Pretty interesting response to all of the problems. Do you expect that this is one of those "win win" situations
JXM,
I think it is brilliant: (1) We get the opportunity to have a free lifetime membership (I was one of the late arrivers who gets to use it for himself) if we don't already have one; (2) the long term valuable members who are SI's lifeblood are encouraged to stay because they get to provide something of value to a friend (they may be less likely to leave, choosing instead to stick it out to show their chosen friend what SI can be like); (3) new members are gained, thereby increasing posting activity (which has been seriously lagging, less than 30K posts in the past week since number 14 million); (4) the new members, though nonpaying, are not likely to be YHOO or RB-style riffraff, since we get to choose who they are; and (5) the new members, if they discover how great SI can be (I mean that sincerely, and am referring to the community, not the technical glitches), can refer other paying members in the future, creating a more rapidly expanding universe of potential good members.
Sure, there are reasons why it might not work, and it will result in a revenue hit in the short term, but I think it is absolutely a great idea. Week 2 of damage control sure is going a lot better than Week 1 did. |
