How many ACTIVE members do we have?

[Bucko]

Prime example being the reply before mine..... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[EPICURUS]

Is there a way, though, for this board to increase volume a la Robin G and Brad H? The damnable thing is that once a site reaches critical mass it becomes a must check frequently and post occasionally place.

There are two main reasons why sometime lurkers and posters like me don't participate more. First is the volume issue; sites that have more frequent or less frequent postings tend to settle into those modes. If a small group sends messages you don't get the range of opinions. Related to this - you tend to create a club within a club; insiders knowing each other's quirks, interests, etc. and newbies and even occasionals not having much of a clue and don't really know the secret handshake, metaphorically speaking.

Maybe the core regulars won't really increase by much, but nevertheless we lurkers will go on enjoying observing the exchanges. At 20 you probably have enough to make a real virtual community.

To Jackie: Here's another point to consider. On Westcoast and Wine Lovers one doesn't have to register and get a password. You are only encouraged to use your real name in addition to your handle. Is there a way for this scrolling style software, which is far superior to threaded style software like the kind that Harrington uses, to dispense with the registration so people can just weigh in if something catches their fancy...? Most one timers haven't filed away their password

[This message has been edited by EPICURUS (edited 09-20-2001).]

[winoweenie]

Hi Epi and welcome. The things you are requesting are available on the board. All of the regulars want to know who's posting and where they're from. Once you register , you can use your monicker and come in anytime without re-registering. There's absolutely no comparison to the format of this board to the ones you mention. We're not really intent on being the biggest wine board on the net, just the most friendly, knowledgeable, and least snobbish as one of the fopunding fathers was one of the guys who had forgotten more about wine than most people will ever learn. I quit even looking at one of the boards you mentioned when one of the regulars whinnied to the boards keeper that there should be a special secret thread where the " In-Crowd " could post on the new soon-to-be-hot wineries would be protected from the Lurkers. Guess he came into the wine world knowing all them new dudes. We invite lurkers. We love any novice posting. We share any and all knowledge we possess with any honest inquiry. WELCOME. WW

[Drew]

Well said, WW, and AMEN!@!

Drew

[EPICURUS]

Yes, Mr. Weenie, I too came over in Jan. 99, as you see, mostly because of The Great One--Jerry baby, when the AOL group was coming unglued. But a comparison of our respective number of times we posted sure shows a difference. At my level, I am barely even an occasional.

And, yes, this UBB technology beats the pants off of the WLDG and West Coast.

But I disagree that "the things [I] am requesting are available on [ths] board." I still think the registration process, unique to Wines.com, is an impediment for more participation and maybe even improved dialogue, not that it is all that time consuming to complete. On those other boards, one can just post; no remembering a password each time (the bane of cybersurfers). Participants can still be encouraged to fill out a profile as they do over on those more active boards.

But as I said above, you might have just the size that is ideal for a BBS. So Roberto's query may be moot. So what if over 4,000 have registered and only 1% are "active" in the true sense of the word.

Epi

[Drew]

Not altogether true, Epi. Westcoastwine.net requires you to sign in with an email address in order to post and Winespectator.com requires you to sign in with password prior to posting, just like our beloved board. Obviously postings can be conducted with fake account setups as anywhere on the internet. You can conduct multiple posts on our board with just one sign in.

Drew


[This message has been edited by Drew (edited 10-06-2001).]

[EPICURUS]

Well, Drew, almost true. I purposely did not mention the Spectator forum since most wine enthusiasts have abandonned it. WCWN does not REQUIRE registration, just a name, any name. Brad asks nicely for full disclosure, including an email, but anyone surfing by can make a comment on the fly, for better or worse, without adding an email.

Actually just requiring that posters type in their email would be easier than the current mode on this board, since we always remember this (many sites use one's email address as the password).

[winoweenie]

Not to flog a dead horsie, but the wine board allows you to have your password remembered, SO what's your beef? Once you set it, have it remembered an' fergit it. We also let you remain annon if you desire. You can or cannot disclose your true I.D. Besides, the info on this board for the most part is without the pretense of the aforementioned . It also has a format that is second to none. WW

[EPICURUS]

You may be flogging a dead horse, WW, but you're also shooting the messenger. I don't have a beef, I was simply offering an opinion on the apparent oddity of why a forum that has registered over 4400 people with an interest in wine has 20 active posters. And on the flip side, why WLDG and WCWN have hundreds of posters.

Not only is the technology--not the format which is truly superior--getting in the way, IMHO, but when a few frequent posters dominate a bulletin board, studies show (I'm in the biz), visitors rarely leave their own calling cards....

[Kazak]

I have been "actively" lurking for the past 8 months. During that time I have been enjoying the hell out of every wine that I can find off of the best buys that you all post.

[hotwine]

That's nice to hear, Kaz!

[Drew]

Please post an address where a bill for services can be sent...

Drew

[EPICURUS]

The Spectator has just switched to this Ultimate Bulletin Board software...

[winoweenie]

Hot-Dog! Did they also switch their Esperts? WW

[Drew]

You mean you didn't get an invite???

Drew

[Botafogo]

5:01 AM, MAN, you guys get up too early!

Roberto

[Innkeeper]

Comes with maturity, a.k.a. age.

[Thomas]

Does the above news mean that the Wine Expectorant will be our competition? If so, I need a dose of extract with my oak...

[hotwine]

Clean livin' let's us rise early, Roberto. How else are we to attack at first light?

[zenda2]

Attack at first light, or go 'borrow' the neighbors newspaper, whichever comes first.