[Debate] Member Count v/s Post Count

[charlie]

Although this is exaggerating, what would you rather have? 100 members and 0 posts, or 10 members and 3000 posts. No matter how unlikely 100 members and 0 posts is, the moral behind it still counts.

Having said that, I like a good member count on my forum. Why? Because (although it shouldnt always) it attracts a lot of new members. I just worry when I have too many members and too little posts, it makes the forum look inactive.

But as long as the admin puts effort into the forum, there are few reasons why (apart from a couple of members who join up and dont bother to post) the forum shouldnt get a decent number of posts. As long as things are kept up to date, fresh and interesting.

I agree with a lot of points that people have made already, so I wont make carbon copies of anyones ideas. But to me, post count is generally more important than member count, and should be for guests who are considering to join the forum.

Chaz

[hisroyaldudeness]

I normally look at the ratio of members to posts first.

But, in my board I want a close group of members that will accept new members easily. I also want to delete old and inactive accounts, but I am afraid of making someone angry.

[britt86]

Graphics, member count, codes,etc... that's all peripheral stuff. Your forum is all about your content when it comes down to it. That's why a post count is always a better indicator. However, it should be one consideration. You have to see how the posts are made. Is there posting going on all around the board or is it just a couple of areas with threads like count a 1000? (I've seen tons of sites where that's the only active thread).

People may be attracted by a nice graphic layout or some cool codes or even a high member count, but it's the topics and posts that are what keeps them around to keep your board around longer. Plus, member count can be deceiving if an admin doesn't use recount members. For all you know a person could have created a lot of accounts just to boost the number.

I know it's why I clear out members every 3 months. (Over 518 3 days ago) I figure if they don't want to post, then I shouldn't keep them around as a role-play board is quite demanding in activity as it all relies on people role-playing together. Role-playing with oneself can get pretty boring.

So, enough of my rambling, it's definitely the post count that is more important than member count.

[mrsyukisohma]

Although this is exaggerating, what would you rather have? 100 members and 0 posts, or 10 members and 3000 posts.

It's a rare case when you see a board with 100 members and 0 posts. Obviously, there are going to be posts, and either lots of it, or very litte.

I forgot to mention this in my other post. I wouldn't mind joining a forum that has 10 members as long as there was a lot of content. If the content is good and interesting, it would not only encourage me to join, but to also help advertise the site and make it grow.

[Enchant]

britt86 said:

Graphics, member count, codes,etc... that's all peripheral stuff. Your forum is all about your content when it comes down to it. That's why a post count is always a better indicator. However, it should be one consideration. You have to see how the posts are made. Is there posting going on all around the board or is it just a couple of areas with threads like count a 1000? (I've seen tons of sites where that's the only active thread).

People may be attracted by a nice graphic layout or some cool codes or even a high member count, but it's the topics and posts that are what keeps them around to keep your board around longer. Plus, member count can be deceiving if an admin doesn't use recount members. For all you know a person could have created a lot of accounts just to boost the number.

I know it's why I clear out members every 3 months. (Over 518 3 days ago) I figure if they don't want to post, then I shouldn't keep them around as a role-play board is quite demanding in activity as it all relies on people role-playing together. Role-playing with oneself can get pretty boring.

So, enough of my rambling, it's definitely the post count that is more important than member count.

Do you think 3 months is ample time. I just started weeding and made it 6 months...but I am wondering if that is too long. Can I ask why you choce three months? Was there any reason?

[w00tz0rs]

I personally would perfer a nice, solid post count over a solid member count.

As explained before, members can join, then never even bother to activate their account. Thus, posts will not come, and the community itself will be non-existant. While I myself have been blessed with both a solid member and post count with my current board, I find that most boards think of member counts as the reason of their success. I have seen boards with member counts in the thousands, but their community had about 2,000 posts. I wouldn't consider joining a board that had so much time to settle down and get members, but have no community.

So, essentially, if the community thrives, I would join it. While I limit myself to four boards, all four of them have a large supply of members and a thriving community, so I can't really say anything there. =P

Ya... rly.

[britt86]

enchant said:

britt86 said:

Graphics, member count, codes,etc... that's all peripheral stuff. Your forum is all about your content when it comes down to it. That's why a post count is always a better indicator. However, it should be one consideration. You have to see how the posts are made. Is there posting going on all around the board or is it just a couple of areas with threads like count a 1000? (I've seen tons of sites where that's the only active thread).

People may be attracted by a nice graphic layout or some cool codes or even a high member count, but it's the topics and posts that are what keeps them around to keep your board around longer. Plus, member count can be deceiving if an admin doesn't use recount members. For all you know a person could have created a lot of accounts just to boost the number.

I know it's why I clear out members every 3 months. (Over 518 3 days ago) I figure if they don't want to post, then I shouldn't keep them around as a role-play board is quite demanding in activity as it all relies on people role-playing together. Role-playing with oneself can get pretty boring.

So, enough of my rambling, it's definitely the post count that is more important than member count.

Do you think 3 months is ample time. I just started weeding and made it 6 months...but I am wondering if that is too long. Can I ask why you choce three months? Was there any reason?

3 months is a full term on my site. So I clear out at the end of term when I do promotions and such. It was picked because when I started my board, it had no direction. Finally, 3 months later, I put a direction on it and decided to have all terms be 3 months long. And 3 months is more than enough time. I have to delete almost 500 people every 3 months, and then there's the 50 or so that delete themselves. It keeps active though.

[[[Zi]]]

As a member looking at forums, the very FIRST thing I look at is layout. Seems silly, but I do. Next, I look at member count. If there are only, say, fifteen members, but the forum seems really active, and there's plenty of posting, I'll probably join. I think it's more about post count than member count. I also look at post quality. If the forum has 10,000 two-word posts, I won't join.

I've been head admin on a few role playing sites on the past, and there are people that sign up and never post a thing. There are also really active members that sign up, but then stop posting after two months.

My solution? Every day, I pull up the good ol' proboards member search and search for people that haven't been on in fourteen days. Now, if they've left an excuse, saying that they'll be gone, they won't be deleted. But, otherwise, that's the standard, and it's written in the rules right up front. I think that when a couple of people become inactive, it's easy for everyone else to do the same, especially in role playing forums. So, I delete the inactive accounts.

My forum has about 115 members. And, since it's a role playing forum, these are character accounts. I'm on the sort of forum where people play multiple accounts; we have one role player with ten characters. So, in all technicality, there are maybe twenty role players. But it's an incredibly active forum with excellent, quality posts, so no one really seems to notice it.

So I say post-count all the way.

[universedaily]

Membership count is taken really seriously by some people. A lot of them get quite fanatical about driving up the figure. They want the biggest board and mistakenly believe the number on the screen reflects the success of their board. Ofcourse, as most posters here have pointed out, it doesn't really demonstrate how active your board is. If most of your members are dead profiles or infrequent lurkers then its nothing more than a number. Its only positive aspect being that it looks good and might fool others into thinking your board is a great success. Ofcourse they'll soon see the truth of the situation.

Post count on the other hand says it all. Even if it is only the board admin posting messages it is proof that atleast one person is serious about your little corner of the net and posts there regularly. I'm new to ezboard and still working on my board but the same principles apply to all boards. Make an interesting board and treat new members with respect and in time you will have a small core of fanatical members. They become your best advertisement by engaging with newcomers and giving the impression that you have a vibrant community.

[Bones]

All too often I've seen people say they won't join smaller boards - but why? How do you expect them to grow if you don't give them the chance? If the admin is inactive/forum is inactive, fair enough, but those who try and people won't join up because it only has say 50 members (or less), is just plain snobbery.

I regularly clear out every six months, but it's not just based on "0" posts, i also always look at their last login date, if they have signed up, not posted for six months and haven't logged in for those past 6 months (or more), then they're gone. I don't care how my forum "looks" with member count, as i know the ones who are there commit and enjoy the place.

[[[Zi]]]

"Post count on the other hand says it all. Even if it is only the board admin posting messages it is proof that atleast one person is serious about your little corner of the net and posts there regularly. I'm new to ezboard and still working on my board but the same principles apply to all boards. Make an interesting board and treat new members with respect and in time you will have a small core of fanatical members. They become your best advertisement by engaging with newcomers and giving the impression that you have a vibrant community."-- universedaily

This is VERY true. My members have become as obsessed with the board as I am, and they're on chatting regularly. They also do a lot of advertisement, and reel in a lot more people. I mean, it was hard, choosing admins and mods between them, because the ones that are on there are so active and what not. So, half the time, new people are brought in, and they weren't brought in by me, which is kind of cool.

[Allan]

I was just talking about this with another admin the other day.we both felt that having alot members doesn't matter if they don't post.I like alot of others would rather have a solid core group of 10 members that post and are active then 200 members that never show up.I have seen some really popular boards with high member counts and the inactive is way to high.it was basically the owners posting to themselves on the board.I also plan on doing a clean up every 3 to 4 months to keep the members fresh and to let them know we are here for fun.No one joins boards for a job they join because something caught there interest.And if they stop posting i as an owner would love to know what went wrong for them to lose interest.

[BluAngel]

Until two days ago, I have 30 members on my board. I did some house cleaning and removed any member who had not posted, nor visited in more than 1 year. I had sent out some emails on 3 different occasions, to remind them of the addy if they had lost it, and to ask for some response of if they wish to stay. We are in the process of moving from another Message Board Host to Proboards, and I didn't want to have to move a bunch of people over that aren't going to care anyways. I figure, that after more than a year of not posting or visiting, and in 3 cases, more than 2 years, that they aren't going to care if they are removed or not. I removed any member who had joined and not made even one post in the last 3 months. I don't know why they even joined, if they aren't going to posts.

I would rather have the 20 members that are posting on a regular, almost daily basis, than to have 50 members that rarely post at all.

Now, to be honest, I have another board that is more of an informational board on Proboards, and I will leave members who don't posts at all, as we have advertised the board as being more of an informational area, than a "gathering and posting" area. We have some core members who do posts, that know each other from other boards, and came together to try to help others if we can.

So, for me, I would rather have 5 members with a high post count, than to have 100 members with very low post counts. (Guess that means I look at post count over Member count!). *snicker*

[+[»Aurora«]+]

ALthough I think that everyone probably already said it, I agree with post count over member count. And once again, it's a lot better to have very active members with a low member count than high member-no post. As a lot of you said, if the member to post ratio is low, most people won't join, since they know most people don't enjoy the topic. And in turn, with a very active forum, I think most potential members enjoy that, even if it is a small, tight-knit community, so actually in turn of having active members you get MORE active members, which could lead to a succesful forum.

So that being said, I guess I too prefer post over member count. Especially since in most cases, high post count leads to more members, which leads to more posts. (Confusing, but that's my stance on the issue).

[Liel]

Definately post counts. ;D