Members posting

[Geoff587]

The number of members who voted on the recent poll was 14, it seems a low number in comparison to the number of registered members, though it could be that the majority are not bothered either way. I then looked at the members who regular post in comparison to the numbers of registered members and once again its down to a regular few.
We are welcoming several new members a week who never seem to post, this could be for a variety of reasons, some only join to sell something. have a technical query answered, have an objective review on a certain Triumph model or out of morbid curiosity. But what ever the reason they do not become regular posters. Most forums have their regulars and on some I have joined after a few unanswered posts you get the feeling of being an outsider. None of that applies here, I felt welcome from day one , I don,t feel there is an "In Crowd" and you get out of it what you put in too it. But do we appear that way from the outside.
Recently Starman spit his dummy out because no one had answered his technical query (which he had posted in the shout box) and referred to us as a old duffers who spend more time talking drivel than caring about performance or words to that effect.
Probably got too much time on my hands at the moment but thought it would be an interesting subject of discussion . Could be moved to the lounge if Dave and Carl think its for open debate .

 

[Rocky]

You make some good points.
It's something like the vintage bike club I belong to; 96 members, but you never ever see more that the same 12 - 16 regulars at rides and events.
They are also the same group who do all the work, planning and organizing for the club.

 

[DaveM]

This has been something I have been trying to work out for a long time. I have actual monitored a few new members they join and then actually just never come back after the first visit. We have a few that are also lurkers that come here on a regular basic and just read and never post. I think it is a case of trying to get them active first off and then maybe they will get into it and carry on. The only way of really doing this is to offer some sort of incentive but I am not sure what this could be :silent:

I will move this to the lounge so we can get as much input as we can on this one :y18:

 

[CarlS]

Dave and I have discussed this many times. It is the same on most forums. I belong to some forums that I only visit enough to keep my membership active. I am active on six forums. As far as the shout by Starman for assistance, if he had taken some time with our forum, he would see that such questions are responded to when posted in a thread. I don't pay a whole lot of attention to the the shoutbox and I'm sure others here do likewise.

 

[Rocky]

Me too, I pay very little attention to the shout box.
My advice to members is to start a thread that will get some attention if you're looking for some help or guidance.
I have no idea how to encourage lurkers to participate.
Maybe they're shy - or maybe we're too nasty, foul-mouthed and aggressive - or none of the above :ya2:

 

[DaveM]

Well I must admit with the shout box I always notice it when the moment has passed :y114:

 

[Dilligaf]

If someone gets angry about not receiving a response they are not someone we want in here. Bigger is usually not better. The more posters a forum adds the more time moderators must spend dealing with trouble. I enjoy this forums civility and adult behavior, be careful what you ask for.

 

[Geoff587]

Agree Quality not quantity everytime, though you still need new blood coming into the system . Getting people to join does not seem to be a problem its getting them to participate. Forgive my ignorance but can guests post in any of the forums, if not it may be an idea to let them post up to 5 posts in the Lounge area before joining, could bring the lurkers in to do a bit of toe dipping before before taking the plunge.


Ditto on the shout box, with the time difference between Forum members, most of the time the original poster is not on line when you go to answer.

 

[DaveM]

No guest cannot post and they cannot see some of the areas this is done to protect members information. Letting guest post will only bring in spammers and once your forum is on a spam list boy then you have big problems. Ask us we know from our last hosting I would kill about 5 to 10 spammers a day at times :silent:

 

[Geoff587]

OK, I will just open a bottle of wine to see if it bump starts my brain cells.

 

[The Seeker]

Likewise......I also hate it when you take time to do some major research and even scan some documentation for someone who's asking for help, then they never reply at all.

You don't know if they came back to see the help you took your time to post or not.

 

[devo]

[quote author=Dilligaf link=topic=3326.msg21913#msg21913 date=1232122439]
If someone gets angry about not receiving a response they are not someone we want in here. Bigger is usually not better. The more posters a forum adds the more time moderators must spend dealing with trouble. I enjoy this forums civility and adult behavior, be careful what you ask for.
[/quote]

Agreed 100%
I am a member of two other forums, one N.Z and one U.S My post count in both is very low, simply cos there just so big and impersonal.
A side affect of this is there is so much information that is buried somewhere, You ask a simple question and you get a barrage of keyboard warriors coming back at you telling you to use the search function, instead of simply answering your query or pointing you at a thread with your answer in it.
:y18:

 

[DaveM]

[quote author=Devo link=topic=3326.msg21931#msg21931 date=1232135262]
You ask a simple question and you get a barrage of keyboard warriors coming back at you telling you to use the search function, instead of simply answering your query or pointing you at a thread with your answer in it.
:y18:
[/quote]

Now this is the type of thing that puts me right off a forum, I absolutely hate it. These people take up so much energy doing this when they already know where the info is or what the answer is. :tongue:

 

[devo]

[quote author=DaveM link=topic=3326.msg21934#msg21934 date=1232136546]
[quote author=Devo link=topic=3326.msg21931#msg21931 date=1232135262]
You ask a simple question and you get a barrage of keyboard warriors coming back at you telling you to use the search function, instead of simply answering your query or pointing you at a thread with your answer in it.
:y18:
[/quote]

Now this is the type of thing that puts me right off a forum, I absolutely hate it. These people take up so much energy doing this when they already know where the info is or what the answer is. :tongue:
[/quote]

eggzachery... cheers Dave, that was wot I was trying to say. :ya2:
And thats wot I like about this place, there is no intentional unpleasantness, well not anymore anyway. :happy:
:y18:

 

[Rocky]

I've also belonged to some large forums and there is often so much action that you grow weary of trying to sift through all of it.
After my crash I was off the internet for quite a while and when I had recovered enough to become a regular again I didn't bother to go back to some of them. It was just taking too much time.

 

[stevethelondoner]

I dont look at the shout box much either...like you Dave I see something way after it's been posted....If you have a question then post it. You can't get mad because you didn't get an answer in a little box. Heck I still dont know how to use some of this page.... :ya2:

How many members do we have on here now anyway? I went to members and the list looks hundreds long.

Ride Safe

 

[Dilligaf]

I made the mistake of going to the NTBF forum again. I found the same childish fools, I got pissed yet again. I'll never go there again. I sure hope this forum retains it civility and IQ requirements. :ya2:

 

[DaveM]

[quote author=stevethelondoner link=topic=3326.msg21950#msg21950 date=1232147446]

How many members do we have on here now anyway? I went to members and the list looks hundreds long.

Ride Safe
[/quote]

21818 Posts in 2841 Topics by 260 Members and we have around 35 to 45 members longing in each day :y18:

 

[stevethelondoner]

Blimey thats going some.......

Ride Safe