Is it just me?

I'm afraid I am one of those people who reads but doesn't post - I often feel I have something to say, but find its either been said before me or I worry it will be irrelevant

Welcome @WendyMoore and @DJ! Great to see you peeps here from way over there and thanks for some great comments. We're aiming for the next version of i-volunteer to sync wall updates with Twitter which may be a good way to get into it, so watch this space for updates in the summer. You might want to say hi to @robjackson74 he did a tour of Oz last year so maybe you know him?

@carolcarbine your post is pulling in new members now, do you wanna job?!!

Hi Carol

Thank you for your honesty. From the number of responses that you are getting Carol, I would say that there are many people out there just like you, keen to read all of the information and trying to absorb as much as possible. I too have been hesitant in putting my thoughts out there believing that only "the long term experienced Volunteer Managers" have the knowledege and experience to post things.

I have discovered that everyone has an opinion or a unique experience which can be shared and built upon. And by the way Carol, you have just become the new recruitment driver to I-Volunteer. I joined I-Volunteer because of your post. I still have a long way to go when it comes to social media and can't get my head around twittering (something that birds do I thought) but I'll just ask one of my teenagers.

Thank you again for your post Carol. Looking forward to reading more of them.

And I clicked some button inadvertently and the comment was posted before I finished! (And I didn’t even spell check!!!) Let these errors not deter lurkers I say!! :-)

Again and to conclude; So what I am saying is that my engagement with online forums and listservs and my responses to various Hot Topics have actually helped my professional development as a volunteer manager. Also it is worth noting that editors on such publications such as e-volunteerism are most helpful and encouraging to prospective writers. It is that sort of support that can get the best out of us.

Bravo again Carol!

Great post Carol! for soemone who states they are rubbish at responding you have articulated your views so concisely! One of the secrets I discovered ( ok no longer a secret now) is that responding to posts and posting your own opinions can do wonders for sel confidence. When I first fell into the awesome career of volunteer management I would not have dreamt of posting anything. I was a constant lurker drinking in others views and comments. and to be totally honest with you I simply did not have the confidence to engage in the discussion. I worried about things like how I would sound, if my grammer would be ok ( and thank heavens for spell check by the way), if I would make any sense and yes of course the fact that there were very experienced practioners as well as published writers and trainers on the same forum was quite intimidating.

Now I am not saying for a minute that all lurkers lack the confidence to post but it possibly is a reason for some. How did I eventually get that confidence? I guess one day i just took the risk and started posting or responding a few items. I love this quote by Anais Nin - "And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." and that kind of sums it up for me.

So what i am saying is that my engagement with online forums and listservs and my responses to various Hot Topics

I have been a lurker and a poster on all sorts of forums - sometimes its hard to get going on a new one though.

The concept of this one interests me though. I am very much in the learning curve of a new post although have relevant experience so I look forward to reading the collective wisdom and will no doubt ask the odd question and maybe eventually be able to offer information too!

However, the point I wanted to make is this. Obviously a forum needs its posters but the lurkers are useful too. I have already shared information I have read on here and also passed on that the site exists! This will, I am sure, encourage other people to join who may not have known of it and they then may be a mix of posters and lurkers who start the circle going again.

So Carol - imho - we are all important parts of a forum jigsaw puzzle - whichever role we fulfil. Thanks for your thoughtful post - its nice when people put into words some of what you have been thinking!

I feel exactly the same regarding the web development community sites which I frequent often but post to infrequently. And when I do post, I'm normally asking for help!

I find it important to remember that I don't always have to behave like this. In fact I think it's likely that I'll start becoming a net contributor sometime soon. I know that the first steps will be slow, (in fact its taking me ages to write this comment!) but there'll be benefits too. Improved communication skills for one, and I'm sure regular contributors here will acknowledge the boost in self esteem that sharing your knowledge can bring.

Hi Carol,

Great post - think you've put your finger on something really important. Certainly over the last few years there's been an emerging online community of those in volunteerism - the above commenters are certainly some notable examples of people who've helped to facilitate and drive this!

My personal take is first that I think us in volunteer management have a tendency to be a little hard on ourselves. As a sector we're stretched for time at the best of times without many of the resources that others have. I'm certainly a believer in the benefits of new technology in helping us to share good practice and learning. At the moment, we're still grappling with how technology can be best applied to some of the problems we face in the sector. Gradually use cases are emerging- as they do- the benefits for volunteer managers of more actively participating in online communities will become clearer. To be fair, we're not alone in this- I think many other sectors/professions are grappling with the same problems.

Second, one of our strengths (our diversity) as a sector turns out to be a weakness in building online communities. I think many people in volunteer management do participate in sharing online- but do so in different communities that are closer to the field/service/area in which they work. Volunteer management covers such a broad range of skills that it's difficult for us to unite under one self-identifying banner. In fact, I think this is a key challenge for us as a sector in the more networked future around the corner.

Just some thoughts- thanks again!

Hi Carol

Thanks for an excellent post - and welcome to the 9% :)

I'd come across the 90-9-1 rule - and find that I display all the characteristics across the range of sites I follow - I also didn't mention it to @JamieT before he started i-volunteer as I didn't want to put him off.

I have learnt that I cannot know everything that is going on, I dip in and out of information and hope that if it is important it will be mentioned in a variety of places and re-tweeted enough for me to spot it or for someone to ask whether I have. I also find that dipping in and out, scanning heading on ebulletins, keeping an eye on well chosen searches, etc is a good way to keep in touch with the issues that are current and important and can then read in more depth about any of these that interest me.

I think that it is important not to say things for the sake of it - but if you do have an opinion about something then posting, commenting or joining the debate doesn't take long (and enriches everyone else).

Ultimately, you should use social media in the way that suits you best - but I would love to see more posts of this calibre from you (and having spotted it on twitter I have re-tweeted it from my accounts!)

Hey Carol what a fab post! I came across the same 90-9-1 rule recently too and must admit I may have thought twice about setting up this site if I'd been aware of it! But as @robjackson74 says those of us that post more are not necessarily any wiser but just like to speak out.

For me it's a desire to stimulate change, encourage new ways of thinking and doing things and challenge the status quo, so setting up something like i-volunteer is a great way for me to express that. I have a passion for new media that goes back to when I ran a Volunteer Centre where we were proudly the first in the network to have website, through to my setting up do-it which is still thriving today. Like @robjackson74 and so many other people on here I have lived and breathed volunteering since I first fell into it back in 1995 and there is nothing sad about that! I haven't quite travelled to the other side of the world ;o) but I have done a tour of California, worked for Gordon Brown and got to meet the Queen (the absolute highlight of my career!) through it...and I suspect that I'll be in this business for some time to come.

It's great to hear that you do read the stuff on here. I know that keeping up with so much content can be a challenge. We are going to be relaunching this site in the summer, with a ton of new features and tools that will hopefuilly make it more compelling to visit.

But in the meanwhile keep the comments coming and to show how much we value your input we're gonna feature this :o)