Just something to ponder in an idle moment

[wendywombat]

Who are these people?
Just out of curiosity I 'clicked' on a few of the names on the 'Index' page who are 'celebrating' their birthdays and forumversaries.

Where do they go? I know that some join, do a Welcome page never to be seen again, or they join up hoping to get freebie charts from members.

Out of the 6 I tried not one has ever done anything but join up!!

[Mabel Figworthy]

They may have come to search for the answer to something, found it (or not) and gone away again. I know I would occasionally Google a problem and there would be a link to a forum, and then it would turn out I'd have to sign up in order to actually read the thread about it - I usually don't, but if you were very serious about finding the answer I suppose you might.

[Podolyanka]

Some get registered for the sake of leaving a "tail" - link to their site which they advertize. I think they dont care about the specifics of a site they found themselves on- be it cross-stitch or not.

[richardandtracy]

I think fairly often it's for people who want to ask a question, and then having had it answered, they wander off having lost interest.

I have had to register with a couple of forums to ask questions (like when my boiler was going wrong and I wanted to ask other people what possible causes I needed to look for based on the symptoms) and now that I have had them answered, I'll never go back. Have neither the need nor the interest.
Or possibly they register on a whim & find the atmosphere is not congenial to them. On this forum it's not good ton to make personal attacks. That may feel wrong & unacceptable to people who are used to more 'robust' (aka 'unpleasant') debating areas.

Regards,

Richard.

[rcperryls]

I think it is mostly in the forumversary section that we find the nonmembers. I usually look at the "Last Visited" date to get an idea of how active or inactive someone has been. I have surprised a few times to see someone who has never posted anything have a fairly recent date. So in addition to all the possible reasons already given, I'd add that there are some people who are, for whatever reason, reluctant to participate. They may have been burned in the past in other forums, bullied or demeaned or whatever else is allowed to go on in some places. We've had people who have tried to stir things up on occasion, but they quickly find out this isn't the forum they want. You can't have an argument if no one will argue with you.

Good question Wendy. There are days when there are so many names listed and I know that we miss people because of that. Especially ones who we are more likely to know by their "real names" instead of their "user name".

Carole

[Squirrel]

I have frequently wondered the same thing Wendy and so now I too look a their last posting date and if it's not recent and I don't know the name I don't write anything on their timeline.


Each to his own ways I suppose - and thanks for asking the question.

[Kuschelschaf]

It's funny that your bring this up, Wendy. I often wondered the same thing and in fact, I mentioned something to my DH about it last night! He wondered how many people signed up just for Stashmas fun and then left once the exchange was done. I haven't really noticed much of that, myself.

They may have been burned in the past in other forums, bullied or demeaned or whatever else is allowed to go on in some places. We've had people who have tried to stir things up on occasion, but they quickly find out this isn't the forum they want. You can't have an argument if no one will argue with you.

Good point, Carole. This is EXACTLY why I don't go on knitting or crochet forums. The knitters on the forums and LYS tended to be on the mean side - not liking beginner's and their lack of knowledge or many questions for things that seemed "easy". The crochet forums were less demeaning when it came to ability, but tended to get set off by any and everything as a violation of forum rules. For example, I made a pattern myself where I crocheted granny squares to look like the screen of my highest score in tetris. I was told it was a copyright violation and to not come back. I didn't even post a pattern, I posted a picture of my progress. I didn't make a fuss, it's not worth it to argue. It was clear I didn't fit in, so I wanted to be in a place where I did fit in.

Thankfully this forum is very pleasant and positive!! Which is why I keep coming back!!

[Podolyanka]

I dont think "ghosts" come here for the sake of asking questions, as 90 % of them never make a single post. People wandering from one forum to another are neighter stitchers/knitters,etc, nor post writers. They have nothing to share. Have you noticed, how often a newbie disappears the moment someone mentions, "We will be happy to see your works"?

And I agree, scandal makers cant find food here, thank God.

[Mabel Figworthy]

I dont think "ghosts" come here for the sake of asking questions, as 90 % of them never make a single post.

Sometimes people find the forum on Google when looking for the answer to a question - they don't need to post, because the question has already been asked - they just have to read the thread in which it is discussed; then they can leave, having found their answer.
I'm not blaming them for that - I've done the same on other forums, e.g. about computer problems. Some forums you can read (though not post) without signing up, and that is of course very useful if you just want to read that one thing.

Administrators, I've been a member for so long that I can't remember this - can non-members read the forum?

[Podolyanka]

It depends on the forum, but, for example, I do read a cross stitch forum without being registered. I just cant post there, but I see their gallery and all posts.

[wendywombat]

Interesting answers!
I know I've 'popped into' other sites but not registered. I also come in here sometimes but don't 'log on' just to find a topic, I'm sure we all do that!
I do get cross if I see someone joining just to ask for freebies and/or copies of patterns then disappearing.

It was the other day I noticed just how many unknown names were on the Index page under Forumversaries that got me thinking and checking on dates last posted.
Thanks to our Marvelous Moderators we don't get much Spamming or duplicates these days!

Too much time on my hands I guess!!

[rcperryls]

I think, but would not want to be held to this answer, that you can read posts but cannot reply if you are not a logged in member. I pretty much just keep myself logged so I can't be sure. Thanks to Alex we are limited in the number of spammers that even try to get in. All first posts have to be approved by one of us mods so if we get a spam attack we can at least prevent y'all from having to deal with them and if it is avalanche type spamming then Alex is great at adjusting filters so we don't have to disapprove very often. I do admit though when I first was able to hit the disapprove button there was a very good feeling about sending a spammer into oblivion. Some of them I'd like to send to jail, but since I can't do that, virtual oblivion is a good option. Wendy, I must have too much idle time too and not enough excitement in my life.

Carole

[Angelite]

I suppose there could be many reasons for the 'one post wonders' on a forum. Probably some of them join with the best intentions of returning but never do. Likewise, it's annoying when people join for the freebies never to be seen again. People are people I guess. Perhaps some people feel they lack the confidence to post or worry about receiving no replies on some forums? I don't belong to any other forums but I've seen many examples of such where a post has hundreds of views but not one answer. If it takes a while to work up the courage to post only to not receive a reply it can perhaps put someone off? I've spoken to friends that feel like this. Sadly they are not cross stitchers because if they were i'd tell them to hop over here! Always a friendly word and someone will always acknowledge your post!

[Serinde]

Many of the "members" who never posted could possibly have also been spammers who have tried (and failed) to make life difficult for us here over the years. We are quicker off the mark now, and Alex is a total wonder! Every now and again, I go through the lists deleting people who joined years ago and have never posted. If this sounds harsh, here is one thing I've discovered being a Mod on this forum: when someone wants to visit but has to re-register due to forgotten password or something, they always tell us who they "were" before. A big clue to their good intentions!

[Garnet]

The thing that I wonder at sometimes is how many guests there can be at any given time, once I came on and there were 12 guests and I thought to myself, oh come and join and say hello, and at other times I have been the only person logged in.

So, if you are reading this as a guest, why not join the fun and say hello.

[wendywombat]

Have we lost the Birthdays and Forumversary heading now...or perhaps there weren't any today!

[rcperryls]

I've noticed that happens occasionally. I always double check thinking I've scrolled down the page and just missed it. Don't think we've had that happen twice in a row since I joined.

Carole

[stitchnsew]

In response to the question on whether a nonmember can see the forum, if you're not logged in, you can read the forum, but have to be logged in to write any response. I know I come on here to read things, but only log on if I am going to say/ask something. My computer used to keep me logged on, but my iPad doesn't, and that's what I use almost exclusively.
I had initially come to this forum when I had some questions about fabric types. I got the info I wanted without having to join, like probably many other people do, but did join because I wanted to be able to display my projects. Which reminds me, I haven't updated for a long time. I think I was put off from that when I read something about ability to put up pictures had changed. I really dislike dealing with pictures when it's not 100% simple. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I just spent 8 hours creating a Happy New Years card (it was too late for it to be a Christmas card) and getting photos from a phone camera, text messages, and a camera card into a folder on a computer and then into Shutterfly and formatting a card. So I'll see what I can do here!

[Angel]

I've signed up to a few sites and actually never posted a thing on the forums Not this one, obviously, but yeah. Some. I'm actually pretty active on them. I love reading the posts and check through most days. I'm off to actually do that next, but I've never posted. I signed up thinking I might post, but...so far haven't. I love reading them, I just don't feel that I have anything to say in there. So that may be it.