Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-168424-20190130223012/@comment-20644-20190209185700

I don't think it would be a good idea for me to make the first post.

I can't get into details about what the new approach will be yet but I can tell you that one approach we're not eager to continue is random drop in posts like we've done in the past. So much staff interaction in the past has been through auto-welcome messages, or random (and not particularly meaningful or relevant) posts asking for community input on something that they generally don't care about because it has way more to do with Fandom than it does with them.

That's had the adverse effect of creating a pretty ignorable staff in a lot of ways (with a number of individual exceptions, of course). There have been many times we've posted messages on communities in the past that because of the subject of the message and the tone of the message people have literally thought they were automated messages that they could ignore. I can't say I blame them either. Communication-wise we've had a really robotic approach, and the things we've approached communities about haven't been of interest to communities.

That's why I don't think it's a good idea for me to create the first post on Discussions. I don't know the subject matter, so it would be my first and only post there. I don't know the community, so there's nothing I can say that would feel relevant to the community beyond some general tips about Discussions. I don't think a post I make would resonate. It would be a very ignorable post.

You are in a far better position to make the first post on your community. You can welcome people into Discussions, explain what it's all about, talk about how it can connect to how your community works, and more. Other users are much more likely to be receptive to that. This is a case where I would much rather you feel empowered to take the lead than rely on a random drop in post from a staff member those users may never interact with again on that community.