Members VS Guests on internet discussion forums - A RANT.

[Lemon Solace]

Forum guests.

They are the traffic of the internet.

Lets face it, we have all been and often are the "guest" paging jumping through the internet.

There are currently 1056 users online at this time. 46 members and 1010 guests

By such an average, it would be against the odds if you were not a guest reading this right now.

What bugs me - to no end - are the discussion forums where topics get thousands of views and only a handful of replies. Now some topics aren't worth a reply - I get that - but if your VIEWING the topic, that would imply that in some form the topic in itself interests you on the smallest level.

Real life example, there is a topic in this forum called "Married, Single, or in a Relationship?" it has over 4000 views and only 133 replies. That is only 3% its viewers who have left a response.

The point of that topic is obvious, its ASKING a question.

With over 4000 views you'd think it could get a decent response! I mean the whole point of forums is to discuss by definition and that topic is the forums most popular one at the moment - but like clock work, gets less then 5% of a viewers response.

Why?

Because those 4000 viewers are often...guests.

Now I get that most of us just jump around the internet, but when your on a forum its usually to discuss things as said - especially when the forum is called general discussion. Yet nobody seems to want to get involved in the discussion - and this is in an age where facebook is the human encyclopedia of personal information...

In this the internet has truly become an oxymoron.

So does it ever bug you when you see a topic get thousands of views, yet very little responses?

The worst are the polls, sometimes I'll see somebody post a very interesting poll and get like 30 results when over 10,000 have viewed it - drives me nuts.

 

[Snowkitteh]

It seems some people are just observers and doesnt like to answer to questions
But i guess if you do have time to view thread, then why not participate in it~

 

[Will98]

Well, Mr. Lemon. This website was created openly if you please.

Yes, it does seem annoying that a certain thread may only have a hand full of replies and have over 5k views, but some people just like to read and move on.

 

[Tenshi]

The thing about this particular forum is that it has a download section, which makes up a large portion of said traffic.

 

[TheGiggolo]

I guess people are shy and may not know much about a subject. They fear people wondering if they are dumb and fear that if they open their mouth they will remove all doubt. People on the net lack confidence.

 

[Ghost Kitty~]

Agree with tenshi there^ Most of the people came to this site to download and considering why this site was created... Theres also the fact that some members view multiple times and post multiple times (me personally would view ever time the thread gets a new post cuz there a notification but i may not post as the new information may not prompt a response from me)

 

[corocoro]

Those 134 posts have been created by 66 members, 12 of which made more than one post.
If only these twelve revisited the thread after each reply, you'd get around 1500 views from them. ;)
As it is, it's impossible to say how many of those views are from people reading further replies and how many are from people just lurking.

Personally, I prefer when people only post if they have a "good" reply - 134 well-written posts are better than 4000 half-baked one-liners. ;)

 

[orisa]

The thing about this particular forum is that it has a download section, which makes up a large portion of said traffic.

^

Most people don't come here to talk, they come here to get goodies. And since the downloads don't require you to do anything on the discussion forums, they just grab and go. I personally like it this way because it's more manageable and members who do post regularly know each other better.

 

[WsE]

Where do I fit in? I'M MORE THAN A MEMBER! *flex*

 

[alexsdu]

Like what [MENTION=8332]samyeung46[/MENTION] said, I usually check the thread that have new post.
But on some occasion, I couldn't find the right words to reply the post, or I feel like I'm not in-sync with the current agenda discussed in the thread.

Like now, I'm replying to this thread topic, instead of other people's post in here.
I will view this thread again when there's new post, just to see what the other said regarding the issue that being brought up here. And chances are, I'll might, or not, reply to their posts.

 

[Ignis]

Personally, I prefer when people only post if they have a "good" reply - 134 well-written posts are better than 4000 half-baked one-liners. ;)

^

Some might find pleasure in talking about stuff on a forum; some might find pleasure in talking about it real-time; some like me might find pleasure merely by reading discussions without replying.

Besides, the majority of our guests are from Japan, and perhaps - pardon me for the statement - less than likely to be able to compose posts nicely in English, regardless of whatever they think by reading posts made by our fellow members.

 

[XatR]

If you look for pr0n/anime/manga/games/stuff on forums you don't make an account. For anime/manga discussion there are forums which only participate in such range of activities without any download stuff, people who want to discuss go there mostly.

 

[MashedApples]

A lot of people here are only for the hentai. I have a HF account made in 2007 (made it to use the search feature) and I've only posted with it like 3 times.

 

[Ghost Kitty~]

Sites that force me to join for some crappy reason or another shouldnt expect much from me~

 

[Will98]

That was the bell ringing right there.

 

[XatR]

Sites that force me to join for some crappy reason or another shouldnt expect much from me~

True I also don't like when sites/forums require me to make an account to view something (like links). Its even piss me more when I have to use one of my email to make an account on that sites and then activate it ...

A lot of people here are only for the hentai. I have a HF account made in 2007 (made it to use the search feature) and I've only posted with it like 3 times.

I hope that's true I'm building now a H-Anime database and would like to join uploaders, once I get over the probation time/posts requirement ^^.
And I also have hongfire acount for years now, never posted there ... why should I when other users asked what I wanted. However hongfire now doesn't have any download section and that sux.

 

[Koinkun]

the new information may not prompt a response from me)

You NOT wanting to reply to a post?? O.o why do I feel mystified by that? xD

Anyways, as everyone has stated thee are a bunch of reasons why there are alot more views that replies. Sam's and Corocoro's points are very valid, plus the posts about our downloader traffic, and I won't restate them. Also some people like to see what other people have posted regarding the matter, but might not want to make that info about themselves known, or have already posted what they wanted to in the thread and have nothing to add but are curious about the posts there-after. It's personal choice, what can you do about it?

 

[XatR]

You NOT wanting to reply to a post?? O.o why do I feel mystified by that? xD

Anyways, as everyone has stated thee are a bunch of reasons why there are alot more views that replies. Sam's and Corocoro's points are very valid, plus the posts about our downloader traffic, and I won't restate them. Also some people like to see what other people have posted regarding the matter, but might not want to make that info about themselves known, or have already posted what they wanted to in the thread and have nothing to add but are curious about the posts there-after. It's personal choice, what can you do about it?

Also theres the point of fluent english.
When I read some posts which are more like essays, I don't even want to try writing then, my mumbling would be a mumbo jumbo compared to some other posters responses. Thats also why most people like to read.
Many people are fluent with reading, considering that we watch subbed anime, but they have problems with conveying what they think into other language, forget about speaking it ...
And sometimes when you read someone having a big psychological background on characters and story, your "Hmmm good anime tratatatatat blalblablab" feels kinda pointless as previous posters already drained the subject of particular thread.

 

[Ghost Kitty~]

I dont spam everywhere usually~ Mostly the spam section and games

 

[Sillhouete]

Also theres the point of fluent english.
When I read some posts which are more like essays, I don't even want to try writing then, my mumbling would be a mumbo jumbo compared to some other posters responses. Thats also why most people like to read.
Many people are fluent with reading, considering that we watch subbed anime, but they have problems with conveying what they think into other language, forget about speaking it ...
And sometimes when you read someone having a big psychological background on characters and story, your "Hmmm good anime tratatatatat blalblablab" feels kinda pointless as previous posters already drained the subject of particular thread.

agree wiith xatr
for me,it's better to be a reader rather than be a writter
because sometimes i got a problem with the language
:D