Benefits of Using a Joining Form vs. Open Share Links

June 16, 2025

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Anyone have any insights into the benefits of a form at the beginning of the joining process similar to Tightknit and Clay? Versus just having the share link out there for people to join freely.

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16 comments

Joel P.
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To collect what info?
Matt J.
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well I just noticed that the two communities I mentioned have a form at the beginning - collecting a few pieces of basic information. Versus how we do it currently, which is having a subdomain (slack.relume.io) which redirects to a share link that expires every 30 days or 400 invites accepted. Just curious if there was a different workflow that I might be missing out on here.
Joel P.
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Ahhh, the direct Slack invite link vs form debate, got it! Personally, I usually opt for a form, but that’s being said on the ability for you to actually use the data you collected to create a positive, scalable experience for members. A Slack Link is great but what are you gaining besides a new member with that vs. form data + a new member.
Matt J.
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got it
Matt J.
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definitely something worth considering
Matt J.
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especially when we start to shift away from Slack being used for support/reporting bugs.
Joel P.
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That’s my POV though and actioning on data is harder than we all think it is/should be 😅
Matt J.
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yeah absolutely - I think we have enough product data at the moment that we're not even acting on, let alone collecting even more data to only have sit there...versus creating the friction to join. Something worth looking into though.
Joel P.
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Example of actioning on data that I think is a low lift item: Collect Geo/City data and invite to city-focused programs (user groups) or a roadshow event in the UK for all of Europe
Joel P.
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RE: Friction — If you build the community and market it well, then it won’t dramatically (or at all) impact your growth from my experience.
Matt J.
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yeah definitely makes sense
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Scott B.
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Form as link can expire. Form also allows you to collect some additional information.
Zach H.
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This might sound somewhat unconventional, but we intentionally use the form as a means of friction. The data we collect in the form is the same data we collect when a customer joins the Slack community (name + email). The reason we created friction is that we were getting a fair number of bots entering the space. Not all communities experience this, but it was becoming fairly frequent on our side.
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Joel P.
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Makes sense, too!
Erin S.
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We use a form for a few reasons:
People need to check a box that says they've read and will abide by our code of conduct as well as T&Cs

We also ask folks to check a box and subscribe to our newsletter so we have multiple points of contact

Role, company, & location data help us tailor programs and events (used occasionally) but also to have audience data to help folks interested in our WTSPartner program understand if it's the right audience for them (used often)
Jennifer Y.
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Hi Matt J. we are brainstorming and hypothesis testing our way through this right now at Retail Women in Tech -- want to compare notes?