Member Count vs. Post Count

[Artemis]

An oldie but a goodie.

As a forum grows, no doubt it will attract the attention of more and more people who become interested and register on the forum. Whether they stay and post is up to them, but regardless of whether they stay or go, they add to the total member count of the forum.

Comparing the post and member counts is a common thing to do when looking at a forum you're considering joining. An equal ratio means steady registrations and posts. A high post to member ratio could signify a very active community, while the opposite could mean a newer forum that many people find interesting (or in contrast, one that is only good for a few minutes before leaving).

What is your take on comparing member and post count? Is it something you consider when looking at other forums to join? Likewise, on your forum, do you make an effort to clear out old members to affect the ratio, or do you let them stay to boost member count?

Discuss!

[HoudiniDerek]

I prefer to look at how many members are active posters rather than overall number. Active could just mean how many people log on to how many people post per day rather than overall post count too.

I prefer active forums with a good memberbase (3-5 solid members with another 5 or so decently active lurkers). As long as a forum, especially with smaller overall numbers, is getting between 5-10 posts per day that are not spam, I think it will probably be a community that I would enjoy being on. Granted, that might differ for roleplay forums, but I think the logic is basically sound.

I think looking at just member count or post count is misleading. Sometimes posts have been really old and spammish and member count can be inflated by not deleting members or recounting people who have deleted themselves. Overall, the content and feel of the community is what will keep me coming back. It is important that the forum have posts and active members, but it is not the end-all be-all of what I look for in a forum.

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

It depends on the site. For instance, chat/discussion-based sites are largely going to have more posts than RPG sites. Of course, it depends on the level of RPG. Sites that allow one liners will have more posts than sites that require a higher word/character count. With that being said, I do look at it, but it's not what makes me join. I see why people do. I mean, it's always good to see how many people you could possibly interract with if you join. However, if a site seems promising, than it's worth a shot. As long as there's at least a few posts a week, I believe that it should be given a shot.

Newer sites are a bit of a different coin, because sometimes they may just be having bad luck. Promise and intrique sometimes are not enough. That doesn't that a site couldn't be successful. Sometimes it's just luck and circumstances.

Anyway, yes, I do clear out members at 30 days of inactivity. If they don't log in in one month, then they get deleted, unless they've made it a point to post in our Leaving/Returning thread and tell us. Inflated member count usually does not make it seem more active than it is. Usually, I've found, it has the opposite effect, especially if your site has been up for years. It's often the same for newer sites. It will give the effect that a lot of people are not, and not posting. It'll be evident soon enough that most are not active, which might give people the impression that there's something wrong your site.

So, all in all, member count vs. post count should be looked at, but the site itself should be the reason whether your join or stay.

[→Chain of Hearts™ ♥]

I have been on a few sites where the member count was sky-high but the posts were down greatly. However, that doesn't mean that the site is inactive. You have to look at how many posts are actually roleplaying compared to the general chat posts. I like sites with many members who are on nearly daily... More people to RP with. XD

However, if there are only a few online daily, I am not going to join.

[Kalo]

Feb 11, 2010 0:23:42 GMT -8 →Chain of Hearts™ ♥ said:

I have been on a few sites where the member count was sky-high but the posts were down greatly. However, that doesn't mean that the site is inactive. You have to look at how many posts are actually roleplaying compared to the general chat posts. I like sites with many members who are on nearly daily... More people to RP with. XD

However, if there are only a few online daily, I am not going to join.

On a role-playing standard I agree 100% on this but if its on a general board or something like that post count to member count should be about equal so that many members have at least 1 post to work with. That way they can get responses and meet the people of the forum and discuss things with them.

[grieves and squick]

Overall number of member accounts means almost nothing. When I think of joining a board I look at the number of ACTIVE members on daily. Proboards is great this way because its info centre presents this in an easy to see way. Having 5,000 accounts doesn't mean much if there are 5 members on daily and yes I've seen boards like this.

high post to member ratio means that the site has a very dedicated and involved member base. That those who do post, enjoy doing so a lot. This is always a good sign.

[Descent Into Darkness]

Mar 1, 2010 10:18:12 GMT -8 grieves and squick said:

Overall number of member accounts means almost nothing. When I think of joining a board I look at the number of ACTIVE members on daily. Proboards is great this way because its info centre presents this in an easy to see way. Having 5,000 accounts doesn't mean much if there are 5 members on daily and yes I've seen boards like this.

high post to member ratio means that the site has a very dedicated and involved member base. That those who do post, enjoy doing so a lot. This is always a good sign.

Precisely! You can have an infinite number of members and have the lowest post count ever recorded, which makes your site look very inactive. Now granted, there will be points in time that a site WILL be inactive during the school year when most are in college and without internet access, but even when taking that into account, you would still look at the overall post count more than member count.

For example, gireves there with the banner advertising 4,000 members and 500,000 posts. Now there's a site that I would join because it's highly active with posting, not because it has that many members.

For the record, when members join and then leave, I give them about a month to return since I do allow for that real life coming in like a hurricane and spinning you about. Then after the month is over and they still haven't logged in, still haven't contacted me in any way, including a brief stop to place a LOA, I will delete them because I would rather have a lower member count with tons of posts, than a high member count with few posts.

[Zesha]

I find post count more important than member count. Yes, there needs to be members, but the ones that don't post... who needs them? I tend to have little "activity checks" every month or two in order to find out who is dead and who isn't, and delete the people who aren't active. I do this because a lot of people I've talked to have said they don't like joining boards with more than 30 people, because "that's how people get ignored." (I tend to disagree with that, but whatever floats their boat.) So yeah. Post count for the win!

[aaronm]

Feb 11, 2010 0:23:42 GMT -8 →Chain of Hearts™ ♥ said:

I have been on a few sites where the member count was sky-high but the posts were down greatly. However, that doesn't mean that the site is inactive. You have to look at how many posts are actually roleplaying compared to the general chat posts. I like sites with many members who are on nearly daily... More people to RP with. XD

However, if there are only a few online daily, I am not going to join.

Seconded with this one, I don't think I really could have really said it better myself.

At first I was feeling rather overwhelmed by the number of people in this Disney RPG I joined; 75 members to over what has over 10,500 posts in total through the many years online, but I was able to work in and make some wonderful new friends once I jumped into the pool.

For me, I'm willing to take anything provided the people are friendly, the skill level is tolerable, rules are easy to understand and precise, and it's active. I don't mind the dry spells, I usually have an active mind to keep me busy from thing to thing.

[grieves and squick]

I really should change that banner XD It'd old plus I myself don't even go by total member number.

A site that has 500,000 posts but only has like 5 members in the activity 24 hours box is a site that once had more activity but for whatever reason, has fallen far from its glory days.

I would be very hesitant to join such a site because they usually never recover. Their best days are behind them. I've seen exceptions, but they're very few. Most RPG sites remain small and do not last long. It takes a LOT of work to KEEP a site booming perpetually once you get it there. You can never just rest on your laurels and assume the work is over.

For RPG sites, the posts should consist of at least 40 to 50% RPing posts, ideally somewhat more than half. If you're running an RPG and it's got less than like 1 in 20 posts being a roleplaying post this signals a dying game even if it IS active currently.

[aaronm]

Good point. Most of the ones I've been in which is fairly active every so often [either within a few days to a week] do their best to tough it out but wind up fading with the dust. It can be a shame sometimes, especially when opportunity seems evident, but by then it's time to find something new.

Strangely, I've somewhat always known about this forum to advertise and discuss tips from pro's and whatnot, yet I've never used it. XD I don't know why. I browse Google for hours in hopes to find a rare Proboards RPG [not to mention they have the best system; I never liked xsorbit at all, or anything else.]

[The Dark Knight]

Thankfully ProBoards has that "Members Active in the last 24 Hours" feature, that gives everyone a good idea about how active a forum is. Usually though, if a forum has over 50,000 posts it's safe to assume that they have at least 25 active members (during the forum's peak growth time). It's a stretch to think that they'd have less than that, unless the forum's under decline.

[aaronm]

Yeah that's true. I try to keep mine active with what few people we have at the moment.

[pamiam]

My forum is new, but I've been a staff member on another board for 4 yrs now.
I think it totally depends on what kind of site it is. My site, for instance, depends on both. The site I staff on, depends on active posts. Of course, alot of inactive members is never a good thing.... but sometimes even the random visit from a longtime member can spark another conversation.

[The Dark Knight]

Not sure how important a role the type of forum plays really. I'd assume that the more number of active members there are, the better it is for the forum.

Unless of course it's someone using the forum to post news articles every day.