Why do you register if you are not going to post?

[chopin2256]

Hi,

I have a forum that has 375 members. 191 members have 0 posts, and about 50 members have 1 post. That is about 64 percent of my members do not contribute :( I was just wondering why, and is this normal? Is this bad? Why do people actually take the time to register if they do not participate?

[cws3di]

I remember way back in the olden days when I was a kid in school. Some kids always wanted to sit in the front of the classroom and actively participate. But some kids just wanted to sit in the back, and watch and learn.

I guess I am just saying it is human nature...

[sonjay]

Yep, sit in the back and watch and learn. Lots of us do that. You could consider it a sort of "passive participation."

Whenever I run across a board that I think I'm going to want to visit regularly (or semi-regularly) I'll generally go ahead and register -- that way I make sure I get my desired username before someone else does, and when/if I decide to post anything I don't have my train of thought derailed by having to go register first.

[martinibuster]

I'm contemplating PM'ing members who haven't participated in awhile and asking them to stop by and say hello, and to notify them that non-active members may have their memberships expire from lack of use, and they will have to re-register in order to participate again.

Brett used to do something like that, I think. Anybody else try that approach, and what's your experience?

[buksida]

I feel your pain, my forum has over 1,000 members and yet only about 30-40 ever post. I mean why do they bother filling in the registration form when they can read it all without registering ... it baffles me.

A quick tip to get some of them kick started is to send an email to the newest 50 or so members that have not posted and just remind them that the forum is still there and awaiting their valuble input.

[tomse]

I mean why do they bother filling in the registration form when they can read it all without registering ... it baffles me.

I often do so, because most forums offer the ability to show new posts since your last visit only if you are registered.

[rogerd]

>>most forums offer the ability to show new posts since your last visit only if you are registered

Excellent point, though I wonder how many people are sophisticated enough to realize this. I get questions all the time like, "What's that yellow dot next to the thread?" :)

Personally, I only register in a forum if I plan to post immediately or if I need to register to access features, like image attachments.

There are really two classes of registered non-posters:

1) People who registered, perhaps because they needed input on something specific, and never returned after their first interaction.

2) Lurkers who have never posted but still visit regularly.

One approach that might help for #1 is to make thread subscription the default option. I've returned to forums where I posted once or twice when I received a notification that someone had replied to the thread I posted in.

If you have lurkers, there are some good discussion in the library about how to draw them into posting.