Funny. Seems like 99% of the people I know really hated the re-design. Many said, I'm gonna leave tribe or find another alternative. Most have found a few things but I still notice most everyones profile. However, what I have noticed since the re-design is a dramatic decline in postings to the 80 some tribes I'm in. Seriously dramatic. Many have become ghost towns. No one posting anything. I also tend to notice that most have said they are happy that Tribe was re-designed because now they don't come here as frequently as before. I know I personally don't.
I guess there's nothing quite as important as chasing away users.
I guess there's nothing quite as important as chasing away users.
posted by:
|
SF Bay Area
|
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 3, 2006 - 1:40 PMi dont use it as much. Dont post as much. I am on toget my information or contact whom I need to contact and i am off to ther greener less glare-y pastures. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 3, 2006 - 9:03 PMYes, I tend to feel crabby and so I'm not reading and responding to as much.
All that glaring white. I guess this is as good as it's going to get. I really miss the old Tribe.
Domina
-
-
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Sat, March 4, 2006 - 12:36 PMThe tribes with the most new posts get top billing in the list of tribes on our homepages, which while in theory is a good idea, actually seems to be hurting usershup because the tribes with the most new posts are generally the ones you aren't keeping up with as much. A lot of people wander around and make posts to random tribes here and there- which you have to join to do- and then while they might have enough interest not to remove themselves from those tribes, they don't actually go back often, which ironically bumps them up to a higher priority than those they frequent (or used to) more often. I know several people who keep forgetting about a few tribes they used to frequent because they belong to so many that many of the ones they normally used to use have gotten lost on some secondary page.
Personally I've stopped using it as much, and while I can't say it's consciously because of the new format, my infrequent use started around the same time even though nothing else has changed to keep me away. In every tribe I belong to people have stopped using as much, and are still complaining about all of the bugs and inconveniences of the "new look".
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Tue, March 7, 2006 - 6:52 PM
yeah, i have that problem too on my tribes module. so I sort the tribes on my homepage by recent visit, not top posts. currently you do that by going to your My Tribes page and changing the sort order there. In a few weeks, we're gonna give you the ability to a) choose which tribes go in that module; b) set the sort order, and c) up the number you can show. That should help with all these isssues, i think. don't you? -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 10, 2006 - 11:52 PMOnly if the number of tribes to include on the main page goes into the triple digits.
Give users the power to recreate their homepage in the "old tribe" style (as far as what and how much content goes on the home page) with all their tribes on one page, AND categories for posts from friends etc. if they want to. Modularize everything, with no limits on each module if the user wants, and watch and see how many users opt for what. Learn from the stats. You'll have a lot less complaint posts to read when people can recreate what they liked but lost. Let me and my DSL company fight about the load times. After all, *I* will be the one who set it that way. Plus, more room for those precious precious ads. Who loses?
My usage:
As someone who was not a member of any hyperactive tribes, except maybe one, I have not noticed an effect on posting frequency. I do however, NEVER visit my quiet tribes because they are never on my main page, so I never end up thinking to look at them, browse them or do ANYTHING to them to re-inspire my interest or do the same for other users. Out of sight, out of mind, I guess. I hadn't even considered that effect, but it's very true for me. I have maybe used my all tribes view once in the last month or two. I just 'surf the headlines'.
At first, I even unsubscribed from ones I joined on a whim, just to reduce how many I had. So yeah, some quieter ones lost out on a member who was a daily tribe user.
Later, I did bop around and find a few new ones too, but mostly, as far as usage goes, the colors wear on my enthusiasm until the boredom of the effect of grey and red and white cause me to yawn and leave. Things are too drab, and boring. Tribe needs more color to give it a sense of life again. It just feels boring to look at. Things may not have been ideal last version, but there was enough color around to make things feel lively and interesting.
The content of tribe is why I come to tribe. The new things I stumble across is why I stay and explore and spend more time here. Since the change I've felt nothing but "ho-hum" and disappointment when I look at tribe. Many of the things that would catch my attention and stimulate my interest, causing me to dig deeper and find even more, are gone. Rearranging content I can work with. Removing content/features entirely is a detraction, and when coupled with a boring, stale, corporate color scheme, well, all I have left to motivate me to come here is the content. What motivates me to stay or explore? Now, not a hell of a lot. Boredom, really. Not interest. I don't explore like I used to, I don't feel the interest i used to. I don;t feel the ease of access I used to. Somehow it feels like the tribes have been isolated from each other by a big grey wall. I come, I read the tribes I really want to read, and leave again. Like surfing the headlines on Yahoo.
Hint: If I'm on tribe, I'm ALREADY bored. I come to tribe to reduce that feeling. Why on earth pick such a boring color scheme? Someone for the love of God hide Eliott's crack-pipe. And slap whoever is so damned adamant that they have to keep it at all costs. Better yet, slap them with Eliott's pipe.
OK, I'm going over the top now but really. Rent a clue!
Find me ten users that prefer this new color scheme. Honestly prefer it and think it's awesome. Just ten. Anyone. Link to the posts where they say so or something. I'm sure some of you more agressive types woud love to kill some time by proving me wrong. Please do. I need to hear why it's a good thing. I don't see it.
On that note, I'm logging off now because I'm sick of these colors. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Sat, March 11, 2006 - 12:10 AMDamnit! They rented a clue! I guess the slapping and pipe-swiping has already occurred.
I just read a post by Warren in another thread that describes the ultimate intent to let ppl customize their colors whenever they can figure out the technical side of things.
Sure would be nice if they'd announce this in a newsletter. I changed my settings to recieve one and none have come yet. I'd really like to know things like this as they are announced. Any help for this?
-
-
-
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Sun, March 5, 2006 - 1:34 AMThe tribes I'm in that had a long term commited community that depend on tribe as their means of connecting only dropped of about 30%. and may yet rebound completely.
The tribes that existed for posting events and interest groups that didn't feel "fuzzy" about one another are stone cold dead.
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Mon, March 6, 2006 - 12:40 PMtribe shot itself very solidly in the foot by sticking with this ugly and unpopular redesign. if they haven't noticed the dramatic drop off in posts, they're in serious denial or on major sedatives or both.
i haven't quit tribe and deleted my profile, but i've made a very conscious decision to use tribe about 20% of the time that i was using it before. even less than 20% sometimes. it is uglier, less easy to get the information i want and i feel my opinions and the opinions of the majority of the users are disregarded by the admins of this site. why would i continue to help recruit and build this site? i'm even a little bummed that i put so much energy into convincing friends to join the site only to have 2257 and the new format come along and have the site go from being ultra hip and ultra fun to being some plastic cheese site.
i'm fully disgusted and disillusioned by the direction of tribe and see it now as simply a site to use for its functions, not a site to embrace and promote and truly feel is worthy of our devotion. in short, it felt like a community, now it feels like a sleazeball on a street corner trying to sell me a watch.
i don't even go to the warm fuzzy sites that mikio talks about even though i'm a member of those discussions too. the people on those lists know how to find me if they want to. for my purposes, i'd rather not have tribe think i care enough about them to feel obliged to log in daily. i'll check in when i get emails i want to reply to or when i get friend invites. as for the discussion boards, i'm mostly not interested in letting tribe have any more of my content, interest or lip service. i gave them that when the new look was in beta. they showed us what they thought of our opinion of this new look... the siamese muppets are still on the mast head jeering at us.
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Mon, March 6, 2006 - 12:42 PMlet the decline continue. let your displeasure resound in deafening silence.
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Mon, March 6, 2006 - 8:27 PMI only actively started using tribe a few months ago, right before the changes.
I've seen a decline on all tribes except Word Freaks, Burningman, & Year 2012. And unfortunately, the mature tribe designation seems to have asphyxiated some of the more, ah, interesting tribes. I also try to publish a political listing about once a month. The first ones received 30-40 hits; the more recent ones are lucky to get 10. Dunno if this is typical.
I've kind of adjusted to the new Look/Tone/Feel, and even though tribe addressed many of the problems I initially whined about, I still don't like it. It clangs. It grates. It feels, viscerally, like being forced to watch a road crew using jackhammers and concrete saws. No, not in a good way.
One of the things web companies need to worry about is how using their site makes people feel. A good first impression and rapid engagement are important if they're going to capture new users, while sustained positive feelings and fresh, topical content are important for user retention. I think they have some reasonably good tricks for capturing new users. But despite my earlier enthusiasm, I'm losing interest. I don't know whether this is typical for a tribe user at the 4-month-mark or not, but it ain't a good sign.
I think tribe is at a crossroads - not because we hate the new look and are staying away, but because the rest of the market is catching up with them. Blogs, photo albums, user-defined and -moderated discussion groups, friends’ lists, are showing up on sites everywhere. Tribe still might have a winning combination of the best feature set and the most graphically-oriented UI, but not for long.
Long term, I think their traffic is going to decline. Their biggest remaining unique asset is the collective intellectual and artistic property that's amassing here, but they don't seem to realize it. Amazing people have created a fascinating, wonderful world of content here, but to tribe we're just consumer eyeballs to sell down the ad river. It bears repeating: People come to tribe for the eye and brain candy.
So what have they done to increase the amount and flow of those things? Did they build an art marketplace or a home for the most amazing online portfolios? Did they try to partner universities with art programs? With a political forum like Daily Kos, a news site like Slashdot, or a writers’ site like Salon? Did they bring their best free content writers on contract? No – they dumbed their look down so that beet-red roly-poly Rubbermaid kids could bounce on in and feel at home. Brb. Lol.
If they’re not going to build their business by enhancing their niche, the only thing left to do is build their user base. So why not do it the way all the big kids do it?
Tribe and Craigslist should merge. Each has complementary strengths: tribe has the features, craigslist has the traffic but no sticky personalization, profiles, or other capabilities. Plus, Craigslist isn't doing weird-stupid-prissy things in reaction to Alberto Gonzales that piss off their mature audiences. And sorry, tribe, but your brand recognition isn't great, so the new company's gonna be...
**** Craigstribe ****
Once we get the deal signed, we'll hire a professional UX team to lead the integration... and a professional Creative team to design the LTF. Both will have experience with user studies and user focus groups, so you don't end up with a user experience like this one.
And while we're at it, we're going to throw at least one feature in that supports the growth of your *real* asset - the content posted by us, the little not-red-round-headed-folk, your users.
Have a nice day :-) -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, March 8, 2006 - 10:17 AMDrusilla... I hadn't checked in to this tribe in quite a while and on my way to finally leave it, I found your post. Too bad such creative writing & insight is now directed at what's gone wrong; and rightfully so. Thanks for writing it so concisely.
I'm glad that Wade is reading. But is he listening? Sorry, rhetorical question; the answer is obvious.
As to the original question in the thread, I'm probably at 50%, at the most. There are a group of people I've met locally and we communicate regularly through tribe. Its a great resource for that. As for the exploration of new tribes, I find that I, and many of my friends have pretty much dropped out of the "heavy use set".
A couple of months ago, I was talking with a woman I met here. She said: "Tribe is my TV", in the course of a conversation about television. I laughed and concurred. Those days are over, and notably so for a significant part of the tribe population. Too bad. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, March 8, 2006 - 5:06 PM"I'm glad that Wade is reading. But is he listening? "
I don't know Wade, but I've read some of his posts. My impression is that he hides behind a faux down-homey communication style, saying "gosh" too frequently and substantive things too infrequently. I doubt he's ever read anything I've posted. Pee in the sea. Doesn't matter; I wasn't trying to reach him. I just wanted to share my metrics with the OP, vent a teensy bit, and feel understood. So thank you for listening, Herr Doktor sir. How much do I owe ya? :-)
"There are a group of people I've met locally and we communicate regularly through tribe. Its a great resource for that."
I agree - the long term value seems to be in finding a sustainable connection with a community and its events *offline*.
"I was talking with a woman I met here. She said: "Tribe is my TV", in the course of a conversation about television. I laughed and concurred. Those days are over"
Some Famous Poet whose name I can't remember was asked to classify what his writing *was*, and he replied "....a secretion..." I think what I'm saying here is, um, that I still need a place to secrete. If it isn't tribe, what is it?
The more I thought about tribe merging with Craigslist, the more I liked the idea. Imagine getting job postings based on user-defined search critera such as location, classification, and keywords directly on your homepage. Same deal for articles for sale or barter, personals ads, etc.
All we need is a bidirectional API... if we start the negotiations for data sharing and co-branding now, and it goes well, we can alpha test in about 90 days... -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 10, 2006 - 2:55 AMI did notice that my post was deleted. I wonder if I stepped on someones toes?
What ever!!! Tribe is beginning to head to the supersuck.
~brian~ -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 10, 2006 - 2:03 PMI know I don't hang out here as much as I used to :(
This new version just isn't user freindly
PLEASE fix it back!
-
-
-
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Sun, March 12, 2006 - 12:07 PMi don't use tribe as much. it's a ghost town.
I also DO NOT reccomend it to friends. All I can say is "it used to be a really cool place - but they are selling it out into a corporate ad farm.. you should look into something different.".
Tribe wasn't broke. But they fucked it up. Market Diversification and greed killed a really poweful viral concept that could have been very, very cool. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Mon, March 13, 2006 - 1:19 PMDefinitely.
The horrid part is the damage has been done and most likely can't be corrected. Too bad too sad for Tribe. Even if Tribe were to roll the old site back out or made it an option their user trust is shattered. Nearly everyone I communicated with or saw posts by stated how much they hated the new design yet Tribe marched along not listening to their users. I can't think of one other market where when a user/customer speaks up, especially en mass, and the business people say, "oh, but it's so much better, you'll grow to like it, trust us". It would be like McDonals switching all the meat in their burgers to tofu and didn't have the option of just ordering a regular beef hamburger. And then proceeded to tell everyone who wanted a beef hamburger to "trust us, you'll like it, and it's way better for you and the environment and the cows etc. etc. etc." Foo!
The decline is still marching forward. Out of some 90 tribes I'm in about 2/3's are nearly completely dead. Some that used to be quite active haven't had a post in days or weeks.
The resounding sound of crickets everywhere. The funny part is Tribe can still sell ad's to companies stating we have X number of users, and this really (un) slick new interface. Sad part is out of X users about 2/3 are now non-active. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Tue, March 14, 2006 - 1:07 AMA lot of people joined my Atlanta After Dark tribe in a rush of fear when use of "Atlanta" dead-halted almost overnight - but no one posts.
Only "fuzzy" tribes and "argue" still post, but one can sense a quiet pall of doom, inexorably marching forward. Jan and Wade ride the crest of this demonic wave of ichorous silence and grin madly, "hyah!" they snarl "leave! leeeeeave!"
The real reason I'm pissed, though, is that I used to have some credibility with the people I recommended this disaster to. "I swear it was so cool before.... you joined... ahem."
-
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, March 15, 2006 - 2:13 AMThis is how I track the decline in use.
I look at the Alexa Ratings:
www.alexa.com/data/detail...ffic_details
I look at percent of logged on users for the four big active groups.
But I only log on when I have to moderate a group. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Thu, March 16, 2006 - 7:34 PMso, not surprisingly, even though we've all seen a dramatic drop in use, with the exception of tribes devoted to bitching about tribe, the "page views" per visit keep going up because we now need to click more pages to get the info we used to get in a single click... so tribe can appear to grow while it is actually doing a total swan song...
sad.
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 17, 2006 - 7:36 AMI don't understand the Alexa scale. What does the number on the vertical axis represent? -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, March 17, 2006 - 10:43 AMIF you're looking at the standard traffic detail page, then it's something called reach. The vertical range is the number of people per million (overall) internet users that visited the site. This is a sort of weird number to most people, it's telling you how much faster (or slower) a site is growing than the internet as a whole.
-
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Tue, April 4, 2006 - 12:49 PMI haven't seen anyone disappear...well a few. But there has been a dramtic drop in people posting on threads or even events.
Even I barely post anymore. I go to tribe but I just stare at the home page...just not interested anymore.It's ugly and clunky and I have to click a few times to get to the tribes I want. I don't even update my regualr home page anymore that people see. I just forget...as the only way to get to it is by clicking the barely noticable icon inthe upper right hand corner. -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, April 5, 2006 - 9:09 AMI have a few tribes... some were very active, then some just are still in the infant stages. The very active ones are just scantly posting along in a very slow pace. Even some I belong to are not posting as much anymore. Tribe says their membership is up, so where are the new posts going to? I always thought if you had new members that would or should equal new posts. Where are all the new mass amounts of posts going to?
~brian~
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, April 12, 2006 - 11:35 AMI check Tribe once a week now and stay maybe 15 minutes. Before, I was on Tribe nearly every day and then usually for at least an hour a day.
I can't deal with the fuzzy type font (like what I'm writing now). The font choice/color was one of my main complaints about the "new design" and I hope it'll be remedied in the new Beta. If not, I'll continue to limit my use. My eyes can't deal with it.
Sigh... I used to be so active here. No more, though. Sad, isn't it?
- M -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, April 12, 2006 - 3:05 PMThat brings to mind another change for me since the overhaul.
In order to find new tribes, now I almost always have to use the search feature.
Before this, I had a lot more ways to get my interest piqued in a tribe or a stranger.
I've met a few folks, and found a couple new tribes, but overall the usability (as far as picking up new friends and new ideas around every corner) has plummeted. I've mentioned this in other feedback threads too, I think. "Sidewalk traffic", I guess...
How long has it been since I clicked on a profile just because they knew someone I know?
How long has it been since I stumbled on a tribe I would never have seen if not for that chance encounter?
Longer than it should have been. So, while I browse about as often, and do occasionally come across someone or something new and interesting, it's definitely dropped off as far as how often. Translation: less interesting = less useful = less use.
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Thu, April 13, 2006 - 3:43 PMyup on all accounts - good recap of what's gone wrong.
I've definitely stopped using it, since I just associate the 't for tribe' fav icon in my Firefox bar with ugly ass red and white redesign that went horribly wrong and pissed off its user base. I can barely remember the old design - at this point, the whole site's just lost me completely as a user. Such a shame. Didn't have to be this way, stupid catering to the MySpace generation or not. That's a factor but it can't be an excuse.
By the time they're creating new Tribes for every redesign update (?!?) and are doing stupid UI related stuff like explaining what the point of a search box is (is there ANYONE on the Internet who doesn't know? even my mother knows what they're for and she's been online maybe 3 times in her life)...it's obvious they don't care. Such a sad, sad shame. This will be written up in journals and blogs for years to come - a 'how to successfully piss off your users' 101 primer. And we were there when it happenned, and lived through the TribeHeadaches...
-
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Thu, April 13, 2006 - 1:53 PMyes, both in myself and in others that I used to communicate with here -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Thu, April 13, 2006 - 3:23 PMyes, I have lost interest, which in terms of my life on the computer and the life I should be spending with my family...thats a good thing!
-
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, May 10, 2006 - 4:49 PMYes, I've seen a big decline in overall usage and participation. Both of the tribes I moderate have fewer postings from users and many of the other tribes I visit I note a similar decline in usage.
I personally think that the timing was very poor to have rolled out a new look and a new TOU at nearly the same time. It would have been far better to have done one or the other, just not both.
I have noted a huge increase in the use of "Myspace" due to all the recent press they have received. Too bad since tribe appears to have an older and better educated demographic and probably more spending power if that's what advertisers are after. Tribe may have made a serious misstep by rolling out the new Terms of Use out of fear of prosecution by the government. It would have been better to solidify the demographic base by allowing all content since the government would try to go after pornographers first and hosts second.
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Wed, May 10, 2006 - 9:31 PMWell I can say that I definetly have curbed my usage on tribe to the point of deleting my account. Before I go into detail, first I respect the company and their need to make money. Where the biggest misteps were in the following:
1. Private vs. Public tribes - though private tribes are not new per say, they have increased massively due to the recent rules regarding offensive content. Not a problem in and of it self but for someone new, there is no way to find and request membership for private tribes. There should be perhaps three levels of visibility: Public/Moderated Membership (like it is now), Private but visible (i.e. you can find the tribe, you can't view or post until the moderator approves you) and finally private as it is. My sense is that most of the "private" tribes would be happy to be in the second category.
2. Design - Tribe isn't the pretty girl at the prom but for all the new functionality of the resdesign, the overall affect is that it is ugly. Get some graphic designers in here and add some color to this place besides red. I miss the little navigation menu and I miss the overall feel of the place. It is hard to describe but the new design seems cold. I don't mean that you should design in committee but there are serveral great design groups that can be trolled for ideas.
3, The ad revenue model - Everyone who has worked in internet technolgies eventually learn that an ad revenue model only works with massive amounts of traffic and while I don't know what you guys are making, a subscription model is also a viable option. For something like $25 a year, I would be happy to pay that just to get rid of the ads.
4. Company perception - I've worked for some very successful startups and several failed ones as well. What makes the biggest difference is that during design sessions, user feedback was solicited, listened to and responded to quickly. I'm not saying reply to every post, that would be a full time job for a bunch of people who were in no position of power. Rather, do the reasearch before implimenting something, when making executive decisions, make sure they are clear and coherent and most importantly, quickly change a direction when a revolt is underway. The feeling I get from the staff is that they are way over worked (who isn't these days) and that translates into copy past "official" communication which sucks at best. Be real and the world will respect you much more. Myspace has Tom, one guy who is the mouthpiece of the whole. You need one, badly and he cannot have a PR background but one as a user and friend to the users of tribe.
When I first joined last september, it felt that the place was vibrant and active, now it is so much less so, half of the tribes I used to belong to are private and I have no way of finding them and I was a fan, I hate myspace's truely heinious design and how everyone's pages either start blasting music (over my itunes) or hurts my eyes.
I was really rooting for tribe, recommended dozens of friends and feel let down by quickly made policies, a half assed implimentation of privacy (all or nothing) and bad UI design decisions.
Come back tribe, I sure miss you... -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Thu, May 11, 2006 - 12:39 PMI agree with a lot of what you have to say, but my comment is in relation to you myspace comment. I hate the music autoplaying as well, especially when I have my own music playing and then I found that you can go to your preferences and turn it off - cool, huh? I hate myspace, but have a profile to get my DJ alter ego some attention, but I don't use it the way I use tribe, which I check every day and post almost every day.
Bring the old UI back! -
-
Re: Have you noticed a decline in use?
Fri, May 26, 2006 - 2:23 AM
-
-
