Auto welcome feature - updated information!

I also shared this post in this thread.... but wanted to create a new thread for this updated conversation.

We are excited to announce that we are moving forward with a version one of this update. The version that will go live next week is slightly different than what I previously outlined. In this first version, we are going to carefully monitor feedback and update the feature as we learn more. This will be a collaborative feature launch with the community and the admin/ dev team. Our goal will be to maximize our welcoming while keeping the needs, preferences and expectations of the community at the forefront.

Please read below for more information on what to expect in the first round of this feature launch.

Here is how the feature will work:

If you have the Loyal Friend (1 approved text review) & the Tick Tock (10, 1-1 chats) badges you will unlock the ability to participate in this automatic welcome program. These badges were selected because they are the same badges that unlock the ability to PM members. Currently, there is no criteria for listeners to participate in the welcome program, anyone can join in. These badges add some base criteria to participate.

Once you earn these badges, you will receive a notification alerting you that you can now opt-in to this program.

You opt-in by going to your settings page and checking off the tick box! The feature is not live, but if you'd like to opt-in you can do that now.

From there, we will auto-send up to 26 welcomes from your account daily. The more listeners who opt-in, the less welcomes that will be sent out from your account. You can opt-in or opt-out at any point directly from your settings page.

Welcomes are sent out to members at the following frequency:

Day 1- 1 welcome message from welcomer 1

Day 2- 1 welcome message from welcomer 2

Day 4- 1 welcome message from welcomer 3

If we do not have enough listeners who opt-in on a given day (though hopefully we will), the system will prioritize sending messages to day 1 and day 2 members and members who have 0-1 connections on the site.

Message content:

In the first version of this update, we are unable to provide you the ability to write your own custom welcome message. We hope to layer this in later on, we know this is a creative and fun exercise for you. The reason we are unable to do this is because of quality of messages. We'd need to build a system by which pre-written messages get verified in some way as to prevent spam/inappropriate messages being sent out on a large scale.

In the mean time, there will be 3 pre-written messages. There will be a day 1 message, day 2 message and a day 3 message. The content can be changed at any time by us, depending on feedback from members and all of you. I will be working on the content of these messages today, once they are finalized, we will share with you all directly.

Some of you have voiced concerns that this will make listeners seem bot-like. We recognize this feedback and are aware that this type of feedback may increase with this update. It's important to remember that this feature is meant to be a way for technology and humans to work together to accomplish a shared goal, in this case making 7 Cups a more welcoming place. While the message and it's content may be automated, the listener who sends it is a real person who can reply. Most online communities have these automated welcome messages, where message content is the same across the board, but the person who sends the message is not. It is you all, our diverse community of listeners, that make the technology not bot-like.

We will continue to experiment and evolve the feature to minimize this feeling of bot-like messages, but given the nature of what we are building, a system by which technology and humans work together, it may be hard to avoid this all together.

Now.... what about all of those members on my contact list?

We know that welcoming up to 26 new members every day could add a high volume of new contacts to your contact list. Therefore, we will pre-set every new welcome message to the "hide" setting. If the member replies to the welcome, they will appear in your contact list. If they do not reply, they will not show.

What time of day will the message be sent out?

Every welcome message will be sent at the same time every day. Some of you have shared feedback that you want to be online or be able to set the time when they get sent out. Unfortunately, the system cannot be developed in this way at this time. Every message will be sent out at the same time every day. Once I know what this time is, I will share it with you!

Gamification:

Right now, Listeners earn 3 cheers for every chat that you initiate. This will still be the case! However, to keep it fair, we will not count +3 cheers for automatically sent welcomes. If you engage with the member beyond the welcome message, you will earn cheers as usual.

What about listeners who opt-in but then log off the site, never to be seen again?

We hope nobody will do this.... however, any listener who is opted in but has not logged on to the site in 2 weeks, will be automatically opted out. If and when they log back in to the community, they will be opted back in. It is on YOU to to un-tick this box if you no longer want to participate in the program.

When will this feature launch?

Our dev team is working on this update now. We have a tentative launch date of early next week (monday or tuesday). Remember, this is a version one and participation is totally voluntary. On the day of the launch, I will be present in the community and available to hear feedback directly.