instead?

ā€˜Observerā€™ or ā€˜audienceā€™ springs to mind.

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They both sound better than lurker. I imagine that many of us are observing/following/monitoring more communities than we are actively engaged in.

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I do like all the ideas @rosiesherry gathered, suggested and created for the ā€œLurkers are people tooā€ diagram.

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I agree lurker is the historically recognized word for non-contributors. I wish community professionals could agree on a better term.

I usually reframe the word lurkers as learners when community planning because they are the majority of my audience.

Then I ask myself/my team - How can we build a community they want to contribute to? Are we using non-inclusive language that is stopping interaction?

Next, I think of other ways people can contribute.

  • DMs,
  • Emails to send thoughts or replies to
  • upvoting/liking
  • Contribute to docs, spreadsheets, wiki
  • Forms where they can share ideas or thoughts
  • Reach out to lurkers/learners and ask why they arenā€™t contributing (are there barriers I can help with)
  • Events like AMAs or office hours that people can attend and ask questions
  • Notice content they are sharing elsewhere that would contribute to the community and reach out to ask them to share

I find when I give members a bit more scaffolding and attention, they are more likely to start contributing. And if they contribute, I do my best to interact with the post, even calling on internal team members or moderators to comment and interact.

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Great list hereā€¦a few other thoughts:

  • member interviews
  • send an email to member who are opening emails but not responding
  • contribute to polls (anonymously)
  • offer opportunities & work
  • offer to help them
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ā€œlegitimate peripheral participationā€

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My favorite tactic ever: Lurker Week.

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ā€œLove Our Lurkers Weekā€ ā€“ what a fantastic idea and initiative. Thanks for sharing, @evanhamilton.

For those reading, hereā€™s the article that supports the talk: https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/activate-community-members/