How to Introduce Yourself to an Online Community

Like parties, conferences, and job interviews, online communities have certain etiquette rules for introducing yourself and making a good impression. It's easy to make mistakes in unfamiliar territory, so it's always good advice to do some research before you make your move. Read the following guidelines to learn how to introduce yourself to an online community, and get the most out of the experience!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Read the rules. Before jumping into any online community, it's important to check out the welcome post and/or rules list. Find out what's acceptable in a post, what's required, and what can get you into trouble. Posting something that doesn't follow the communities guidelines makes for a very bad first impression on the group.
2. Observe (lurk) for awhile and discover the group dynamics. Joking and banter may be the norm or the members may prefer to be serious. See which posts get the best reactions and how newbies are received.
3. Search previous posts and threads. If you want to offer up a topic for discussion or have a question, make sure it wasn't gone over just recently. If community members have been around for awhile, they can grow weary of hearing the same things over and over. Make a good impression by doing your homework and starting off with fresher topics.
4. Have something to offer. Some communities allow for posts where you simply introduce yourself to the group and say why you're there, but even those that do usually prefer that you post something on topic instead. If it's a community for fans of a particular movie, for example, include a link to an interesting article or post a picture that you took at a fan event. Community members will be more eager to interact with you if you bring something to share and discuss.
5. Start with a moderate tone. Keep your post polite and language on the clean side, unless of course it's a site devoted to shock jocks or other subjects where a certain tone is expected. As you get to know the other members, you'll learn how familiar and casual you can get with your future posts.
6. Keep it simple. If it's a site devoted to personal experiences of some kind, lengthier posts would be expected, but on social, hobby, and fan communities you'll generally want to keep the rambling to a minimum. There's plenty of time for them to get to know all of your stories--don't use them all up in your first post.
7. Make your first post a reply. In an interactive community, it's often best to get started by commenting in a thread or discussion that someone else already initiated. You'll often make friends faster by showing interest in someone else, rather than bursting in and announcing yourself with your own post.
8. Stay positive. Don't start a new post or enter a discussion with a complaint. There may be something you notice right away about a community that could be better--the color scheme, the way threads are posted--but keep these to yourself. Community members who've been around a long time will not want to hear criticisms from someone who just arrived. You can always voice your concerns later, when people know you and your opinion carries more weight.
9. Acknowledge any comments on your introduction. If someone takes the time to welcome you, make sure you respond to them. Keep the discussion going. This is how you'll make friends and get the most out of the community. If people see your post and you haven't replied to anyone's comments, they'll no doubt pass by and not add any thoughts of their own.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't take disinterest personally. You may find that your initial posts or comments go unanswered. It's upsetting, but don't give up. It often takes time to work your way into a group dynamic. People come and go in communities all the time, so members often won't want to invest time in someone they think might disappear tomorrow. Keep contributing and commenting in existing discussions. Soon you'll be getting their attention.
• Don't take the bait. Like freshmen in high school, sometimes newbies will get treated a little more harshly than others in a community. If someone makes a teasing or antagonistic comment, just reply in a positive or joking way. Don't let them draw you into any kind of argument or drama; it'll make a bad first impression on the rest of the group.

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