What is a forum clique?
Everybody will have their own definition of a clique, but the
general concept is an exclusive group of members in your forums
who are slow to welcome new members.
Why should I be concerned?
All visitors will read posts by these cliques, and this will
in turn discourage many guests from ever registering and even
discourage new members from saying hello. Sometimes when a
new member will try to say hello, the veterans are quick to
either ignore them or tell them they don't know what they're
talking about. This is a nasty recipe for non-expansion.
What can I do?
Truthfully, this is one of the toughest problems you will
ever face as a forum administrator. Disciplining these cliques
is not easy because the members of the cliques are often
close friends of staff. If you are too hard on the clique
members, you risk losing them all together, which could be
a serious hit for any community if the clique was at the
root of the member base.
• Allow introductions
It is important that your new members can "break the ice" with
ease. Create a section for introductions in which members
can introduce themselves to the community and get to know
the current members. The first post is often the hardest
for many members, but if you make it easy for new registrants,
this will not be the case.
• Staff friendliness (set an example)
Make it a point to all your administrators and moderators
to welcome all new members and be very willing to fulfill
any requests. Never let a post from a new member go unanswered.
Your staff represents your forums; if your staff is not welcoming,
do not expect your members to be.
• Employ non-clique members
Find a regular member in the forums who is well respected,
but not a part of the clique. Ask this person to inadvertantly "break
up" any clique-like discussions. Odds are, the members of
the clique will respect this person, ultimately ending these
personal discussions.
• Interviews
Each week, pick a random new member and interview him or
her with interesting questions. Once finished, post this
interview in public as to expose your clique members to your
new members. Often times, your clique members will become
interested in these new members and will want to find out
more about them.
• Personal contact
Contact each member of the clique one by one and explain
the problem. Explain to them how it is harming the community,
and ask that they please refrain from doing so. You might
be surprised to find that your members never even realized
what they were doing.
• Keep clique discussions in private
Some owners will create a forum dedicated to these clique-like
discussions, as to hide them from the public. Unfortunately
this will often prove to not solve the problem completely,
as your veterans will still find time to slip in their inside
jokes to the public eye.
• Punishment
If worse comes to worst, you might be forced to suspend
members of the clique. Be very careful doing this, as you
do not want to risk losing them in the long run.
• Privacy is important
Try your hardest to keep this clique controversy out of
public eye, as it leaves a bad impression on new members
if they see your veterans are not even enjoying themselves.
If you must make your point in public, do so once in a very
short manner. Leave the rest to private and instant messengers.
Does anything good come of cliques?
Subtle cliques here and there are definitely good and encouraged
in many communities. You want your potential members to
see that your veterans enjoy themselves in your community,
but you also need your potential members to feel welcome
to join in. Do not encourage clique discussion at the expense
of new members. Find an appropriate balance where your
members can both have fun while welcoming new members to
do the same.
Your task
Remember, your role as an admin is like that of a host to
a party. Your job is to keep everyone happy and provide
help when needed. If only part of your community is happy,
you are not doing your job somewhere. Ask your members
(both old and new) what you can do to make their stay more
enjoyable - and act on this! Finally, remember that you
are a community. All communities will naturally have individual
groups, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Do not,
however, allow these groups to become noninviting and exclusive.
Owner and administrator of http://www.adminfusion.com ,
Ryan Royal has been in the forum business since 2002, and
as such, has much experience under his belt.
AdminFusion a community dedicated to the helping, assisting,
and sharing of ideeas between forum administrators and moderators.
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