Somewhat confused...

dustrho

S.C.A.L.P. Wpns Supplier
There are currently 652 members of The Bothan Spy Bothawui Forum, but why does it seem like only less than 10 members actively post in the forum? I am in no way trying to stir up trouble or cause grief for the moderators, because I plan on participating here as much as possible. I am just curious about this. This seems to be a great forum, I love the look of it (can't wait to see the 'update' of it), and everyone I've met so far seem to be great people, so I don't understand why it's not more 'active.'

I'll sit back now and read the replies. :cool:
 

Barada

Saboteur
Well, there is a certain group of people that tend to lurk and just read. Many of these people (but not all) registered to take advantage of the many giveaways we have here. Take a look in the Watto's Lotto thread and see how many people post in there to see what I mena. There is nothing wrong with that, as I know many people are shy.

I would also think that there is a current lull in SW interest as we are far removed now from AOTC and the hype hasn't really begun for Episode III.

One more point - a site like Rebelscum with over 9000 members always seems to have the same 50-100 people posting, another small percentage of their total membership.

The numbers will surely rise toward the end of the year, when the Episode III wheel gets rolling.

Barada
 

dustrho

S.C.A.L.P. Wpns Supplier
Barada, no need to even speak about Rebelscum because that place sucks. Yeah, I still post there on occasion, but nowhere near the amount that I used to. Everyone over there is rude, obnoxious and immature. Not the type of place I want to hang out at. This is a friendly place that I have started enjoying coming to. Hopefully more people will become involved here, because there's all sorts of Star Wars related stuff to talk about.

Hopefully no one on the Staff here took offense to my initial question. And thank you Barada for the quick reply. :)
 

Carl Waterworth

New Recruit
Barada, you said there is a lull now between films, made me think, what sort of future, do you think this forum and others like it have after EIII?
 

Barada

Saboteur
Dustrho, I only mention RS to give an example of how it seems to be a small percentage of members across the board at all sites that actively post. If we had 9000 members, we'd have busy forums too despite the input likely being from only 100 people or so.

Carl, the future of SW websites is up in the air. It will depend on a number of factors. First, will there be anything (such as the current CW cartoon) to maintain interest in the saga for years to come?

I think the trick to sites like ours surviving will be adaptability. SW would remain the focus, but sites will have to generalize more to a broader view - perhaps sci-fi films in general. No doubt many boards will crash and burn, and that is where the members will have the greatest say. Of course, admins will have to still have the interest to keep sites running, which I believe was the first catalyst to R2N going down recently.

I'll take a guess at only about half a dozen or less SW sites being able to thrive after Episode III is a distant memory. Here's hoping ours is one of them ;)

Barada
 

Borsk

Administrator
Staff member
LATE tonight and/or tomorrow, I hope to switch the majority of the site over to the new stuff. In about 1 1/2 weeks, I hope to have the forum upgraded. These improvements should make our site more appealing to fellow Star Wars fans and possibly increase forum activity. It's the "build it and they will come" philosophy.

The points that Barada made are correct. Here's a few more to add:
  • Our site/forum is relatively young when compared to other similar forums. Established members at these other forums generally don't want to "start over" in a new forum.
  • We do not aggressively recruit members into our forums through any other site's forums.
  • Some of our really active members have moved on to be part of the staff at other sites. This is great for them, but usually means that they stop being active at TBS.
The best way to get people to take a look at the forum is by offering contests through the forum (such as Watto's lotto). The hope is that they will take a look around, decide they like it and become an active member. Obviously, this doesn't always work (and that's usually the source of so many inactive members).

After we get some of these upgrades/updates out of the way, we do have plans that may help increase active membership in our forum. However, all we can really do is encourage people to use the forums.
 

darthskellington

Dark Lord of the Typos
You know, it's interesting you should ask about active posters dustrho. I just logged on for the night, and glanced at the forum eader where it says who the latest member is, and who is online. I always check this out just for curiosity's sake (we tend to get new members one or twice a week or so).

Tonight I looked at something a rarely look at--the total number or members--and got to thinking that out of 600+ members only maybe 25 or less are conversational posters.

The I went to the latest posts and you were asking the exact same question.

Eerie. :p
 

dustrho

S.C.A.L.P. Wpns Supplier
That is totally messed up darthskelington! :shocked: I can't believe you were doing research on that, and then found out I had started this thread.

It's a shame there aren't many 'active' members here. But, in the long run it's better to have a close community that is small versus a large community where no one ever gets along.
 

Barada

Saboteur
Well, WW, it's your idea.

As long as it doesn't get out of hand, and the pics stay clean, I can't see an issue with you starting a thread off like this. I'll leave the honor of being thread starter to you, kind sir. :D

Barada
 

darthskellington

Dark Lord of the Typos
WW, that could be interesting. If it doesn't work out, we could always use it as an excuse to start Ewok bashing again ;) Since CoruscantCosta is on hiatus, and Buzz is behaving himself, that leaves only one Ewok left :p

BTW Barada, WW is a nice nickname to choose, considering we called CoruscantCosta CC. Keeps the ewok tradition going.

dustrho, I agree with you. Smaller is nice because it's personal and friendly, plus you can keep up with everything fairly easily if you so choose. On the downside, if everyone gets busy at the same time, the site is dead. :rolleyes:
 

Deathstar

Visit vacation paradise!
Originally posted by dustrho
There are currently 652 members of The Bothan Spy Bothawui Forum, but why does it seem like only less than 10 members actively post in the forum? I am in no way trying to stir up trouble or cause grief for the moderators, because I plan on participating here as much as possible. I am just curious about this. This seems to be a great forum, I love the look of it (can't wait to see the 'update' of it), and everyone I've met so far seem to be great people, so I don't understand why it's not more 'active.'

I'll sit back now and read the replies. :cool:

OK Dusty, you have to go and wake me after goin' AWOL for a few years.
:D

Got the "Spy" on my favorites, so I have no excuse not to come back.
 

dustrho

S.C.A.L.P. Wpns Supplier
Re: Re: Somewhat confused...

Originally posted by Deathstar
OK Dusty, you have to go and wake me after goin' AWOL for a few years.

I haven't gone by the nickname 'Dusty' in probably 8 years. That's what a lot of people called me in high school & college (now I'm almost 31).

And sorry to have woken you up! LOL!!! :p
 

Deathstar

Visit vacation paradise!
Re: Re: Re: Somewhat confused...

Originally posted by dustrho
I haven't gone by the nickname 'Dusty' in probably 8 years. That's what a lot of people called me in high school & college (now I'm almost 31).

And sorry to have woken you up! LOL!!! :p

You may not believe this, but I called you Dusty about two years ago on another site and you just about gave me the same answer.
No Kidding.:p
 

dustrho

S.C.A.L.P. Wpns Supplier
Re: Re: Re: Re: Somewhat confused...

Originally posted by Deathstar
You may not believe this, but I called you Dusty about two years ago on another site and you just about gave me the same answer.
No Kidding.:p

Un-freakin'-believable! Way too much deja-vu going on here today. :shocked:
 
Top