Putting stats to it

After a recent reply in another thread it got me to thinking why do forums succeed and others kind of fizzle. So I thought I'd dig into a little stats here.

Total posts: 38,571
Top 10 Posters: 21,054
Percentage of posts made by Top 10: 55%
7 of the Top 10 or 70% are part of the Team here.

Interesting.

great news, now just find 7 guys that get along and you've got a jim skelton forum!

I guess that means we really enjoy the forum. I also notice you rank in the Top 10 Noob.

I do Duff. It kind of goes along with what I was saying last night that it just seems like a dozen carry the forum here, the rest just kind of dabble in it. I guess not all people are as active as we are

think the smaller the forum your going to get those kind of numbers noob, would be interested in a site that has more members like BDFW, i would think you would most likely get about the same numbers!! seems like they are driven by 20 to 30 guys so it might even be higher But i'm too lazy to check it out!

WatchNoob wrote:

I do Duff. It kind of goes along with what I was saying last night that it just seems like a dozen carry the forum here, the rest just kind of dabble in it. I guess not all people are as active as we are

. . . and some of us are late to the party. The one good thing that I sense from those stats is that there is not a lot of power posting here. The lack of the usual "blah,blah,blah - nice it pops-give it plenty of . . ." is an important part of what sets this board apart. Honest replies, no non-sense posts, and threads that are relevant to the group that bases themselved here . . . . my two bits worth . . .

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

cali kid wrote:

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

I'm banned from WG's so I can't see. Yea I checked out BDWF as well, can't tell who the Top posters are. I wonder what their criteria is for active members versus members is, that is a huge disparity in numbers.

Actually those stats are pretty consistent with ALL forums. I have run or owned over 50 forums over the years and there is always a core group that do most of the posting. The "core group" can be larger or smaller depending on the overall amount of members.

For example the Watch Geeks forum might have 18,000 members, but only about 200-500 participate regularly. This is NORMAL. WUS has 61,000 members, but only around 1000 participate a day, again, normal.

So the numbers you posted initially seem very on par and normal to me.

. . the info you requested . . . from an not as of yet banned Xteme-ist . . .

• BigJoe (18825)
• Flyback (15132)
• wave3214 (13641)
• Mr Horology (12118)
• jskelton (12045)
• Viper67 (11507)
• Troutstroker (11178)
• meijin (10723)
• CharlieB (9928)
• Chief68 (9431)

Members: 18,925
Threads: 76,218
Posts: 1,164,480
Top Poster: BigJoe (18,825

WatchNoob wrote:

cali kid wrote:

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

I'm banned from WG's so I can't see. Yea I checked out BDWF as well, can't tell who the Top posters are. I wonder what their criteria is for active members versus members is, that is a huge disparity in numbers.

We should ask James what his place's stats are like...probably pretty similar...all different types of forums with different personalities...I personally like this one the best, because it is pretty straight forward

randyswagon wrote:

. . the info you requested . . . from an not as of yet banned Xteme-ist . . .

• BigJoe (18825)
• Flyback (15132)
• wave3214 (13641)
• Mr Horology (12118)
• jskelton (12045)
• Viper67 (11507)
• Troutstroker (11178)
• meijin (10723)
• CharlieB (9928)
• Chief68 (9431)

Members: 18,925
Threads: 76,218
Posts: 1,164,480
Top Poster: BigJoe (18,825

interesting, I see a lot of Mods in that group as well.

andrema wrote:

WatchNoob wrote:

cali kid wrote:

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

I'm banned from WG's so I can't see. Yea I checked out BDWF as well, can't tell who the Top posters are. I wonder what their criteria is for active members versus members is, that is a huge disparity in numbers.

We should ask James what his place's stats are like...probably pretty similar...all different types of forums with different personalities...I personally like this one the best, because it is pretty straight forward

No offense meant, but I believe and I may be mistaken, but isn't Jame's place an offshoot of WG's?

A majority of his members have dual-membership.

andrema wrote:

WatchNoob wrote:

cali kid wrote:

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

I'm banned from WG's so I can't see. Yea I checked out BDWF as well, can't tell who the Top posters are. I wonder what their criteria is for active members versus members is, that is a huge disparity in numbers.

We should ask James what his place's stats are like...probably pretty similar...all different types of forums with different personalities...I personally like this one the best, because it is pretty straight forward

For Noob, my forum is a watch fan forum. We discuss all watch brands and try to waste as little time on conspiracy theories or other pointless personal attack BS. That being said I am happy to post any/all stats.

My forums has 359 members, 4,063 topics, 52,839 posts
The top 10 posters + me have made about 25,000 posts.

In the beginning many of our initial members had memberships on WG, WUS, WTF, our forum, and many others. Positively the last 100 or so new members have come from direct web searches and do not originate from any other forum, which is very positive and shows the site evolving quickly and standing on it's own. Many of them have found WG or other watch forums by learning about them on our site. I closely follow the google analytics I have installed on my forum to see trends of where the traffic is coming from or originating from. This is just something I have always done to monitor my sites, blogs, or forums.

TVDinner wrote:

andrema wrote:

WatchNoob wrote:

cali kid wrote:

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

I'm banned from WG's so I can't see. Yea I checked out BDWF as well, can't tell who the Top posters are. I wonder what their criteria is for active members versus members is, that is a huge disparity in numbers.

We should ask James what his place's stats are like...probably pretty similar...all different types of forums with different personalities...I personally like this one the best, because it is pretty straight forward

I closely follow the google analytics I have installed on my forum to see trends of where the traffic is coming from or originating from. This is just something I have always done to monitor my sites, blogs, or forums.

That sounds fancy James...I just got rid of my rotary phone...the next thing you know people will have hand held computers

No offense again James, but someone a while back linked me to your Site. I saw a few threads of a play by play action bu some dude of what was on the Shop shows (live play by play action), and it kind of creeped me out. That's why I assumed it was an offshoot. If the Site has evolved from there, great job.

I think a young forum like this one will naturally have owner/admin/mods concentrated in the top ten posters. I recall that BDWF was the same way. I'm a charter member and mod (Vintages) there but I'm only 25th in posting. Six of the top ten posters there are "regular" members.

pacifichrono wrote:

I think a young forum like this one will naturally have owner/admin/mods concentrated in the top ten posters. I recall that BDWF was the same way. I'm a charter member and mod (Vintages) there but I'm only 25th in posting. Six of the top ten posters there are "regular" members.

That's a refreshing stat to hear.

WatchNoob wrote:

No offense again James, but someone a while back linked me to your Site. I saw a few threads of a play by play action bu some dude of what was on the Shop shows (live play by play action), and it kind of creeped me out. That's why I assumed it was an offshoot. If the Site has evolved from there, great job.

Thank you Noob.

We still do that for the Watch Time shows each Sunday and some people love it. The shows come on and people post about the watches being presented, stuff being said, etc. It is basically a live posting thread each week just like some sites do for weekly dramas, sporting events, etc. We do the same thing for the weekly football games, and other big events - again, fun with the members. We have even started a Nascar fantasy league for the upcoming season. Know what all of this is - building an online community of people who all share a common obsession/love/hobby of collecting and buying watches. The members LIKE coming to the forum each day and that is what it is all about. Many come multiple times a day and some are on basically all day long. The entire point of owning a forum is to build a community. That can be 10 people who are all friends and just like talking to each other OR one that grows and people come and go as the online community expands.

I have always found forums and blogs fun and hope that continues.

andrema wrote:

TVDinner wrote:

andrema wrote:

WatchNoob wrote:

cali kid wrote:

Posts: 430,044, Members: 5,800, Active Members: 356 these are there numbers cant find the top posters but it's driven by a smaller active group! think its the norm! can you get on WG's to get their top 10 poster?

I'm banned from WG's so I can't see. Yea I checked out BDWF as well, can't tell who the Top posters are. I wonder what their criteria is for active members versus members is, that is a huge disparity in numbers.

We should ask James what his place's stats are like...probably pretty similar...all different types of forums with different personalities...I personally like this one the best, because it is pretty straight forward

I closely follow the google analytics I have installed on my forum to see trends of where the traffic is coming from or originating from. This is just something I have always done to monitor my sites, blogs, or forums.

That sounds fancy James...I just got rid of my rotary phone...the next thing you know people will have hand held computers

I'll send you a smoke signal when the next big thing comes out. It is called a "walk man". very cool I have heard, lol

TVDinner wrote:

andrema wrote:

That sounds fancy James...I just got rid of my rotary phone...the next thing you know people will have hand held computers

I'll send you a smoke signal when the next big thing comes out. It is called a "walk man". very cool I have heard, lol

I loves me a good 8 track

andrema wrote:

TVDinner wrote:

andrema wrote:

That sounds fancy James...I just got rid of my rotary phone...the next thing you know people will have hand held computers

I'll send you a smoke signal when the next big thing comes out. It is called a "walk man". very cool I have heard, lol

I loves me a good 8 track

I'm still switching from 78 to 45 rpm.

WatchNoob wrote:

After a recent reply in another thread it got me to thinking why do forums succeed and others kind of fizzle. So I thought I'd dig into a little stats here.

Total posts: 38,571
Top 10 Posters: 21,054
Percentage of posts made by Top 10: 55%
7 of the Top 10 or 70% are part of the Team here.

Interesting.

Well we only have SIX on the team but still interesting stats none the less...

Anomaly, Barnbuilder1, Calikid, Duff, Docrm, and Andrema

And as stated, they seem to be consistend with forums in general, cool stuff!

[quote="Anomaly"]

WatchNoob wrote:

After a recent reply in another thread it got me to thinking why do forums succeed and others kind of fizzle. So I thought I'd dig into a little stats here.

Total posts: 38,571
Top 10 Posters: 21,054
Percentage of posts made by Top 10: 55%
7 of the Top 10 or 70% are part of the Team here.

Interesting.

Well we only have SIX on the team but still interesting stats none the less...

Anomaly, Barnbuilder1, Calikid, Duff, Docrm, and Andrema

And as stated, they seem to be consistent with forums in general, cool stuff!

andrema wrote:

TVDinner wrote:

andrema wrote:

That sounds fancy James...I just got rid of my rotary phone...the next thing you know people will have hand held computers

I'll send you a smoke signal when the next big thing comes out. It is called a "walk man". very cool I have heard, lol

I loves me a good 8 track

What?!? An 8 track?? What happened to 4 tracks... seriously man, I can't keep up with technology.

Random observation...I've been an active member at WUS for 8-9 years, mainly the "Affordables" sub-forum (formerly "Invicta" forum). In the summer of 2005 armageddon descended on that sub-forum and MANY long-time members left to form new forums, including BDWF, 3T, and one other that didn't survive. That still left a lot of oldtimers at WUS, but mostly the more 'complacent' members.

I haven't really spent much time in that sub-forum for quite awhile but just now did a little checking on the posters there. Almost all the posting members there (like maybe 98%) were not members when that purge occurred. Following the revolt, the WUS Affordables forum became pretty much a ghost town for well over a year before it started making a comeback. It looks to be back to full strength now, but with all new members. It's kinda sad, actually, to go back and find all these unfamiliar names. Just an observation...

Forums that make it a long time, like WUS has, evolve and members come and go.

A forum is NO DIFFERENT then a neighborhood, or a large cul de sac. People come and eventually move. But some people stay a very long time and don't move.

pacifichrono wrote:

Random observation...I've been an active member at WUS for 8-9 years, mainly the "Affordables" sub-forum (formerly "Invicta" forum). In the summer of 2005 armageddon descended on that sub-forum and MANY long-time members left to form new forums, including BDWF, 3T, and one other that didn't survive. That still left a lot of oldtimers at WUS, but mostly the more 'complacent' members.

I haven't really spent much time in that sub-forum for quite awhile but just now did a little checking on the posters there. Almost all the posting members there (like maybe 98%) were not members when that purge occurred. Following the revolt, the WUS Affordables forum became pretty much a ghost town for well over a year before it started making a comeback. It looks to be back to full strength now, but with all new members. It's kinda sad, actually, to go back and find all these unfamiliar names. Just an observation...

Tom,

That change has happened several times. Affordables changed about 6-8 months ago and MANY of the members from before then are no longer active. I drop by and see nearly no names I recognize from 2008. The only time I really see anyone that has been around a while is in the Watch of the Day threads.

Docrwm wrote:

pacifichrono wrote:

Random observation...I've been an active member at WUS for 8-9 years, mainly the "Affordables" sub-forum (formerly "Invicta" forum). In the summer of 2005 armageddon descended on that sub-forum and MANY long-time members left to form new forums, including BDWF, 3T, and one other that didn't survive. That still left a lot of oldtimers at WUS, but mostly the more 'complacent' members.

I haven't really spent much time in that sub-forum for quite awhile but just now did a little checking on the posters there. Almost all the posting members there (like maybe 98%) were not members when that purge occurred. Following the revolt, the WUS Affordables forum became pretty much a ghost town for well over a year before it started making a comeback. It looks to be back to full strength now, but with all new members. It's kinda sad, actually, to go back and find all these unfamiliar names. Just an observation...

Tom,

That change has happened several times. Affordables changed about 6-8 months ago and MANY of the members from before then are no longer active. I drop by and see nearly no names I recognize from 2008. The only time I really see anyone that has been around a while is in the Watch of the Day threads.

Sad.

TVDinner wrote:

Forums that make it a long time, like WUS has, evolve and members come and go.

A forum is NO DIFFERENT then a neighborhood, or a large cul de sac. People come and eventually move. But some people stay a very long time and don't move.

Those really are interesting statistics Mr. Noob and I guess there
really is a core of people in any watch forum that participate alot.
The key is probably to keep that core together, while getting more
people to join in on the fun ! That was also a great analogy there
as well TV !

This thread has been a very interesting read. I agree that we really don't have a lot of power posting here.
I only post when I really have something that I think will add to the thread. I read most, if not all, of the threads
here but I just can't find the time to visit every day. I am on here for a couple hours 3 or 4 days a week.
I really enjoy this forum and have learned a lot from my friends at XMT.

Duker wrote:

This thread has been a very interesting read. I agree that we really don't have a lot of power posting here.
I only post when I really have something that I think will add to the thread. I read most, if not all, of the threads
here but I just can't find the time to visit every day. I am on here for a couple hours 3 or 4 days a week.
I really enjoy this forum and have learned a lot from my friends at XMT.

Can't ask for more than that from a member Duker...THANKS!

Just speaking my mind......excuse me for a minute while I go
wipe the brown off my nose!

edited.bad mood post.