Why?

[Bonita_Rice]

Why do you think that more ppa people are not using this forum? I have not been here in a while and I could not believe the small amount of use of this forum compared to other forums. My problems are about the login, but I did get logged in today. I really enjoy the information and the critique on the potential comp. prints. I would love to hear how the prints did in the competition after the critique here.

[Betsy_Finn]

Well, the forum is still *relatively* new -- it takes a while for these things to get a good group dynamic going on a large scale. Even if you join a group, it may take you a while to get involved.

There are 7,395 members currenty (when I made this post) -- obviously not all are contributing, but I am sure that a significant number of those members are browsing the forum and getting info, even if they don't feel the desire to post.

We have 38 members online right now -- 31 members and 7 guests. (the most ever online users was 210 on 10-31-2006). That seems like pretty good statistics to me.

What type of forum membership levels were you hoping to see?

[Don_Barnes]

Why do you think that more ppa people are not using this forum? I have not been here in a while and I could not believe the small amount of use of this forum compared to other forums.

You just admitted that you haven't been here in a while. So whatever your reason for not coming back might be, I am sure others have the same reason. And others have many other reasons. Personally, I would like to be so busy that I wouldn't have time to be here, but sadly that is not the case. I hope that is why many are not here now, but we will see them back when work slows down.

And for others they came and looked around and didn't find anything that interested them. Or they read a few posts and didn't get much out of them. Every forum has its regulars and those that drop in occasionally and every one that visits a forum has their own interests and desires for information.

I hope that you will visit regularly and if this forum is not meeting you needs, please tell us how to change it so that it does. This is YOUR forum and your input is vital.

[Michael_Gan]

Added to the fact that most photographers consider themselves as either "know it alls" or, and this is unfortunately "takers but not sharers".
Michael

[Ariston_Collander]

I know for a fact that I have a metric TON to learn about photography and the business of it. I use the Nikonians.org forum for camera specific information, but you can be sure to find me here many times a day either reading old posts or making posts myself. People who don't visit these forums are surely missing out.

I love the photo of my son as my avatar, but I need to find a nice pic of myself to use as my avatar.

[Ariston_Collander]

I know for a fact that I have a metric TON to learn about photography and the business of it. I use the Nikonians.org forum for camera specific information, but you can be sure to find me here many times a day either reading old posts or making posts myself. People who don't visit these forums are surely missing out.

I love the photo of my son as my avatar, but I need to find a nice pic of myself to use as my avatar.

Well it's low quality, but I found one!

[KirkDarling]

Why do you think that more ppa people are not using this forum? I have not been here in a while and I could not believe the small amount of use of this forum compared to other forums. My problems are about the login, but I did get logged in today. I really enjoy the information and the critique on the potential comp. prints. I would love to hear how the prints did in the competition after the critique here.

Well, compared to the similar forums that I know about that are most similar to this one (montezucker.com, zuga.net)--and free, this forum is as active as those.

[Holly_Howe]

Added to the fact that most photographers consider themselves as either "know it alls" or, and this is unfortunately "takers but not sharers".
Michael

Michael, I don't know if that's the only reason. I think maybe it's fear of sounding foolish. Maybe they are afraid they have nothing worthwhile to offer. Or perhaps they don't want to ask a question because they feel everyone will laugh at them for not knowing the answer already. Either way fear holds them back.

Holly

[Betsy_Finn]

Michael, I don't know if that's the only reason. I think maybe it's fear of sounding foolish. Maybe they are afraid they have nothing worthwhile to offer. Or perhaps they don't want to ask a question because they feel everyone will laugh at them for not knowing the answer already. Either way fear holds them back.

Holly

I think there are other reasons besides fear. When you're getting into a forum, you aren't necessarily familiar with the group dynamics, and may not feel like stepping in until you have an actual question.....then the downward spiral begins!

[Betsy_Finn]

I did a little research using the members search engine. Here are some statistics I found.

According to the front page there are 7,399 members.
The members list found 6190 members.

The average number of members joining per month is 273. This excludes the max and min values over the 17 months the forum has existed (record low = 30 joining in July 05; record high = 2222 joining in August 05).

There are 4755 "new members" with no posts
There are 1244 "new members" with at least one post
There are 120 "members" and 71 "senior members"

23% of OurPPA members have posted to the forum


So far this month, 186 different members have posted.


So, I'm not in an analyzing mood, but there are some numbers for your statistical enjoyment