What's the Deal with First Time Posters?

Updated on October 08, 2015
J.P. asks from Alexandria, VA
12 answers

Recently we've seen some people commenting on posts about new activity on the site.

There is even a post dedicated to the subject here:

http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/2420156489961635841

I thought this would be a good opportunity to shed some light on the topic.

First, I'l list out some of the common comments and respond to them below...

"... indeed make me, like you, wonder if there's "generated content" happening."

No, there is no 'generated content' happening.

"... I thought maybe the site was mentoring teenagers or something"

No, but that's not a bad idea, not to mention funny :)

"This increase? I do believe it's from the Facebook page, which I stopped following last time they made a HUGE guffaw regarding one of our well-respected regulars!!"

While that's possible, that's not likely to be the case. The traffic from facebook directly to Mamapedia is minimal at best, and what traffic does travel from facebook to Mamapedia is from the voices blog posts that are posted daily - and they direct people to the voice post on the site not the question and answer area.

"I think some, a fair few, are people hired to gain traffic for the site."

We don't employ anyone to post on the site, we have enough quality posts as it is :).

The reason there is an influx of new users and posts is directly related to the release of the new site. Mamapedia receives almost 70% of it's traffic from mobile devices, that's 7 out of 10 people that visit the site are using a smartphone.

Before this site update those users effectively were locked out of the site. You couldn't login, register or post on a mobile phone without pulling your hair out.

Mobile users also tend to be a younger demographic, which means younger parents with different sets of problems and experiences.

So to summarize the new activity is a good thing, it's the site becoming accessible to the vast majority of people accessing the internet.

The community here is excellent, so let's greet these new users with the simply philosophy of be nice and be kind. Let's treat them with respect and welcome them into the Mamapedia experience.

Remember, it takes a good amount of courage to post on any site, much less one that involves matters of the family.

Thanks!

- Jake

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Featured Answers

V.S.

answers from Reading on

Well, not to contradict you, Jake, but really, I regularly used my phone to access the site before. Now I just don't need my readers as much - it's easier, but it wasn't impossible. And all the site has is a new look. What it really needs is better functionality - the opportunity to interact more than just editing to add (need to be able to respond to each other's comments), the ability to erase flowers and manage the mailbox, quicker responses to trolls, ANY response to reports, just to name a few. I don't believe in conspiracy theory, so I don't think mamapedia is hiring to boost numbers - they don't even have enough hires to adequately moderate. But I've been here long enough to know that first time posters come in waves - usually a talented troll can come up with as many different screen names as they can think of and fill whatever loneliness they have by tricking people to notice them. I don't think all the newbies are particularly remarkable - it's happened before. Just my 2 cents.

15 moms found this helpful

More Answers

T.N.

answers from Albany on

Jake? From Mamapedia? What are you wearing, Jake? Khakis? You sound hideous.

;)

11 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from St. Louis on

I really would like to know when did you acquire this domain? It is pretty obvious you are not the same management as before. It was in part the reason I defended you guys last night and got that really rude comment from Pam R.

You guys bought a lemon. Whoever owned or managed it before cared nothing about the members they wanted hits and the revenue the hits generated. That is what you are fighting against. They hired college idiots to generate buzz. They posted very personal questions with the link in their FB group. It is possible that people are seeing that because the chick that was moderating their FB group back then didn't seem the type to go back and remove all of that, just the one we complained about and only after we complained loudly.

Still this is nothing you did so perhaps a good course is to be honest about who you are and when you took over this site. Otherwise you are going to keep getting raked over the coals for what the previous management did.

Please ignore Missy's suggestion we all prove we are human every time we post!! Those things are hard enough to read on a computer, on a mobile device you will never get another post!

8 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Thank you Jake.
Many of us realize this is a work in progress.

8 moms found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

thanks for keeping us updated, jake (and doug.)

theresa, i love you. :)

it looks as if the MP FB page is brisk and busy. now i'm curious as to what MP is looking for. do you want people to come here from FB? the other way round? is this the money site, and the FB page is just trying to generate interest in this place?
khairete
S.

6 moms found this helpful

D.D.

answers from Boston on

Why do I have the state farms commercial running through my head? Its Jake from state farms. Jake from state farms? What are you wearing?

Def noticed more mobiles at use due to terrible text spelling and auto correct.

5 moms found this helpful
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M.F.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi Jake!
Thanks for referencing my post. Previously, we have refrained from calling people's posts out directly, as that tends to be considered flaming. It's ok, I don't mind, but just thought I'd make sure you're aware of the site rules.

I've been around for many years and have always used my android phone and iPad more than my computer to access the site. I've never had issues logging in, reading questions, posting or responding, or navigating the site. For me, the update has only changed the appearance of the site. It hasn't improved the function at all.

As long as we're talking about function, there are several issues that have plagued this site for a while that could be solved by adding a captcha to question and response posts. That would get rid of the spam posts that annoy everyone so much. I'm sure your servers are pretty junked up maintaining inboxes overflowing with years upon years of flowers for all of us, so how about adding a way to delete the "messages" in our inboxes? Finally, I hope your attentiveness to the site continues, as there are often times when troll posters run amok or people get abusive and belligerent in their posts or responses and we need a moderator to pull the reported posts.

Thanks for checking in!

5 moms found this helpful
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M.P.

answers from Grand Forks on

Good to hear from you! Thank you! :)

5 moms found this helpful

E.J.

answers from Chicago on

Thank you for keeping in contact with us.

4 moms found this helpful
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M.G.

answers from Portland on

Thanks for the response.

Quite a few of the new questions are really short and there's not much info to go on if you feel like helping. Maybe it's because they are asking on their smart phones and typing is a chore.

Maybe that's why they appear to be trolls because you would think a mom would include more info if she wanted help. Not sure. Or maybe it's just become more accessible to trolls too.

Work in progress! Thanks for the timely responses though.

4 moms found this helpful

S.C.

answers from Kansas City on

Good post, and nice to see.

I actually have never visited the fb mp site so don't really have any experience, but I do have a fake name, location, etc, in here, to avoid any "cross-contamination", because way back when I first started using this site I had a lot of fb drama that I definitely wanted to keep away from my questions and answers on here. I will just say I am choosing to trust "Jakefrommamapedia" (haha!) and the others behind the scenes. It's not really in anyone's best interest to leak personal information like that to fb so it makes more sense that they would do what they could to avoid it. Just my .02.

3 moms found this helpful
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H.W.

answers from Portland on

Hi Jake,
Thanks for being far more responsive and communicative with the group than the last owners were.
If you felt like getting rid of that "18+ year old get tattoo" survey, that would be fine by me. At this point, I've seen it for at least a few years and none of the options are reasonable.;)

Really, I appreciate your speaking to this and thanks for clarifying that the new traffic isn't trolls.

3 moms found this helpful
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