We’ve been building DMC for a year now, and we want to be straight with you: we know it hasn’t found its rhythm yet. Rather than guess why, we’re asking you directly. Whether you check in daily or you signed up once and never came back, we want to hear from you. How would you make DMC better, and what would you actually want to see here?
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Where are we losing you?
- I don’t know what to post, or where to start
- I’m here to read, not to post
- I don’t have time to check in regularly
- The content/conversations don’t feel relevant to me
- I didn’t realise there was more to do here than read
- I don’t feel comfortable posting under my real name
- Notifications/emails don’t remind me to come back
- Something else (explain below in the thread)
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We are all so overwhelmed by the relentlessness of messages in whatever form. For those of us who spend all day on a digital device, spending more and more leisure time on them to keep up is not desirable. If anything I now delete more and more. 99% of news and info is negative or causes anxiety or fear from not being able to keep up.
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At my age, I try to read as much as I can, to stay on top of the world around us.
BUT, I often (not necessarily on DM), read the comments and have to wonder if that is all some people have to do - the negativity slays me.
Your “Opinion pieces” are the best, I can make my own informed decisions, without going down the road of the “commentors”…
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I never go to DMC unless I see the initialising post somewhere else. Then I had over if I am interested. I don’t post unless I geek I can contribute. I find the problem is that it takes time for the comments and responses to build, and by that time I have forgotten that the conversation is happening.
I think it is a really good idea, but I am not sure that people have really got the hang of specialist conversation spaces. I hear more rumbles that this may be the way things go in future with people off generalist social media and on a selected two or three apps each orientated to a narrow topic band. Impossible to tell at this point where things will go.
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I used to post a lot, including articles of interest from other sources, but noticed lack of interest in DM Connect from readers, so perhaps its a resource to abandon or radically redesign. I was surprised by the public inertia but I guess people have their own social media networks and communities and do not see DM as a community.
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I have had a major gripe with Daily Maverick that I tried to communicate, but my approaches are always being ignored. I read Daily Maverick and find most of the articles very helpful and interesting, but as a subscriber and someone that is sometimes approached by your journalists for comment in their stories, I would like to hope that I would get a reply to my emails sent directly to people dealing with the management and operations of DM. Just ignoring my emails and follow ups (I really don’t do that often, only when I feel it is important) is just plain disrespectful of your readership. I also appreciate personal communication, and not some AI-generated reply (I hope that is not where you are planning to head). If you are (justifyably) worried about spammers abusing your email address, please create a direct communicating tool for Insiders. Thanks
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I don’t read every article, but there is something in every edition that interests me. I post whenever i feel I can add something to the article.
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I recently purged my presence on most social media platforms and opted to read more long form newsletters and actual journalism. Now I find my inbox bombarded with emails, constantly asking me to upgrade or subscribe for something better. I appreciate the important journalism done by DM but checking in on another social media platform is too much time.
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Sometimes as with DM I find the articles quite annoying when they present a one-sided partisan opinion and try and fidn fault at all costs where there is little fault to be found. There are times when your journalist take pot shots in the dark without knowing much about what they write about.
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Login is a pain. It is so hard to log in. My (saved) password doesn’t work. OTP fails every time.
Send me a link tends to work, but I can’t open that when I’m already in an email.
Friction means work…
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Hi Sarah - I’ve communicated directly with DM by email and have been ignored so many times it feels like DM doesn’t want to talk, even to insiders. I guess I assumed this system was for those who need to defuse and have others comment on their beef. It’s a bit like talking to yourself, given the limited number of replies generated. It’s hard to have a meaningful conversation with 6 to 10 highly opinionated people!! It’s a nice idea but isn’t clear who it’s for and what purpose it serves.
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I long ago switched all my social media activity to the fediverse, because it’s more manageable, has more meaningful and effective moderation tools, and explicitly doesn’t try to hold your attention and keep you glued to your phone. Even so, I don’t have the time or energy to spend keeping up to date on a second social media platform. I have no specific problem with this one, it just doesn’t offer me anything that I don’t already have.
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Logging in is a hack. I am also tired of Rebecca Davis’ bigoted rantings about Helen Zille and the DA.
I think my problem is largely the same as what most people have communicated in the thread as well. It might perhaps be over-kill, as in there are too many spaces. I’m not even talking about the fact that there is already so many social media platforms, but just for DM itself. I receive email newsletters (which I thoroughly enjoy), and I also utilize the app (also enjoy this option), but when I want to comment on an article, I need to log in via the website to do so, so I forego this option most of the time. And then there is this platform, which is fun and great, but personally, I get most of my use for DM out of the app and the newsletters. Those extra steps and always having to keep a tab open on your browser just makes it something to not do most of the time. (I also check the WA channel, and in my opinion, it is greatly underutilized given what I see other news channels post)
I have seen exactly the same issue with everyone trying to start their own space. For them, it is one space where they want to build a community. For everyone going to the space, it is just one of many communities they have to go to, and the more steps to get there or the less relevant the discussions, the less ‘feet’ are going to pass through.
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Time. That is it. Nothing else. I check in every now and again, but my work has become more demanding of late. And yes, I am trying to hold on to a job AI is designed to take. Eventually. Hell, I am training AI to get better at my job. I am teaching my executioner to shoot straight.
Please keep this space open. It is unlike social media that demands your attention and ‘rewards’ you accordingly, and I like that.
I also like every single newsletter I get, and mornings only start after @John_Stupart’s First Thing. His added wit is a great touch! Ditto the financial sleuth, @SharpSchutters. I also wish I had time to read everything the resident maverick citizen, @Zukiswa finds.
Many thanks to all the times I’ve tagged a DM writer, and they took the time to acknowledge this.
Oh, and @rosiekingwill, I have enjoyed reading your takes immensely. Do continue, please!
Daily Maverick, including DMC, will never lose me. even if I may be a silent reader most of the time.
Here’s a thought. I often read a news article or opinionista, and respond there directly. I am sure many Insiders do. Since we are (hopefully) a community that values what Daily Maverick does and stands for, perhaps consider a feed in DMC with abridged (expandable?) comments from elsewhere. I do not have FOMO, but I know I cannot read every article and opinion piece. Who knows, if we see something others have something to say about, we might check what the fuss is about and bring more connection to the DMC space. More conversations could spontaneously ignite in DMC. Entirely serendipitously. No coaxing, cajoling, nudging, whatever.
@SarahHoek, you’re doing a great job. And we need opinions here. Anyone’s. And I am sure that civility will prevail, if we let it.
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You are not losing me; I’ve just started! I’mtrying to orient myself first before sharing anything. I’m just a kind of regular visitor to Joburg since 2014. I am a subscriber to DM, too.
Hi Sarah I do think this space has potential and hope it can continue. I lost some interest in early days due to limited conversations/responses but looking around now I see more of what interests me. Great topics, thank you!
Ease of signing in is a definite issue.
A weekly email listing the top new, most active and most popular conversations would be helpful, and maybe you are already sending this but I’m missing it? That would have helped me notice what’s cooking. Maybe on a Friday.
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I signed up right at the start and immediately wondered these things:
- Why did DM decide to build a brand new forum platform that didn’t integrate into their main news site?
- Why didn’t they just start a community on a platform like DISCORD which hosts other important news group communities successfully. This would allow users to visit one place instead of having multiple sign ups scattered across the internet
A few comments and posts later I still ask the same two questions, but have a couple more:
- Why is signing in such a shlep
- The layout is confusing and there are faaaar too many topics for the beginning of a forum. Which makes it feel like the few users are spread thin across all the boards.
Suggestions:
- Use articles from the DM main site more as starting blocks for conversations. Integration with DMC will make this flow much easier to navigate for users. This does happen to some extent, but many times it’s through a poll which does not encourage users to share their voice.
- Condense the amount of topic boards. Based on what others have commented on, most people are here to ‘read’ and lack time to participate. Rather look at growing boards as topics arise and stay within the community. This will make it feel more relevant to what is really important to the users as opposed to feeling like you have to fit into an already existing topic in order to participate.
- Give us, the users, a definitive reason for why this platform exists. Why have you asked us to be here? Wanting to grow a community doesn’t cut it anymore. People are busy, we need to get something out of this space in order to continue to engage. Eg: maybe it’s access to articles that aren’t shared on DM. Maybe it’s a paragraph of personal insight from the authoring journalist of the article being discussed.
Overall perhaps the gap between the DM and the DMC is too large right now. There will need to be some bridges built. Because that’s what got us here in the first place.
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I fully support DM and the work you do, but I do feel an overwhelm at the negativity in the world. I also find that logging onto another platform becomes another step. I believe we’re all a little bit over the “angry and outraged, but not interested in adult debate digital space” and just want ordinary conversations.
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