Active Member Numbers

[Cambo]

Hi all,

Just looking around and decided to find out who was member 2, 3,4, etc. just out of interest, no other reason.
I found the member list and noticed that lot and lots of people who signed up as members have "0" posts. When I say lots I mean what appears in the first 5 pages over 50%.
Would you call these people active members?
Nothing sinister about this question since I post so few but visit quite often to read and learn stuff.
But is the registered members number for UT really correct? I would say not if my life depended on having to give a yes/ no answer.

Any comments welcome.

[Fraser_Abel]

I've never thought about it before, but you bring up a good point...

[DippyHippy]

I'd say the actual number of registered users is entirely correct because it counts the number of people who have registered to be members of the forum - no problem there. Well, there wasn't until certain members started registering 2 or 3 usernames for no apparent reason...

As for the number of contributing members, well that's a lot harder to ascertain.

[imported_Eli]

This is the case in pretty much every message board on the net. The vast majority of people register either because they can, or to ask a single question/post a single reply. Having much more than ~50% of the forum members with post counts less than 5 is the norm. On most large public boards maybe 5-10% of the posters post on a monthly basis and maybe 1-2% daily.

[imported_Eli]

I was bored enough to do a little study. :) Use the members link to sort them by postcount in descending order, with 50 posters a page :

45 pages => ~2250 users.

Starting from the middle of page 8 people have 4 or less posts => ~1875 users.

So ~83% of the users have less than 5 posts.

About 1500 people made 1 or 0 posts, that means a whopping 66% of the registered users.

The number of people who did a non-negligible contribution to the boards and have more than, say, 10 posts is about 225. That is, 10%.

There are only 75 truly active people, with more than 50 posts. ~3.5%.

From my experience, these numbers are pretty typical. Although in big communities with years of history and tens of thousands of users a non-negligible contribution will be 100 posts and not 10, and an active member will have 500 and not 50 posts.

[Fraser]

Yup, it's totally normal way for people to participate in an online community. But you never know. Some people lurk around for a long time before finally posting a comment.

[DippyHippy]

Yes, I've found this myself on other boards... it's like marketing... send out 100 pamphlets about a product, 10 people will express an interest and only 1 of those wil actually buy it.

The number of active members on UT is perfectly normal :)

[Cambo]

Thank god I didn't make my usual bet with two very delicate parts of my anatomy; I'd be talking falsetto now!
It's all interesting statistically though, must be a thesis in here somewhere.
Just think of all the dross stored on systems.

[StarLab]

I'd say the actual number of registered users is entirely correct because it counts the number of people who have registered to be members of the forum - no problem there. Well, there wasn't until certain members started registering 2 or 3 usernames for no apparent reason...
You know what, DH, just forget I said anything! :angry:
Just think of Abel and SkyBoard and myself as three different people...I'm sorry if I offended you so much! :angry:
You wanna pick an online fight, huh? Well, bring it on, chicken! :angry:

[Fraser_Abel]

Whoa, take it easy, StarLab!
But really, DH, I think you did hurt StarLab's feelings...

[DippyHippy]

LOL StarLab, you make it hard for people to take you seriously when you register 2 or 3 names and then start to have conversations with yourself...

[kashi]

It's the same with any forum online. I think that 2500 members is reasonably indicative of the level of activity here, when compared with other forums.

[StarLab]

LOL StarLab, you make it hard for people to take you seriously when you register 2 or 3 names and then start to have conversations with yourself... Well, DH, at least I am posting more posts with three different usernames rather unlike those hypocrites and weirdos with one username who make less than five posts, and then move on!... :angry:

[damienpaul]

I am thinking that the labels 'hipocrites' and 'wierdos' is a bit harsh... like me for example I was offline for a while unavoidably, who knows what is going on on their end of the line.

Just as Kashi and Fraser said, its the same with any forum. DH's analogy is very true that out of 100 people knowing, 1 will respond.

[StarLab]

I am thinking that the labels 'hipocrites' and 'wierdos' is a bit harsh... like me for example I was offline for a while unavoidably, who knows what is going on on their end of the line.
Well, unlike other posters, Paul, you have a sh*tload of posts under your belt.

[StarLab]

Starting from the middle of page 8 people have 4 or less posts => ~1875 users.

So ~83% of the users have less than 5 posts.

About 1500 people made 1 or 0 posts, that means a whopping 66% of the registered users.

The number of people who did a non-negligible contribution to the boards and have more than, say, 10 posts is about 225. That is, 10%.

There are only 75 truly active people, with more than 50 posts. ~3.5%.

From my experience, these numbers are pretty typical. Although in big communities with years of history and tens of thousands of users a non-negligible contribution will be 100 posts and not 10, and an active member will have 500 and not 50 posts.
Alright, let's examine this:
Both Fraser and DH would actively pick on me, StarLab, a member who contributes alot, but would rather do nothing about ES, who some members are saying should be cutoff. Just something to ponder, isn't it?
WHATEVER HAPPENNED TO COMMON SENSE? :( :ph34r: :o :huh:

[damienpaul]

I am sure DH and Fraser are not picking on you, I have been guilty of some indiscretions in the past but understand that this site needs to have stringent guidelines in order to maintain its uniqueness and brilliant nature.

For the record, DH has been trying to do something about Extrasense, read through the threads.

Personally, i think Fraser and the mods ought to be commended for their fair dealings of late.

[DippyHippy]

Oh for God's sake, StarLab, let it go. We're not picking on you - we're just saying that one username is enough for each user because it causes confusion. If it were anyone else using different usernames (and yes, we CAN tell) then I'd say the same thing. I'm sick of explaining myself to you so this will be the last time. I don't have a problem with you or your posts but having more than one username and blatantly pretending to be new to the forums and a completely different person is confusing for everyone and can be seen as being deceptive. If I really wanted to get on your case, I'd question your motives and your honesty too.

As for ExtraSense, you obviously haven't been reading the topics properly. If anyone's been complaining about ExtraSense and campaigning to have her banned, it's been me. In fact, I'm sure the other moderators are sick of hearing me banging on about how the rules are there to be enforced and that since she's broken rule #6 consistently, she should be banned.

However, fortunately, no moderator alone has the power to ban a member - I don't have the power to click on the BAN button and be done with it. I've voiced my opinion about her and I've expressed my views on what I think will happen if she continues to post but ultimately, it's not my final decision.

[Fraser]

I've asked as politely as I can to just use one username, and I have many reasons, including the the ones DH has mentioned here. Can we just leave it that? As the host of this forum, I'm asking you nicely to respect my wishes.

[StarLab]

Message to Fraser: Alright, I agree with you, I had dealt with the problem, and I don't wanna fight with you guys anymore. 'K? :)

[Planetwatcher]

There are only 75 truly active people, with more than 50 posts. ~3.5%. From my experience, these numbers are pretty typical. Although in From my experience, these numbers are pretty typical. Although in big communities with years of history and tens of thousands of users a non-negligible contribution will be 100 posts and not 10, and an active member will have 500 and not 50 posts.

This not a fair compairison. The UT forum is not even a year old yet.
There is still at least 5 weeks until the Forum's 1st birthday, which BTW is July 8th.

And besides all that, this is a subject specific forum with a non triditional type subject matter.
If this were a forum about intel advances, or what Bill Gates was up to, we might now have numbers simular to those sugested above.
But space has never been a real popular subject. There tends to be a lot of mathamatics involved which the person of average intelegence finds boring.
It's a subject not in the forefront of the common persons mind, and the vast majority of what we discuss here is way beyond the comprehension and interest of people with average intelectual abilities.

Most generally only people with above average intelegnece will find anything interesting here, and even then the idea of posting is intimidating for people who are not very knowledgeable, unless they are curious enough to ask what they may think of as dumb questions, but no question is unwelcome or too dumb.

We have a good forum here, and a lot of very good and smart people.
But most people would rather read then post.
A much better indicator would be looking at the views column of each subject. That will tell you how many people have read that subject.

But on the other hand, if our stats are 10% of established big communities with years of history and tens of thousands of users, that actually says a lot for us.

And for the record, we currently have 47 members with over a hundred posts. We got two more who will likely hit that first hundred in the next couple days.
We are approaching 2250 members with over 30,000 postings. That is no small matter for a less then year old forum.

With summer coming in the northern hemoshere which is a more active time for disscussion forums, I wouldn't be too suprised if we have 60 or 65 members with over a hundred posts by our forum's first birthday.

Just give us a few years, and see if our stats are not at least 10 X what they are today.

[DippyHippy]

LOL I agree with what Kashi said - apart from the intelligence comments LOL I don't believe in varying degrees of intelligence, just different areas of skills.

[damienpaul]

and surely, it is quality not quantity

A person contributing say 4 great informative posts is better than a old chatterbox like me!

[kashi]

...and (pardon my cynicism) a person who doesn't post at all is better than someone who just whinges about stuff. :P

[damienpaul]

thanks kashi,

but he is right, a non-poster is better than a whinging chatterbox like me

[Cambo]

I'm not with Damienpaul in the chatterbox league but it would be a more accurate statistic to have 'chatterbox' forums excluded from the overall numbers, both in the personal stats and total stats.

And as far as quality over quantity... mmm... I always thought that excuse was used by the less endowed. LOL.

[damienpaul]

In all seriousness though, i am just an idiot here compared some of the others. Most of my stats are in the near past i just went stupid with posts - over enthusiasm i guess...i was kicked in the pants for it and toned down.

I think it is well established that people like me are just "whinging chatterboxes" (so i guess we all do not need to be reminded of it) but what i meant by quality over quantity is for example the brilliant discussions such as the iron Sun and any of Fraser's Stroies, and there are alot more. But there are folks who have posted single number amounts but these have been excellent and informative!

[antoniseb]

I've been asked to contribute an opinion to this discussion, but I don't have much of one. People post messages as they are inspired. Moderators need to keep a few of them in line, but mostly just watch.

This forum is mostly frequented by hacks and amateurs with an interest in astronomy, cosmology, or escatological topics. Most are here to learn something, or to read new ideas, or to try out new ideas, or help people clarify their ideas [that's me]. Lots of people become members and make one post because one evening they are cruising the web and find us and have one comment, but they never come back. [forgot to bookmark us]. These people have little impact on us.

[StarLab]

or escatological topics.
What's that? :huh:

[North Star]

Well i have not posted on this board for so long i cant remember when it was !
This is also only my 5th post but i come here daily to read the new posts does this mean im not an active member ? I think some come to read some come to write and some come to do both. what does it matter as long as we come ?

Every one has there own reasons. ;)

[StarLab]

Well, being a member means you are given personal stats, which are useless unless you start posting...being a member is a choice (literally) between reading posts and writing them.

[Fraser]

I'm honoured that people choose to register with the forum. If they post, that's great too, but neither is necessary.

[StarLab]

Thank you for disagreeing with me once again, Fraser. ;) :lol: <_< :)
It&#39;s nice to have a political opposition. :lol: ;)

[jonfr]

I post when i feel needed to. :)

[DippyHippy]

being a member is a choice (literally) between reading posts and writing them.

I can see what you&#39;re saying, but that&#39;s not necessarily true. By joining a forum, you&#39;re joining a community and as with any community, not everybody goes to the town meetings. That doesn&#39;t mean they don&#39;t have a right to be a member of the community. Their reasons for the joining the community may be many and varied, but there might even be some people who simply join to feel a part of that community. To discriminate against those who don&#39;t post or who don&#39;t post often enough would be to make those people feel unwelcome. Besides which, at what level would you set the minimum number of posts? Once a day, once a month or what? And how would you police that?

[StarLab]

Well, being a guest is not really that simple...take John....before becoming the Popular member John L, he was simply John....but at least he made an effort. I enjoy those members and guests who make a contribution, but what pisses me off is when a member makes one post and moves on...that isn&#39;t particularly fair, is it?

[DippyHippy]

Well StarLab, I&#39;m not going to go through all the reasons yet again as to why someone might join up and then not post for awhile... they&#39;ve already been stated in previous replies.

I&#39;m sorry you think it&#39;s "unfair" - and I can&#39;t see why you&#39;d think that - but it really seems to be just your point of view. No one else seems to have a serious problem with it.

[Fraser]

How is it unfair? Personally, I get tremendous benefit from all the people who show up briefly to visit the forums, even if they never come back. I&#39;m the guy footing the bill for this, and I&#39;m saying it&#39;s all good.

[damienpaul]

There you have it, straight from the boss&#33; I have no probs with folks who post few or none at all, i am in contact with a few of them as well, a lot are just very busy or have a multitude of other interests as well.

What would be unfair is to expect many posts out of them, thus taking away from their other pursuits.

StarLab, listen to Dips, he has explained it to you in a suucinct and precise manner.

[StarLab]

I get tremendous benefit from all the people who show up briefly to visit the forums, even if they never come back. I&#39;m the guy footing the bill for this, and I&#39;m saying it&#39;s all good.
Oh, well, that&#39;s good enough for me...Keep up the good work, Fraser&#33; ;)