General Update
According to our latest data we remain a predominately Amherst, Nova Scotia centric group, with Springhill, Oxford, River Hebert and Sackville, NB watching along the sidelines.
We picked up a massive 1,617 new members into the R&R Facebook in March. This figure represents the highest monthly increase in new members to date! Here’s how it compares and contributes to the group’s dynamics:
- Growth Trend: This increase is part of an upward trend in membership growth starting from January 2024, which saw 790 new members, followed by February with 1,280 new members. The growth in March not only continued this trend but accelerated it.
- Impact on Engagement: The substantial increase in membership likely contributed to the significant rises observed in other engagement metrics for March, such as the number of posts (541 posts) and views (136,278 views). A larger member base can lead to more content being created and consumed, increasing overall group activity.
- Possible Factors: While the data doesn’t specify, the surge in new members could be attributed to various factors, such as enhanced visibility of the group on Facebook, successful recruitment efforts by current members or admins, or particular events or topics of interest driving people to join.
- Implications: Rapid growth in membership can have multiple implications for a group’s management and community dynamics. It may require more moderation to maintain a positive environment and could offer opportunities to leverage the increased diversity and volume of perspectives and interactions within the group.
The growth in March underscores a period of vibrant expansion and heightened interest in the group, marking it as a key phase in the group’s development. Managing this growth effectively and harnessing the increased engagement could be crucial for sustaining the group’s vitality and ensuring its long-term success.
Most viewed content
The total views for the month of March 2024 were 136,278. This represents the highest level of engagement in terms of views that the group has seen over the available data period, which starts from November 2023. To put this in perspective:
- Compared to February 2024, which had 69,580 views, March saw an almost doubling of the views, indicating a significant uptick in engagement.
- This surge in views correlates with the increases in other metrics for March, such as a rise in membership joins (1,617 new members) and a substantial increase in posting activity (541 posts).
- The increase in views could be a direct result of the higher number of posts and the growing member base, suggesting that the content being shared was of high interest to the group’s audience. More content and more members typically lead to higher engagement rates, as there’s more for members to consume and interact with.
The views metric is crucial because it indicates not just passive engagement (such as reading or watching content) but also a broader interest in the group’s activities. High views can stimulate further interactions, such as likes, comments, and shares, fostering a more active and engaged community.
In summary, March 2024 stands out as a pivotal month for the group, marked by vigorous activity and engagement. The dramatic increase in views suggests that the group was highly active, with content that effectively captured the members’ attention, possibly driven by both the quantitative increase in posts and the qualitative appeal of the content shared.
Moderation Feedback
There was a considerable increase in activity in the month of March which came with an increased amount of moderation. Most of the moderation was in regards to violations of Rule 6: No duplicates, spam or classifieds. Most of the 30 Rule 6 violations were duplicated content or unrelated memes .
The 4 Rule 2 violations were: 2 scams, 1 fake review against a local business, 1 meme which could be considered a call to violence.
All other violations were rather benign for how active the month was.
There were many controversial posts approved that remain active with hundreds of comments expressing opinions for and against, minimal member reported content (approximately 1 per week).
Summary of declined posts
| Date | Note | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Mar-24 | Duplicate post by user | 6 |
| 29-Mar-24 | Unrelated meme by fake account | 6 |
| 29-Mar-24 | Duplicate contest for rams tickets to pei post | 6 |
| 26-Mar-24 | Duplicate video of bicycle specialist break in video | 6 |
| 25-Mar-24 | Duplicate male sex organ/pothole post | 6 |
| 25-Mar-24 | shopping cart video duplicate | 6 |
| 25-Mar-24 | shopping cart video duplicate | 6 |
| 25-Mar-24 | shopping cart video duplicate | 6 |
| 25-Mar-24 | ticket scam – selling taylor swift tickets | 2 |
| 25-Mar-24 | shopping cart video duplicate | 6 |
| 24-Mar-24 | propane fill up question | 6 |
| 24-Mar-24 | shopping cart video duplicate | 6 |
| 24-Mar-24 | unrelated meme | 6 |
| 23-Mar-24 | inappropriate meme calling for violence against Prime Minsiter | 2 |
| 23-Mar-24 | Duplicate pothole video | 6 |
| 23-Mar-24 | Fake hiring scam | 2 |
| 20-Mar-24 | Duplicate littering PSA | 6 |
| 20-Mar-24 | Fake review against local business | 2 |
| 19-Mar-24 | unrelated meme | 6 |
| 19-Mar-24 | seeking roommate post | 6 |
| 19-Mar-24 | seeking tickets post | 6 |
| 18-Mar-24 | seeking rent post | 6 |
| 17-Mar-24 | business promo | 4 |
| 16-Mar-24 | duplicate cart narc video | 6 |
| 13-Mar-24 | Unknown | 7 |
| 12-Mar-24 | duplicate post | 6 |
| 12-Mar-24 | duplicate post | 6 |
| 11-Mar-24 | spam/fraud attempt | 6 |
| 10-Mar-24 | Threat of violence (joke) by known fake profile | 6 |
| 07-Mar-24 | duplicate post | 6 |
| 06-Mar-24 | unrelated meme | 6 |
| 06-Mar-24 | unrelated meme | 6 |
| 06-Mar-24 | duplicate post | 6 |
| 05-Mar-24 | Unknown | 7 |
| 05-Mar-24 | Unknown | 7 |
| 05-Mar-24 | Unknown | 7 |
| 05-Mar-24 | unrelated meme | 6 |
| 05-Mar-24 | unrelated meme | 6 |
| 05-Mar-24 | spam/fraud attempt | 6 |
| 02-Mar-24 | Fake account | 1 |
Closing
Last month we acknowledged that growth would make managing expectations much harder as bottlenecks began to form around the limits of a skeleton crew. That was definitely experienced in April. Fortunately we found one new moderator (Braeden) who answered our previous plea for help.
So here’s another one:
If you like keeping detailed notes and working with data & Artificial Intelligence, we want to hear from you! Fill out our volunteer form to find out how you can help and get involved with Amherst Shares Facebook Page and the Rants & Rambles Facebook Group.
https://amherstshares.ca/volunteer-with-us/
We’re excited for April!
Thanks for following along.
Amherst Shares Team
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