Pre-approving Members

The best option to make Freegling accessible and attractive to new people is to have open membership.

Pros of open membership:

• Members can get posting immediately
  • they may be joining to get rid of stuff in a hurry
  • the internet is an instant thing so demonstrating how to be an active Freegler from the first few clicks to the site is essential.
• Saves moderators time.
• Gives moderators more time to spend promoting the group and engaging with members in a positive way.
• More potential members will join because the joining process is much easier.
• Members don't have to reply to a joining email, which means they won't be lost somewhere in the joining process.
• Applicants won't be discouraged by what they see as intrusive questions.
• Moderators don't have to send out reminders.

Cons of closed membership:

• It is an unnecessary barrier for people who wish to freegle.
• It makes more work for the moderators.
• Members often don't reply to a joining email, so groups are losing potential members.
• The more complex the joining process is, the more potential members will be put off joining.
• People might not like or be suspicious of being asked questions.
• Spammers might join anyway, so moderators could be just wasting their precious time.

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