It's been a slow day at work...

As of about 4:30 EDT this afternoon, this forum has about 30,000 registered members and a little under 700,000 posts.

Of those, the top 30 posting members have written just about 200,000 of those posts. In other words, 0.1% of the members wrote nearly 30% of the content.

Clearly some of us need to get a life.

 

I would not consider myself a top poster but this is my life, Oldsmobiles. Could be addicted to worse things I guess...

 

Clearly Joe has many slow days... as he's managed to produce 2.17% of the total. Good job Joe, keep up the fine (work)

 

Being addicted is with no control.

I tend to think we have a life style, its our brand. As long as we keep the prioritys in mind, then comes passion for that lifestyle.

Where else you gonna go?

I love statistics, the numbers don't lie

 

I must agree with ALL of the above.
If it weren't for Oldsmobile, what's the point?
I for one think it's great. But then again, addiction.
As has been said, there are worst things...

 

The hobby is in decline, and online forums are hastening the change. And, it is not just this hobby or motor vehicles it is any interest where direct participation is part of the scene. Virtual participation is replacing the real thing, real facts, real progress and real-time evolution. As we are tuned in to cars it is evident for us this deal is a acceptable substitute for what happens in real life for many. The same observation was made 70 years ago when people began to spend endless hours wrapped up in then brand new TV for everyone after WWII. So multiply this board with perhaps 1000 others and 'video games' replacing real life discovery makes participating in real life pastimes seem like a waste to those so conditioned.

How many forum participants does any reader know on many car boards who have no cars or any current activity in the hobby or business. This isn't a replacement for the real thing in my view.

 

Most of the active members on this forum actually own cars. I'm sure there are countless non active ones that just like to read.

 

Looks like my Playboy magazine subscription really paid off

 

How many of those members have visited (or posted, if visits aren't recorded) in the last six months? Last 60 days? Last 30 days? How many haven't visited or posted in 5 years? 10 years?

As you point out, most of the posts are by a very few people overall. This is true of any organization, in person or online, in any walk of life. Most of the activity is by a small fraction of the total "members." In fact, I would guess that most of the site visits, even if they don't post, are by a very few people.

Many of those registered are one-and-done-ers, or they post rarely. Then there's the people, like me, whose posts number in the thousands and who do need another life to parallel this one.

 

I for one sure appreciate that 0.1% and next to Hot Rod magazine this forum contains some of my favourite reading material. I spent an entire evening just reading the jokes.

I think anyone who has this much passion for something already has a life....

 

Hmmm, have you seen the list of cars on some of our signature lines??

Some of us are out of control.

 

I've heard it said, 20% of the people do 80% of the work & verse vica Probably the way it works in about any organization?
I learn stuff about every time I visit & like to think that we all do.

 

I can stop any time I want to.

- Eric

 

Although I don't post on here very often, I do try to review the new posts every day. The knowledge that the members here possess and share on this forum has been and continues to be invaluable to me as I try to improve my ride. When I've had questions, I've usually had them answered by someone who has experienced the same problem. I want to thank the posters on here for the knowledge, lip, and entertainment they provide. They make this forum interesting.

 

I come here for information, parts, and entertainment. I'd buy people here beers if I met them, and I consider it a distance thing, not a virtual thing, that we don't meet up. Yes, I like pictures of people's cars, but I like car shows better.

 

Even though I don't have no stinkin office to go to, I still have plenty of stuff to do in the 'after life'. Car projects and this site are just 2 of them. I'm sure there are others who just use the site for convenience, and there's nothing wrong with that. This is an informative site, member or not. Sometimes I can spend hours here, some days I don't spend any time at all. Gotta remember to log out one of these days...dang remember me feature remembers all too well sometimes.

You want some of us to take vacation for awhile and let the others catch up?

You wouldn't be inadvertently suggesting that CO adopt a format like some other sites whereby inactive members lose posting privilege and inactive threads are automatically closed?

Honestly though, I've always wondered why folks join this forum and don't post anything.

Maybe next slow day, run a spreadsheet of members in terms of
a) join date
b) activity in increments (eg: zero posts, 1-100, 101-500 etc)
c) anything else you want to add depending on how slow the day is.

Now that the weekends here, your life has just kick started for 2 more days that you get to decide the outcome of.

 

I do not agree with this statement! Only about 10-15% of my cars are in my sigline! Of the other roughly 85%, about 90% of them are running and non-running "projects" or parts cars. The other 10% of the 85% are tow vehicles, drivers or fixer-uppers to make a couple bucks now and then. Hows that for percentages? I am not out of control, just ask my family, friends, my neighbors and my shrink!

 

When I first bought my 65 most of my questions C O popped up. as a guest it wouldn't let me see most pics intell I registered. Not sure if that because I was using my phone or not. Know I have learned a great deal from this sight as well as hands on. I believe strongly that I have made a great deal of friends from this sight. As well as it has even been fun family time, even if some had been going to local car shows. it's countless hrs I have pulled my kids away from TV or video games to walk, talk, read or build/ tear down something. But yes I agree I am a addict ( 9 years clean ) and I need a positive addiction to fit my life style

 

THIS makes the most sense! I know that even when you register, you can't see most of the pics until you log in.

Great observation. Glad to have you addicted in a positive way

 

I come here for the sex.

 

That reminds me, I gotta change the oil in my mower and cut the grass.

 

I love you guys... oh yeah the prettiest one too.

 

I wasn't suggesting anything, just pointing out number.

Well, I kick started the weekend by picking up the 67 Vista parts car that I just bought, which came with a pickupload of parts, including SSI wheels, disk brakes, driveshafts, an extra 3/4 set of roof glass (on top of the four already on the car), trim, aluminum aftermarket wheels, spare front doors, bucket seats, air cleaners, etc, etc.

Watch for much of this stuff at Fall Carlisle.

 

Well, the forum software doesn't know who you are until you log in...

Which is probably a good thing!

 

Everyday is Saturday I'm retired, is it nap time yet?...Tedd

 

Actually it's something that I think IB could improve on as a suggestion. I'm just guessing here, but is the picture issue tied to posting? I wonder if it can't be unlinked so the .jpg files can be viewed without having to log in....

AH HA! I think I just answered my own question. Musta taken a smart pill by mistake this morning. IB likely supports this site based on the amount of activity it generates (and advertising - let's not forget the advertising that many of our members don't like), so it makes sense that the more hits on an active site, the more it validates IB's commitment to support it as a sponsor. Of course, I might have taken a brain dead pill too and be way off course on that hypothesis....

I would suspect that IB servers also track the total number of hits to CO whether they are member or non member... Jeeze here it is weekend time and we're still at this?

Nice score BTW Joe. Wish I lived closer to participate in all those Carlisle events. Sadly there's not too much up here. But if there was, I'm sure all the parts would be nicely preserved in the cold.....

 

I like this forum, I have been a member for some time now. Out of all the forums that I am a member of, I visit this one the most, at least once a day, I don't post nearly as much but I do visit and read most of the stuff that gets posted. I honestly think that this is one of the best forums out there.

With 3 little ones (ages 8,4 and 2) I am usually pretty busy.
I also have 4 classic's (3 Chevy's and 1 Olds) that I like to drive when time allows.

Oh yeah, by the way, you guys are great.

 

I've got a life. It's around here somewhere just gotta move all the Oldsmobile stuff out of the way to find it again

 

Over behind the 48 Pat.... little more to the left.....nope, step forward a few steps....now go right abit.... little more to the front of the 57.... there it is, sitting waiting for you on the back porch...

 

I've been on a site where you got your first 100 posts free, and then had to 'support' the site to post more.

 

I'd support them with a picture of my backside.

 

I agree the hobby is in decline, but a long way from collapsing. There will always be less Oldsmobiles around as time goes by, the same can be said for anything no longer being produced. Rust, wear and accidents will erode the numbers and they aren't being replaced.


I think forums like this one may in fact be helping slow the decline. In my case and for others who live outside North America this is an excellent medium for me to learn more about my car, how to diagnose and fix problems, and where I can find parts.
I hope I have been able to help others too.


If all 30,000 members decided to use the site at once I'm pretty sure the site would crash big time, how many are using the forum at peak times?.
I'm still a member of several other Oldsmobile and other car forums. I joined several others and ended up using this one because it was the busiest and most informative Olds site I have come across. It seems to be easy to join most forums but I don't know how to terminate membership on many. I guess a lot of them have dismissed me as a "One and done" poster.


It seems that there is a hard core of maybe 100 or so regular posters, a few thousand who only post if they have problems they need help with, and most others haven't posted much since joining.
I have made roughly 0.15% of the total posts on this forum, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was in the top 1000 of frequent posters.


Roger.

 

The site does keep count, on the home page under users online listed on the left side is this:

Most users ever online was 435, June 17th, 2014 at 09:14 PM.

On the right side under stats is this:

Members: 33,546
Threads: 77,877
Posts: 696,927
Top Poster: Allan R (16,090)

 

If one assumes an average of 5 minutes to compose and post a message, this represents 1338 hours of continuous message posting. That's just under 8 weeks.

I realize I have a fair number of hours into this myself, but I have nothing on Allan.

 

Allan joined in July of 2008, so that's a period of almost 6 years. Way less time spent than what the average American spends watching the senseless drivel on TV.

 

Dan, 5 minutes? That would be a dream. To be fair, a lot of my posting accumulation started in 2011 after I retired. That's also when I got seriously into the restoration of my 72, which had been on the back burners while work took priority. This site gave me some incredible help to learn, and I in return feel a responsibility to return that opportunity to others. It has also provided me with an opportunity to meet and befriend a lot of very cool people. You're right to say that some posts are short time responses, but overall I like to take the time to think out what I'm saying and how others will react to it. Not a perfect world and there have been hits and misses; we've both experienced that I believe. I'd venture to say that most of my posts take a lot longer to compose - like this one, for example; I'm over the 30 minute mark as I proof read and evaluate content.... You'd get that, as you used to be in the (higher learning) teaching profession IIRC??? 8 weeks? Nope., it's way more than that, but certainly not continuous. I'd have no fingertips left and my keyboard would be smoking if that was the case...

Thx Eric. I know that since you've retired and also become a mod, your post count is also climbing. Won't be long now till you're the #1 guy. It's not something I think about - it just happened that way. Honestly, there were some days I spent more than 8 hours on the puter, and that balances with some days with 0 or less than 1 hour.

To be fair, IMO post counts do not reflect the type of information shared. There are a lot of folks on this site with lesser numbers who share way more technical and practical knowledge than I'll ever have. Joe P is a good example of someone who has the technical skills (hence being the technical editor here) and a degree of humor or dry wit that makes some of the reading "interesting". Some others appear to post for the sake of controversial pot stirring.... My focus is to be helpful and as accurate as I can; and even then I make mistakes. But I'll acknowledge that and apologize before moving on. I try to stay out of the threads that turn ugly, or stay neutral if I do post there. Resolution is a desired thing, inflaming the issue is not. Hard to do at times especially if you have a strong opinion or get your buttons pushed.

CO is my favorite site although I don't remember how I stumbled onto it in the first place. Aside from personal activities away from here I honestly look forward to reading and sharing with everyone. Our activities or time spent on this site are basically a reflection of how we choose to share our lives/experiences and should only be interpreted (not judged) that way.

 

Here's another factoid. I was the first member to hit 10,000 posts, but Allan joined a year after I did and blew right by that number.

 

I should also add that thanks to modern technology, I'm posting this from 34,000 ft over the midwest. Frequent travel for work had definitely been limiting my post accumulation. Now I can catch up!

 

Ahhh, so THAT explains why it takes so long for your posts to show up. They're going via Air Mail (drum roll and the crowd goes wild )....and here I always thought that WIFI was just a mis spelling for WIFE, which is why I never bothered with it.

34,000 ft? It's probably -50 outside the aircraft and you're likely travelling at about 5 times the top speed of your 69 442, so what ever you do don't turn in a hurry or hit the brakes reachin fer yer beer..

 

Well Allan, I got talked out of retirement about 2 weeks ago. The nice thing is I can still take a few minutes enjoy the site during the day. I got talked into being the used car internet sales mgr by a friend of mine at another local dealership.