Should unused accounts be deleted after 6 months or not?

[Jill]

Hi

I go around putting up comments on every members page every 2 weeks or so and have noticed that there are around 20 or more members pages which have never been used. These members have joined Creative Cafe, put up a basic profile and then apparently never been back to the site. They have never joined in or participated in anything going on, never replied to any comments, never made any friends on Creative Cafe and so their accounts are unused. Some sites I know suspend membership when accounts have not been used for 6 months. Some even do this after 3 months. We are coming up to being open for 6 months in a months time and I want to know if we should adopt the policy of suspending unused accounts or not?

The unused accounts are not currently using up any extra bandwidth that we have to pay for but they also make more work when I or any other members write comments and invite them as friends and so on. Besides that I do like to see the site full of active members who make contributions when they can.

On the other hand social network sites like My space and so on never delete any members and it said that they keep your details even if you delete your page yourself.

Well we need to have a policy on this rather than me just deciding myself so I would like as many opinions on this that you can all come up with.

I will eventually put up the decision we make here as well.

Thanks Jill

[Princess2008]

Hi Jill,

I think there should be a policy as like you said though its not taking up bandwidth it takes up your time and hard effort, I think if the members have not made any contribution at all, not even with their own profile then they should be deleted, you may also be able to set an email system where you contact them say a few weeks before to let them know that due to inactivity their account is going to be deleted and that will also give them a chance to pop back on as there could be reasons like commitments off-line or they have just forgotten at least you are giving them a chance and then if not delete the account.

6 months I think is reasonable, 3 months to be personally is such a short amount of time especially if things are going on and you are really busy.

[Mandy Lawrence]

Hi Princess

ooh, this is a toughie.

Part of me feels that members who don't contribute in any way shouldn't be here but another part of me thinks it is a bit Natzi to delete them.

Is there something people sign when they join to say if they don't contribute they will be deleted? If so then to delete them would follow that protocol but again it all seems quite contorlling to me. I am a bit loosey lucy when it comes to these things. Too much control messes with creativity and also turns people off. Also, what if someone gets ill or has a personal probby that they deal with. They might not wish to share that with others and deleting their account might make them feel worse.

Will go with majority view. As in the majority of people who respond to this question but if people are to be deleted, I would like them to be contacted first, in a supportive way, to see if they are having probbies or have needed time out from cafe for whatever reasons.

Hope this has made some sense and doesn't sound controlly. :>)

[Princess2008]

Hi Mandy,

Hope you are well.

No I agree totally Mandy it can have a feeling of control over the site, which is why I said too that maybe an email to the members that are inactive would be a kind of gentle push, some may have genuinely forgotten and so actually that email may remind them and they could then be really active - its definitely a tough one I do agree, Jill if it is causing you extra work then yeah I can see why you feel the need to encourage members or delete them. Would be good to get some more opinions on this one..

[Mandy Lawrence]

Hi Princess

Am doing alright here, all things considered.

I used to be one of those who got frustrated by people who joined groups and didn't contribute so I understand that side of things, I also understand that Jill puts alot of time and effort into the cafe and when people don't contribute that is a bit desrespectul to her as well as her making time to go round trying to find out what people want etc and when they don't respond that is frustrating too.

I guess if people join and then don't want to be part of anything that goes on here, is better that they aren't here. Although, I wouldn't want people leaving who found the place supportive and useful. Then again, those people most probably wouldn't want to leave.

Like you, I would like to see what other members think of this. It is an important issue.

[WILMA (aka Julia)]

Hmmm have to be honest I would delete them!
Not sure why anyone would join a site, profile it then not come back...whatever the reason tho I would def delete and if for some reason its been down to ill health or somthing like that which has kept someone from the site, then I am sure they will join again if they really want to!

Its wasting your time and efforts and its rude not to reply so I would def say delete them!

Julia xx

[Jill]

Hi

Thanks for your opinions on this. I am thinking at the moment I will add into the broadcast message I send to every member when the Cafe news is up that we are discussing this and I would like more opinions. Then if there are members who have not been on for a while that might encourage them to at least come and have their opinion. Not being around for 6 months only applies to members when we first opened at the moment but the numbers will increase as time goes on. I don't think there are that many who have never been back after they first joined but there are definitely some. Just would like to know why bother joining in the first place really if they never want to join in?

Bye for Now
Jill

[Louise]

Hi Jill,

Maybe you could send a message alerting them to the fact that they will be removed, then it will be upto that person to contribute or get in touch with you, if you don't hear from them in say 1 week from the message, then delete them. Other sites as you say don't delete people but they don't get the personal touch, you put so much time and effort into this site we don't want you to feel that you are banging your head against a brick wall.

Take care , Louise

[Jill]

Hi again

It's not that I feel I am bashing my head against a brick wall just that having
active members is what makes the site a community. Also I've noticed social network sites like this will quote how many members they have and then do a seperate quote for how many active members they have. That seems to me a bit odd. I want all the members to be active members! Not necessarily all the time but at least now and then. Mind you we had site visits of over 200 one day which is the highest so far. Some members are logging on but not writing comments or joining in. Maybe I am just being too impatient!

Bye for Now
Jill

[Louise]

Hi Jill,
This is one of the nicest sites I have been on, where I feel totally at home and feel that I can contribute. The welcome from yourself and members has been A1+.

The site is still young it will grow and maybe people are still feeling their way around?

Take care, Louise

[Jill]

Hi Louise

Aw thanks I am glad you thinkthis is a friendly site. That's what we want and it is great to have great members like you who do contribute such a lot as well.

Bye for Now
Jill