HELP: Lack of community engagement :-(

[Scott_Gould]

Hey Airtable community managers

I'm sure it can't of escaped your attention that since the community relaunch, engagement here has really dropped

This is a fair issue for those of us who rely on support to get things done

Can this be addressed somehow? If not, I fear this place will become less visited, and the value of Airtable will decrease with it, and your investment in this new forum be wasted 😞

[Databaser]

😬🤐

[kuovonne]

@Jordan_Scott1, the former head of community at Airtable, is now a "former employee". @ChrisShernaman and @Laura_McCarthy are now the "Community Managers". Chris joined the community slightly after the changeover to Khoros, and Laura appears to have joined slightly  before the changeover. Although they do not have years of regular interaction with the forums, I am sure that they are aware of the change in engagement.

@Scott_Gould Do you have specific suggestions for what you would like to see done differently in this community? Can you explain how you used the community forums in more detail? You do not appear to have a history of asking many questions on the forums. Did you use the forums in a different way? For example, did you tend to search for existing posts hoping to find answers? Did you search for existing posts that you recalled seeing but did not bookmark? Did you follow particular authors? Did you just browse new content and glean info that way? I have told Chris how I used to use the forums and what features I found useful, but my usage probably is very different from that of other users.

Meanwhile, if you have immediate pressing questions that are going unanswered on this forum, most of the people who used to answer questions here are still on the internet answering Airtable questions. As I mentioned in my Community Change Maker Profile, 

[augmented]

Personally, while I'm not a great contributor, I have tried to answer a question here and there as time permits. However, I'm not a fan of the new community format. While my rational brain wants to "work with what's there", I find myself coming here less and less.

[Scott_Gould]

Hi all

@augmented I hear you on the format. For me, that is the issue

@kuovonne my main frustration, as is others, is that the new forum is harder to use from a UX / UI perspective. This has meant people use it less, as per @augmented's anecdote above

I know that I'm not a big contributor. But I did log in most days, and gleaned things from those who did contribute regularly. Those contributors seem to be gone.

Therefore, the 1:9:90 law will show that the effect is, people will be here less – whether to contribute or to just read. Which means, this investment in a new platform is money not only wasted, but spent on making things worse

The UI changes to the whole Airtable product today are part of the same issue it seems.

And yes, I know people don't like change, and then get used to it. But also, organisations can make mistakes. And given it seems these new UX/UI languages aren't being tested with users, I think it's reasonable to assume that these decisions are being rushed

[Scott_Gould]

@augmented I think my central concern is that, over the last month, most posts now go without any replies. That wasn't the case before. And that trend is worrying to me

[augmented]

Anyone who values Airtable as a core tech for their business should be concerned. Some of those I've helped weave Airtable into their biz workflows would be devastated to start over. 

One possibility is that the user base has been herded to skew towards Enterprise so much, that small, early-adopters have lost enthusiasm. And Airtable may be fine with that. I can't even speculate what the large investors hoped-for liquidity event will be. I wouldn't want to IPO enterprise software in this market.

[kuovonne]

@Scott_Gould Thank you for explaining how you used the forum. Hopefully that will be useful information for Chris.

@augmented Thank you for your past contributions to the Airtable community! I'd say you were part of the 1% that Scott_Gould referred to. I also tried to "work with what is there". 

@Databaser I'm guessing that the zipper-mouth-face means that you have something to say but feel like you should not say it for some reason.

[Databaser]

@kuovonne, I feel like your acting as the spokesperson of Airtable here. Which is admirable, because we know you as being objective and looking for solutions, but imo it shouldn't be your role to play here, but the Airtable staff. 

And yes, it means I try to bite my tongue more often. Maybe to avoid the Airtable backlash that some powerusers already found in their mailbox for being to publicly critical. Which I also understand sometimes, were it not that there's a whole group of powerusers/top community contributors/resellers that have been trying for years to get Airtable to at least hear them out conceirning all these kind of rubbish decissions. 

[kuovonne]

I was hoping that by tagging the community managers in this thread, they would be encouraged to reply. I do not represent Airtable, and my posts are my own thoughts. 

Thank you also for sharing your reasons for feeling being cautious in limiting what you say. That information may be news to others who may stumble upon this thread.