Intro
As promised here are the results of my survey, which had 3 questions. I got 10 responses so thanks to everyone who participated! I'm not publishing the comments but have written a bit about their general themes. I've also discussed some of the shortcomings of the survey and there's a summary at the end.
Question 1
Here you can see that the most common reason why people don't post is that they don't have time, which I think is fair enough. We're all busy people.
Out of 7 comments, 4 people mentioned feeling nervous or scared (their words) to post on the discussion board. Some respondents feel that posts on the board need to be of a higher standard than what they can produce. Obviously ''intimidation” is an obstacle that I didn't adequately address in my possible responses.
I wonder if some people think that they don't have time to post on the board because they think they need to spend a lot of time crafting a great post.
Question 2
Students would most like to use the discussion board for giving/receiving advice and discussing media. This is a pretty clear result and only generated two comments. The people who did comment were interested in the discussion board either as a learning resource or as an opportunity to be part of a community.
Question 3
Most people are happy with the Archives Live format. I'm confused by this result and obviously didn't write a very good question. How can people be happy with the format if they feel too intimidated to post? Unless they mean that, as one commenter put it, they would be happy with it if other people used it.
In the comments a common theme was a desire for privacy. Three out of four commenters emphasised the importance of a private community and perhaps this is what people like about Archives Live when compared to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Summary
I suppose I can say that the people who responded to this survey generally want to have a student discussion group that is supportive, private and welcoming, which is not a big surprise. My main question was whether it was the Archives Live format that was putting people off or something about the culture of the board.
I don't know what the next step is from here, other than to say that communities don't just spring up out of nowhere, or by the will of one person. If you want to have a supportive, active community for students, participate in this conversation and we can all decide what we want this community to look like.
Replies
Hi Robin,
Thanks for taking the time to run the survey and collate the information, its an interesting snapshot. We had 60 + people turn up the the first New Professionals meet in Melbourne last night. There was so much excitement and enthusiasm about having the space to talk and share our experiences, which speaks to the fact that there was a need that wasn't being filled.
***For anyone in Melbourne I'd highly recommend coming along to the next one. If you are elsewhere, why not set up your own?
Thanks again,
Michaela