Board Traffic Comparison Thread

Moved from the other thread to concentrate on this comparison.

For comparison purposes, boards are checked just after 9pm, CST.

SDMB;

Mar 14 Threads: 490,401, Posts: 10,830,946, Members: 82,157
Mar 15 Threads: 490,502, Posts: 10,833,220, Members: 82,164 (+101 threads, +2,274 posts, +7 members)
Mar 16 Threads: 490,627, Posts: 10,836,732, Members: 82,175 (+125 threads, +3,512 posts, +11 new members)

Domebo;

Mar 14 Total posts 19766 • Total topics 926 • Total members 951
Mar 15 Total posts 20629 • Total topics 967 • Total members 966 (+41 threads, +853 posts, +15 members)
Mar 16 Total posts 22101 • Total topics 1011 • Total members 988 (+44 threads, +1,472 posts, +22 new members)

Comparison;

Mar 14-15 Domebo has 37.5% of new posts, 41% of new threads, 214% of new members, 1.17% of total members claimed
Mar 15-16 Domebo has 41.9% of new posts, 35% of new threads, 200% of new members, 1.2% of total members claimed

A little bird sent me this file. It contains the post number of the first post of each day for the last year on the SDMB. If you load it up in a spreadsheet and add a delta column it produces an interesting graph. Two interesting things I notice: 1) there was a significant jump in posts per day after the "lost weekend" (which shows up as a striking anomaly), and 2) there has been a pretty sharp decline in the past few weeks.

I apologize, but I'm not feeling well and I want to go to bed, so I'll be doing this now, about 1 hour 10 minutes shy of the 24 hour mark;

March 17, 2009;

SDMB: Threads: 490,740, Posts: 10,840,161, Members: 82,189
(+3,429 posts, +113 threads, +14 members)

Domebo: Total posts 23180 • Total topics 1058 • Total members 1002
(+1,079 posts, +47 threads, +14 members)

Down to 31.5% of the number of posts, 41.6% of threads, equal growth.

A bit later tonight because I had a social night for the first time in a while.

SDMB: 490,905, Posts: 10,844,349, Members: 82,208
(+4,188 posts, +165 threads, +19 members)

Domebo: Total posts 24268 • Total topics 1102 • Total members 1015
(+1,088 posts, +44 threads, +13 members)

Down to 26.6% of posts, 26.7% of threads, 68% of new members.

Clearly, SMDB traffic is picking up from the usual slow weekend numbers. I have nothing to compare it to long term, though. We here are fluctuating a little, but are maintaining an average in the 1,000 posts per day and a fairly steady membership growth after the initial two week surge.

Frankly, I wish all of our members would actually post on a regular basis, but I suspect that we've got a lot of people who signed on here "just because", then went back to the dope because there was more to read there.

At this point, I'll probably let the comparison rest and perhaps re-look at it a couple of weeks from now, just to see how we're faring.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Chimera

...
Frankly, I wish all of our members would actually post on a regular basis, but I suspect that we've got a lot of people who signed on here "just because", then went back to the dope because there was more to read there.

...

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I think a lot of people reserved their usernames here and on the Giraffe boards but aren't necessarily posting in all three places. We have many, many members with 0, 1 or 2 posts (right now it turns out almost exactly half of our 1018 users fall in this category). Of course the Ed Zotti boards have way more inactive posters than both splinter boards combined.

One More Time, just to see how things are going over a longer period.

March 18, 10:39pm (CST);

SDMB: 490,905, Posts: 10,844,349, Members: 82,208
Domebo: Total posts 24268 • Total topics 1102 • Total members 1015

March 22, 7:04pm (CST);

SMDB: Threads: 491,316, Posts: 10,855,864, Members: 82,273
(+11,515 posts, +411 threads, +65 members)

Domebo: Total posts 27810 • Total topics 1229 • Total members 1050
(+3542 posts, +117 threads, +35 members)

About average for the Dope over the previous period, though new membership numbers are increasing.

For us, it's appears to be slowing down a bit. We're under 1000 posts a day on average, which is lower than we were for the first couple of weeks. New membership is also slowing down. We're currently running about 30% of the traffic on the Dope, which is down from the 40% that we were running for a while.

Even so, for a one month old board to be pulling 30% of the traffic of a 10 year old board is pretty darned good.

Domebo as of March 25, 9:16pm CST

Total posts 30789 • Total topics 1343 • Total members 1068
(+2,979 posts, +114 threads, +18 members)

Averaging +932 posts +34 topics, +8 members per day (rounded) over the course of a week.

Pretty safe to say that we have leveled off from the heady early days of rapid ingress and should probably see sustained traffic at this level barring some unforseen change.

We need to invite more dopers and try to make peace with the Giraffe boarders. Apparently some of them think we're stuck up.

Quote:

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Originally posted by garygnu

We need to invite more dopers and try to make peace with the Giraffe boarders. Apparently some of them think we're stuck up.

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Fuck them.

(Just kidding.)

Yeah, we need a second wave of invites coming in. Also, try to invite people here not from the Dope, as well.

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Originally posted by Winston Smith

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Originally posted by garygnu

We need to invite more dopers and try to make peace with the Giraffe boarders. Apparently some of them think we're stuck up.

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Fuck them.

(Just kidding.)

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I say the only way to settle differences with the Giraffe boarders is a rumble between the Giraffe boards and Domebo.net behind the SDMB Dairy Queen.

Since I'm on both boards I'll respectfully decline to participate, but I'll be there renting lawn chairs and selling popcorn.

Quote:

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Originally posted by CRSP

Also, try to invite people here not from the Dope, as well.

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Bolded for added emphasis.

Also let me post images in room 101 and lets import all the good smilies from SomethingAwful.

kablaaaamo.

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Originally posted by Borborygmi

I say the only way to settle differences with the Giraffe boarders is a rumble between the Giraffe boards and Domebo.net behind the SDMB Dairy Queen.

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Really though I recall an idea of cross board contests being bandied about during the initial set ups, and I think that's a clever and good idea. Sure, there will be some level of butthurt, but it's a friendly thing, not a Crips and Bloods thing. It would encourage more goodwill than bad, methinks.

I don't actually have an idea for one mind you. ;)

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Originally posted by Cluricaun

...Sure, there will be some level of butthurt, but it's a friendly thing, not a Crips and Bloods thing. It would encourage more goodwill than bad, methinks...

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Will there be choreographed dancing and synchronized snapping?

You'd better fucking believe it. I call dibs on Jets.

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Originally posted by hatesfreedom

lets import all the good smilies from SomethingAwful.

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I like the one with the wang ejaculating all over.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Excalibre

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Originally posted by hatesfreedom

lets import all the good smilies from SomethingAwful.

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I like the one with the wang ejaculating all over.

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I suspect that there is a person or maybe several people who would or could say, "Of course you do." :mrgreen:

I am not that person.

But I felt I ought to make the comment.

I like to be in America!
O.K. by me in America!
Ev'rything free in America
For a small fee in America!

(I'm a Shark girl)

You can get drunk in America
You can get blown in America
But you can't get stoned in America
So I am going to Amsterdam.

This diagram shows the count of unique posters in the MPSIMS forum during intervals of 24 hours. It goes from 2008-09-02 to 2009-03-25, one day per horizontal pixel. (If you want to find a particular day, you'll just have to do the math. I'd also suggest to use a horizontal ruler if you're doing absolute comparisons, these types of histograms can be very deceptive without visual guides.)

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/47842654ae.gif
Stretched version for easier viewing: http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/1173e242d4.gif

Blue=Total number of posts in the forum (not to scale to the rest). The other colors show the count of unique members who made cyan=1, red=2, yellow=3, magenta=4, green=5, black=6 posts in MPSIMS per day. (The count is cumulative, that is, users who made 2 posts or more also count as users who made 1 post etc.) Gray line is 2009-02-24 when the Pit rules have been revised.

This doesn't look like random fluctuations... Seems they've lost somewhere between one-third and one-half of the people. :shock:

Of course, there are any number (27) of folks over there that would say "Good Riddance!" to MPSIMS posters.

Quote:

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Originally posted by garygnu

We need to invite more dopers and try to make peace with the Giraffe boarders. Apparently some of them think we're stuck up.

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I'm not registered on the Giraffe boards, and rarely post on the Dope, but I think one way to get more traffic (and more non-Dope posters) is to leave Dope drama behind and let the Dome be its own board. I think people need to stop worrying about competing with the Dope or trying to justify the Dome's existence by comparing numbers.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Words on the Interweb

Quote:

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Originally posted by garygnu

We need to invite more dopers and try to make peace with the Giraffe boarders. Apparently some of them think we're stuck up.

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I'm not registered on the Giraffe boards, and rarely post on the Dope, but I think one way to get more traffic (and more non-Dope posters) is to leave Dope drama behind and let the Dome be its own board. I think people need to stop worrying about competing with the Dope or trying to justify the Dome's existence by comparing numbers.

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100% agreed but it will take a while to happen. However in just one month the moans and groans about the SDMB have greatly decreased.

I see some new faces and some lurkers have decided to be active on domebo. I wish more would. Traffic in many ways begets traffic when it is many making the traffic.

I am trying to bring in some gaming friends and a few sports friends. So far one has joined but I hope for a few others.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Chimera

March 22, 7:04pm (CST);

SMDB: Threads: 491,316, Posts: 10,855,864, Members: 82,273
(+11,515 posts, +411 threads, +65 members)

Domebo: Total posts 27810 • Total topics 1229 • Total members 1050
(+3542 posts, +117 threads, +35 members)

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Great thread idea!

March 27 10:23
SDMB: Threads: 491,926, Posts: 10,872,400, Members: 82,367
(+610 threads, +16536 posts, +94 members)
Domebo: Total posts 32250 | Total topics 1389 | Total members 1078
(+160 threads, +4440 posts, +28 members)

The SDMB currently has about 4 times more postings than Domebo.

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Originally posted by Truth and Beauty

Quote:

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Originally posted by Chimera

March 22, 7:04pm (CST);

SMDB: Threads: 491,316, Posts: 10,855,864, Members: 82,273
(+11,515 posts, +411 threads, +65 members)

Domebo: Total posts 27810 • Total topics 1229 • Total members 1050
(+3542 posts, +117 threads, +35 members)

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Great thread idea!

March 27 10:23
SDMB: Threads: 491,926, Posts: 10,872,400, Members: 82,367
(+610 threads, +16536 posts, +94 members)
Domebo: Total posts 32250 | Total topics 1389 | Total members 1078
(+160 threads, +4440 posts, +28 members)

The SDMB currently has about 4 times more postings than Domebo.

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And has only been established 120 times as long as Domebo. Wow, that's pretty impressive!

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Originally posted by ivan astikov

And has only been established 120 times as long as Domebo. Wow, that's pretty impressive!

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I agree. Y'all should be proud of what you have accomplished here. :D

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Originally posted by Borborygmi

I say the only way to settle differences with the Giraffe boarders is a rumble between the Giraffe boards and Domebo.net behind the SDMB Dairy Queen.

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So far Giraffe's board is ahead on tormenting helpless trolls in The Box.

And Winston doesn't have any Unpersons at all in Room 101, right? :)

Quote:

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Originally posted by Words on the Interweb

I think people need to stop worrying about competing with the Dope or trying to justify the Dome's existence by comparing numbers.

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Pretty much why my last post didn't include dope numbers and just focused on our own posting numbers. Not for comparison or justification, just a longer term establishment of some base numbers to give people an idea of how active this board really is.

Because sometimes it can look like it ISN'T that busy. The #2 thread in a forum can be the same #2 thread, with the same last post, for several days running.

But even with a bit of a slowdown here, we're still running roughly 900 posts a day, which is nothing to sneeze at.

But then, what the hey... When I consider that we dropped to 888 posts per day over this last 5 day period that T&B documented, from well into the 900's or even over 1,000 a day during previous periods, and wonder why this might have happened; I can note that the dope dropped from 3800-4500 posts per day in previous periods to 3300 per day in the same period and say that there are exterior causes for board traffic to be down during the period.

March 27 10:23
SDMB: Threads: 491,926, Posts: 10,872,400, Members: 82,367
(+610 threads, +16536 posts, +94 members)
Domebo: Total posts 32250 | Total topics 1389 | Total members 1078
(+160 threads, +4440 posts, +28 members)

April 21 10:24
SDMB: Threads: 494,760, Posts: 10,953,421, Members: 82,809
(+2834 threads, +81021 posts, +442 members)
Domebo: Total posts 52326 | Total topics 2125 | Total members 1240
(+736 threads, +20076 posts, +162 members)

April 21 10:24
SDMB: Threads: 494,760, Posts: 10,953,421, Members: 82,809
(+2834 threads, +81021 posts, +442 members)
Domebo: Total posts 52326 | Total topics 2125 | Total members 1240
(+736 threads, +20076 posts, +162 members)


May 13 11:24
SDMB: Threads: 497,225, Posts: 11,028,999, Members: 83,226
(+2465 threads, +75578 posts, +417 members)
Domebo: Total posts 65640 | Total topics 2609 | Total members 1331
(+484 threads, +13314 posts, +91 members)

It will be interesting to see this months results, as I seem to have noticed a downturn in the amount of posts here.

Some days there hardly seems to be any new posts at all, while the "other place" has many. Why the slow down?

Quote:

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Originally posted by Walker in Eternity

Some days there hardly seems to be any new posts at all, while the "other place" has many. Why the slow down?

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I think the chat is partly to blame.

The chat is a big part of it. Also, I think the new board shiny is wearing off and we haven't had much drama to work up vitriol.

As the weather has gotten nicer and the days longer I have been spending more time outside. My posting here has definitely decreased.

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Originally posted by OneCentStamp

Quote:

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Originally posted by Walker in Eternity

Some days there hardly seems to be any new posts at all, while the "other place" has many. Why the slow down?

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I think the chat is partly to blame.

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I do too, and I'm going to try to use it less, and post more.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Sarahfeena

I think the chat is partly to blame.

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I do too, and I'm going to try to use it less, and post more.[/quote]
The issue is specifically posting more threads, though, not just more posts. I mean, I'm not about to start posting the vacuous things I say in chat in threads instead; that's not exactly a win for Domebo.

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Originally posted by Excalibur

Quote:

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Originally posted by Sarahfeena

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Originally posted by OneCentStamp

I think the chat is partly to blame.

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I do too, and I'm going to try to use it less, and post more.

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The issue is specifically posting more threads, though, not just more posts. I mean, I'm not about to start posting the vacuous things I say in chat in threads instead; that's not exactly a win for Domebo.

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A valid point. It's more about just spending my time in chat, so I don't have time to think of my usual brilliant thread topics.

I can't see that feature on here that tells us how many threads we've started which the other place has, but I know I started far more threads over there - and even more on the previous board I was on - I'm afraid I might've reached my limit of semi-interesting thoughts! :lol:

Quote:

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Originally posted by Walker in Eternity

It will be interesting to see this months results, as I seem to have noticed a downturn in the amount of posts here.

Some days there hardly seems to be any new posts at all, while the "other place" has many. Why the slow down?

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We have at best 1/3 of the active members. So a slowdown there has to be three times as big before you notice it. Or...something. Math is not my strong suit.

ETA: Me, I slowed down for a couple of weeks with finals, but now it's summer break and I eagerly await participating in your next dozen threads!

May 13 11:24
SDMB: Threads: 497,225, Posts: 11,028,999, Members: 83,226
(+2465 threads, +75578 posts, +417 members)
DoMeBo: Total posts 65640 | Total topics 2609 | Total members 1331
(+484 threads, +13314 posts, +91 members)

June 15 11:44
SDMB: Threads: 500,827, Posts: 11,139,935, Members: 83,877
(+3602 threads, +110936 posts, +651 members)
DoMeBo Total posts 79886 • Total topics 3293 • Total members 1398
(+684 threads, +14246 posts, +67 members)


3/22 - 3/27 5 days
SDMB posts per day: 3307 threads per day: 102
DoMeBo posts per day: 888 threads per day: 32

3/27 - 4/21 25 days
SDMB posts per day: 3241 threads per day: 113
DoMeBo posts per day: 803 threads per day: 29

4/21 - 5/13 22 days
SDMB posts per day: 3435 threads per day: 112
DoMeBo posts per day: 605 threads per day: 22

5/13 - 6/15 33 days
SDMB posts per day: 3362 threads per day: 109
DoMeBo posts per day: 432 threads per day: 20

It looks like the post count per day is definitely on a downward trend at the DOpers MEssage BOard. (Or else, if it's because of some other trend, it's not something that is bringing the post count down at the SDMB.) What can we do to fix it?

If only Jali would come back, we'd have more posts. Her last visit was May 29th.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Truth and Beauty

It looks like the post count per day is definitely on a downward trend at the DOpers MEssage BOard. (Or else, if it's because of some other trend, it's not something that is bringing the post count down at the SDMB.) What can we do to fix it?

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Two things I can think of:

Start enforcing "don't be a jerk". We've been far too accommodating to jerks, trying to avoid becoming TubaDiva and Cuntlapper, and it's driven at least two good posters away, and stopped others from joining in the first place.

Get rid of chat.

Sorry, I know a lot of you don't want to hear it, and yes, I enjoyed a visit there the other night, but it's true. Chat has completely killed at least the Wut Wut (MMP), and I'm certain slowed a lot of other posts. And to those who say, "but you don't want the kind of posts we post in chat in real threads!" you're missing the point. We may not want those posts memorialized, but giving ourselves the time and place to chat serves as a distraction from making decent posts on the board.

Chat is the breakroom of the "work" of the message board. Spend too much time in the breakroom, and no work gets done. Pretty simple.

Of course, if people are happier with chat than they'd be with a more active board, that's fine, but then we should stop measuring ourselves by post count board traffic, and find another rubric for success.

Quote:

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Originally posted by WhyNot

Start enforcing "don't be a jerk". We've been far too accommodating to jerks, trying to avoid becoming TubaDiva and Cuntlapper, and it's driven at least two good posters away, and stopped others from joining in the first place.

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Yes. Yes we have. And it's certainly made me post a lot less here too.

I can think of two particular individuals, one of whom does a very good job at shutting down discussion of issues or completely derailing them without any moderator intervention; and the other one does a really good job (for certain values of 'good') of gushing over trolls, defending them and attacking people who would like a different level of discourse on this board.

And of course, we allow all this because Bo forbid that any moderator should be accused of being TubaDiva by telling them to shut the hell up and allow other people to enjoy the board.

Quote:

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Originally posted by WhyNot

Quote:

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Originally posted by Truth and Beauty

It looks like the post count per day is definitely on a downward trend at the DOpers MEssage BOard. (Or else, if it's because of some other trend, it's not something that is bringing the post count down at the SDMB.) What can we do to fix it?

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Two things I can think of:

Start enforcing "don't be a jerk". We've been far too accommodating to jerks, trying to avoid becoming TubaDiva and Cuntlapper, and it's driven at least two good posters away, and stopped others from joining in the first place.

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Which two good posters are those?

Quote:

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Get rid of chat.

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I have more posts than you, and I can safely say that if they get rid of chat, it's unlikely I'll spend much time here anymore. The idea that we have a choice between chat and posts is silly; something that makes Domebo more attractive will induce members to spend more time here. It's not a zero-sum game.

Quote:

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Sorry, I know a lot of you don't want to hear it, and yes, I enjoyed a visit there the other night, but it's true. Chat has completely killed at least the Wut Wut (MMP)

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Is it somehow actually a loss for Domebo if a thread that is nothing but chat in post form is displaced by actual chat? I wasn't aware that we were having a content with anyone to see who could generate the most posts. If we are, then anything that distracts users from generating an endless stream of vacuous posts is obviously a problem. But I am frankly glad that threads here are not just big ol' gabfests, because that means we can have actual, interesting threads as well as chatter. The MMP is not interesting to others or valuable or worthy of preservation in the same way that chat is not -- doesn't it make sense that pointless gabbing should go in chat rather than in a thread?

Quote:

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Of course, if people are happier with chat than they'd be with a more active board, that's fine, but then we should stop measuring ourselves by post count board traffic, and find another rubric for success.

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It's silly to pretend that one precludes the other, especially if the closest thing to an example that exists is chat displacing one single thread that was nothing but chatter anyway.

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Originally posted by Excalibur

Which two good posters are those?

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I'm sure if they wanted you to know why they left, they'd have let you know.

Quote:

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It's not a zero-sum game.

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Time is always a zero-sum game.

Quote:

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Is it somehow actually a loss for Domebo if a thread that is nothing but chat in post form is displaced by actual chat?

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Yes. The "chat" of the Wut Wut was actually slightly more profound than what I've seen in Chat. It encouraged longer posts, by virtue of no time-pressure, and it allowed people on different time tables to get to know and interact with one another in an informal setting. Chat is quick, ephemeral and self-selecting by schedule and time-zone.

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I wasn't aware that we were having a content with anyone to see who could generate the most posts.

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That seems to be what this whole thread started as, actually. If not a contest, a measure of board vitality.

Quote:

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If we are, then anything that distracts users from generating an endless stream of vacuous posts is obviously a problem. But I am frankly glad that threads here are not just big ol' gabfests, because that means we can have actual, interesting threads as well as chatter.

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Now you're creating a zero-sum game. The chatty threads don't preclude "actual, interesting threads". I'd say they interfere less than chat, because they don't have to be attended to in real time.

Quote:

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The MMP is not interesting to others or valuable or worthy of preservation in the same way that chat is not -- doesn't it make sense that pointless gabbing should go in chat rather than in a thread?

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No, because while you're gabbing over there, you're not posting here. And if you're not posting here, I'm bored. It's all about entertaining me, really. :wink:

As for "worthy of preservation", I remember quite fondly some of the "update" threads where posters would ask for or provide updates to old posts about what was going on with them, and lots of times, links to old chatty threads would be provided. I love going back and reading, in context, where someone was at and where they are now.

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It's silly to pretend that one precludes the other, especially if the closest thing to an example that exists is chat displacing one single thread that was nothing but chatter anyway.

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Well, it's the only specific example I have because it was the only recurring thread. I can't very well say, "If 'xcali wasn't in Chat right now, I just know he'd start an interesting thread about _____," can I? I mean, I just don't know for sure. But when I mentioned it the other night, What Exit? did say he thought I was right, and it seems logical. And I know when I was in chat the other night, I wasn't posting in threads (although, to be fair, I went to chat because there was nothing much moving and my responses were all the last posts at the time...probably because there were a TON of fun people in chat at that moment!)

But okay, you disagree. To what do you attribute the attrition in post rate, and how do you suggest we address it, if at all?

Jali's stopped posting and I've been slacking off(ie. doing a bit of late spring-cleaning around the flat.); there's your reason the post count is down.

I'm more concerned about the first part of the above sentence, than the last part. Has anyone been in touch with Jali recently?

WhyNot, I agree chat has drained some posts. But why can't you restart the Wut Wut. Most of those that chat the most rarely posted in the Wutwut or MPP.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Chimera

I can think of two particular individuals, one of whom does a very good job at shutting down discussion of issues or completely derailing them without any moderator intervention; and the other one does a really good job (for certain values of 'good') of gushing over trolls, defending them and attacking people who would like a different level of discourse on this board.

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OK, now you've piqued my curiosity. Who? Come in, this is the Dome, you can tell us!

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Originally posted by What Exit?

WhyNot, I agree chat has drained some posts. But why can't you restart the Wut Wut. Most of those that chat the most rarely posted in the Wutwut or MPP.

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Sure I can restart the WutWut. But that was an example, not the problem.

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Originally posted by WhyNot

I'm sure if they wanted you to know why they left, they'd have let you know.

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If you're alluding to private conversations you had, it seems fair to say that whatever reasons they gave might not be quite the full story. If you want a change in board policy, seems kind of unfair to try to use as evidence things that we can't actually talk about.

Quote:

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Originally posted by WhyNot

Quote:

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It's not a zero-sum game.

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Time is always a zero-sum game.

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The time members devote here, however, is obviously not, as I said earlier, so I'm not sure what you're getting at here. And if it is actually a zero-sum game, then it doesn't matter whether we have more chat or more jibba jabba threads, since it adds up to zero either way. :)

Quote:

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Originally posted by WhyNot

Yes. The "chat" of the Wut Wut was actually slightly more profound than what I've seen in Chat. It encouraged longer posts, by virtue of no time-pressure, and it allowed people on different time tables to get to know and interact with one another in an informal setting. Chat is quick, ephemeral and self-selecting by schedule and time-zone.

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I think that's a good point. And if users value those things, then a new MMP thread will probably get some posts.

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Originally posted by WhyNot

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I wasn't aware that we were having a content with anyone to see who could generate the most posts.

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That seems to be what this whole thread started as, actually. If not a contest, a measure of board vitality.

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To make my point more explicit, I reject the idea that we should use the number of posts as a measure of this place's success and then make rules based upon that inadequate measure.

Quote:

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Originally posted by WhyNot

And if you're not posting here, I'm bored. It's all about entertaining me, really. :wink:

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So come on back to chat, then.

Quote:

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Originally posted by WhyNot

But okay, you disagree. To what do you attribute the attrition in post rate, and how do you suggest we address it, if at all?

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I don't like any solution that focuses on trying to get current users to generate more posts, since I'd rather have more interesting content. There's some obvious reasons why post count would have diminished since this place opened, mostly having to do with the fact that few people want to spend a lot of time here, at Giraffe, and at the SDMB, so that as the initial excitement wore off and people wandered off to one place or the other, post counts naturally declined. I have absolutely no idea how you'd go about figuring out how many posts there "should" be here, given that. I don't know that a decline in post counts relative to the initial numbers has any real significance.

At any rate, I think that if traffic is going to increase, it'll have to be through bringing in more users. I don't have any particularly good ideas how. I do, however, feel pretty sure that getting rid of a feature that attracts people here will be counterproductive. Even if you allow that chat is drawing people away from generating posts, something that I don't think is a safe assumption, you have to concede that a fair number of people clearly enjoy chat, so if you get rid of it, even if you have the same number of posts, or more, they'll be generated by a smaller number of users. If you want interesting content, then that would, I imagine, be counterproductive.