There is a difference between ‘someone mentioned me, I better respond’ and ‘this improved how I think about the community’.
A lot of people @mention a list of newcomers when they join. It seems to work well. The person gets a notification and is prompted to respond. You get a lot of responses.
But having tried this with several organizations, the long-term impact is pretty minimal. You can install Community-analytics and test this for yourself.
@mentioning (tagging someone into a discussion) works best when someone is tagged in to make a meaningful contribution to the group or receive a useful contribution from the group.
This changes how they feel about the community. Now they’re not 1 name among 30, they are 1 among a tiny group who has been called upon to make/receive a useful contribution.
Now their opinion of the group’s ability to help them has increased. Their understanding of their value to the group has changed.
Let’s have less indistinguishable welcome lists and more specific contributions.