How Big is the Minutus Community, Now?

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Peter Walker
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How Big is the Minutus Community, Now?

Post by Peter Walker »

How Big is the Minutus Community, Now?

On another platform, the question was raised as to how big the Minutus group is now, after all the changes. As I can see all the numbers, let me answer - it is much larger than you think!

When I gained control of the Minutus YahooGroup in order to restore it to a new place, I gained an insight into how large your community is. 
On Dec 19, 2019 4:34 pm, I counted these numbers on the YahooGroup:
No email = 1339 members
Daily Digest = 774
Individual Emails = 1264
Banned members = 79
Total members = 3377

Today (April 24, 2020):
Everybody is now set to receive individual Emails, but it is not possible to see how many of those are bouncing.
What does this tell us:
Total members = 3096 (-281)
Banned members = 79
Individual Emails = 3017  (+1753)

Now it is not known how many of those have bouncing emails, and I would estimate at least %15 which would leave us 2564 members receiving the Daily Digest every day.

Based on that, your readership has actually increased even if the total number of members has decreased by 281. That is not too bad.
The more you guys posted tons of individual emails on the YahooGroup every day, the more unsubscriptions I could see, the worst drop was on that recent "SOS" topic which lost you about 80 members in one day. That is why I had to pull the emergency brake and restrict posting to the Daily Digest and the numbers have been stable since then.

On groups.io, there are just 108 members, although they are more active.

Not confirmed = 8
Bouncing emails: 1
Active members =99

On the Minutus forum, the member numbers are not yet reliable due to problems with the member transfer process that are still being rectified.

Minutus Forum:
Members = 3004 
Active Members = 44

If you want to reach the most members, the best place to post is on the forum as those posts are also sent to the YahooGroup via the Daily Digest and as individual emails to groups.io.

Posting on groups.io reaches just 99 members, but they are the most active - although currently inactive.

Other questions asked:

Question: how many former Yahoo Minutus members now are registered on Rife? And if possible – any ideas on how did they got lost?
Answer: All members of the Minutus group on groups.io are also members of the Rife group. That is the way groups.io works, everyone is a member of the main group, selected people are also members of the Minutus subgroup. They did not get lost, they just stopped posting on the Minutus subgroup.

Question: I would love to know if any have been left behind accidentally—I hope not!
Answer: Nobody on the YahooGroup has been removed by us. Many were left behind when the online archives disappeared as those on "No email" or "Special Delivery" were no longer able to see new posts. When all existing members were switched to receiving emails again, you gained a lot of lurkers even though 281 then unsubscribed. Due to technical issues with the transfer of the memberlist to the new forum, there were a number of members who got left behind. That is an issue that is currently being worked on with the aim of fully restoring all members to the forum. Anyone who wants to login to the forum and is having problems, please contact me directly with the list of every email address you used with the YahooGroup. Then I can consolidate the various accounts into one. About 700 user accounts still need checking at the moment. It will all be fixed, as time is available. 

Question: Anytime it takes weeks and weeks to make a group move, you will lose many people.
Answer: The numbers do not agree with that. If anything, the number of members able to read the forum messages have increased substantially. Sure, 281 did leave, but that is a small number considering all the turmoil. It takes time to create the infrastructure to properly restore the archives. Everybody was informed about the group on groups.io and the decision to move again was made on issues like free speech and the V-Word that was restricted in groups.io. I am confident that if the active members start posting good, positive and interesting posts on the forum, it will soon be very active again and thrive. I have been through this whole process before and it is normal to have a period of confusion while people adjust to the new way of interacting. Once they discover how much better the forum environment really is, with recent topics, similar topics and the tons of other features that give you such great access to the archives, the forum will grow and grow to be much better than it ever was. It is like changing cars from a small Mini to a big Mercedes - it takes time to learn all those new buttons and switches, but then you start to love the much nicer driving comfort.

Let my add my own comment: The problems with the group are more psychological than technical. The uneasy state of the group comes from unnecessary arguments and negative opinions. What is needed is to embrace your new home and learn how to use it. It does take time, but the more positive and informative posts you have, the more inviting it is for members to come back. The infighting has to stop and be replaced with a respectful place where every opinion is allowed to be said, just as every alterative opinion as well. Debate the facts, stay professional and avoid any kind of personal attacks. That will heal your group and let it grow like never before.

I have been making daily posts on the forum to help people learn about it. to get used to how it works and people are now beginning to make their own posts.

"The answer to "wrong" speech is NOT to censor, slur or attack your opponent,
but to respectfully debate the issue with better arguments and references!"



Conclusion:
Due to the changes made to the group and forum, the number of people receiving the Daily Digest has increased dramatically as many members were previously unable to see messages as there were no online archives on the YahooGroup.
What more of you need to do now is actively login and post on the forum. Then you will reach the most members and with time more will be enticed to join in if they start reading interesting discussions. 
Posting on the Minutus Group may be comfortable, as it is what you are used to, you are only reaching a very small number of members. People grow through embracing new ways of doing things. Using the forum is not difficult, and you will discover a load of great features that you will learn to appreciate very quickly. The phpBB forum system has evolved over 20 years and is very well suited for a community like yours. Give it a try, embrace it and you will soon find it is much nicer to be able to choose what topics interest you and learn from your archives. You will find that most questions have already been asked, if you just look.
 
 
 


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