LURKERS! Read please!

[Valleygolfer]

I notice that there are a ton of guests on here and quite a few members that never post (even after being members for years) but cruise the site regularly. So my questions is why don't you ever put your two cents into any of the threads? Do you use the site for tips on your swing or to just listen to the rants?

[meenman]

Remember that some of us can make ourselves invisible - that may make some show as guests that are regular posters

[socks and shoes]

Well Hello, I only chime in on certain threads that I know about. I'll post more if you want though.

[StrikeOne]

I just got here.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by StrikeOne

I just got here.

I don't think you count in this situation but welcome here anyway...

[Chris Stewart]

I post when I feel I can contribute. But remember, a lot of the "guests" are folks finding the site from places like Google/Bing. They're far less likely to register and really "join", and more likely to simply find the answer to the search they made and move on. Depending on the forum software, "guests" can also be shown for the various web crawlers out there that build indexes for sites like Google/Bing. Sometimes they're shown in a bot category, but sometimes they're lumped in with guests. And while it doesn't seem like there would be many, you'd be surprised how often they hit a continuously evolving, changing, and growing site like a community forum.

[Dan Garcia]

Personally as a newbie I don't feel like I have enough knowledge about the game to post on most of the threads. But I try to share my opinion when I do feel knowlegable about the subject.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by Chris Stewart

I post when I feel I can contribute. But remember, a lot of the "guests" are folks finding the site from places like Google/Bing. They're far less likely to register and really "join", and more likely to simply find the answer to the search they made and move on.

Depending on the forum software, "guests" can also be shown for the various web crawlers out there that build indexes for sites like Google/Bing. Sometimes they're shown in a bot category, but sometimes they're lumped in with guests. And while it doesn't seem like there would be many, you'd be surprised how often they hit a continuously evolving, changing, and growing site like a community forum.

I did not know this but the guy that started the thread about playing music during a round posted for the first time after coming here for over 2 years, That is what I am talking about.

[Beachcomber]

Hi.  Sorry.  I'll try and post more.

[iacas]

FWIW Guests don't include forum spiders. Only registered members who are invisible and legit visitors to the site.

[walk18]

I notice that there are a ton of guests on here and quite a few members that never post (even after being members for years) but cruise the site regularly. So my questions is why don't you ever put your two cents into any of the threads? Do you use the site for tips on your swing or to just listen to the rants? [URL=http://cdn.thesandtrap.com/6/69/690e6d39_yuno.jpeg][IMG]http://cdn.thesandtrap.com/6/69/400x300px-LL-690e6d39_yuno.jpeg[/IMG][/URL]

I've noticed that too. It seems every day multiple people introduce themselves in the welcome thread, saying they're looking forward to contributing, blah blah blah.. and 99% of the time they're never heard from again.

[Valleygolfer]

Originally Posted by iacas

FWIW Guests don't include forum spiders. Only registered members who are invisible and legit visitors to the site.

Well then there are a ton of lurkers on here then. I am surprised to see over 400 people on here at times and limited forum activity or the same people posting pretty much all the time. It either says a lot about the small group of posters or ....... I don't know.... as of this post: Currently, there are 304 Active Users (33 Members and 271 Guests) <- and this is the norm. Maybe there is more going on but the guest amount where people come and say or contribute nothing is surprising to me.

[Gresh24]

Originally Posted by Valleygolfer

Well then there are a ton of lurkers on here then. I am surprised to see over 400 people on here at times and limited forum activity or the same people posting pretty much all the time. It either says a lot about the small group of posters or ....... I don't know.... as of this post: Currently, there are 304 Active Users  (33 Members and 271 Guests) <- and this is the norm. Maybe there is more going on but the guest amount where people come and say or contribute nothing is surprising to me.

If 'members' are on viewing, but not 'logged in', don't they appear as a 'guest'?   I'd bet there is a lot of that, but I do agree, the numbers are still surprising.

[Timothy Voyles]

Haha, I read here for nearly a year and a half before I started posting... Now I chime in where I can, even start some threads!

[iacas]

We get a LOT of unique visitors to the site. The site does well in SEO so people come to us for a few pages because when they search a golf related topic they'll come here. I think the timeout for when a person is considered "active" is about 15 minutes, so 304 "people" is basically IP addresses within the last 15 minutes.

[jrmy]

I just registered this year (thought I did back then, but I either forgot my u/n pw or didnt), been lurking since '06 off and on.

[Yeri]

I lurk a lot, primarily because I absolutely hate to talk about things that I am not knowledgeable about. So I quietly read threads, occasionally ask a question, but don't do much beyond that, letting the more advanced members do the talking...

[leezer99]

The less time typing on here = more time playing out there.  Plus I have two kids so my time is no longer my own.