Too Many Threads, Not Enough Members.....

I'm finding a lot of threads that just don't get the responses that they deserve.
Good quality threads that just seem to peter out.
(DISCLAIMER: The use of the term "peter out" in no way implies a religious affiliation by the author to any particular religion or faith)

It just seems that some very good topics are getting bypassed in the vastnesss of the ATS world, topics that deserve more consideration............

I'm not sure what the current stats are for the ATS Membership???
But I do read the bottom of the main screen.......



This never seems to go very high as far as members "on the domains", or "member that are on line" at any one time.
(72 members, 72 possible respondents to a post)

Granted this graphic was captured around 3:00 AM in Eastern North America, where most ATS members reside, but what do we need to do to increase the membership of the other parts of the world???

current ATS member map shown below...
The map shows a predominance of North American members.....

www.frappr.com...


This site should be running 24/7, with constant input from all corners of the globe.
Not going dead after the west coast of North America goes to bed.

Too many threads go dead, and I just wonder if ATS/BTS/PTS/ATSNN has gotten too diversified for the number of posting members in the ranks?



EDIT>>> Sorry, OCD impulse clean-up.

[edit on 15/11/2005 by anxietydisorder]

[edit on 15/11/2005 by anxietydisorder]

Right now on the earliest time zone in north America it is about 12:40 at night.

Right now it is a couple hours past prime time in Australia, where in Sydney it is about 7:40 pm.

And in the UK many people are just starting their day. London time is about 8:40am.

It is quiet time on ATS now.
If we had more people from Asia on ATS I think this would be prime time for them.

EDIT: Yup it's late here edits need to be made.

[edit on 15/11/2005 by Umbrax]

Well see I was online...oh wait I am always online..... I forget..I have no life

Yeah it gets quiet in the afternoon and night Aussie time....

I think you have to consider the fact that the site only appeals to those who are fluent in English and while English is fast becoming the global language of currency, it only follows that the vast majority of members would be in English-speaking countries. I would guess that the US has more computers in sheer numbers than any other country in the world and is probably way up there in computers per capita.

China had a huge crackdown on internet usage recently and the few members we used to have who were in China are probably sweating it out in a communist re-education camp as I type. The Russians who are fortunate enough to own computers are all producing porn and trojan dialers and are too busy to be bothered with conspiracy theories. Continental Europe is probably too busy looking at Russian porn and the Middle East, especially that model of Western-style consumerism, is too busy plotting world domination and researching sex-reassignment surgery options. Everyone in India and the Philippines is employed as customer service representatives and probably work 16 hours a day and think only of food, sleep, and procreation in their spare time.

That leaves leaves Australia which is pretty well represented here, Africa which has probably one computer for every 10,000 citizens, and South America which probably has more computers than Africa, but seems unconcerned with Northern Hemisphere conspiracies, except in Venezuela, where paranoia seems to be a national obsession.

So, maybe that explains why the board gets slow at certain times of the day. I also notice that the board is very slow on weekends and during the school year. Things really seem to heat up in the Summer and during national election years.

I hope this humble assessment sheds some light on this perplexing conundrum.



[edit on 2005/11/15 by GradyPhilpott]

Yep, we Aussies and Zeal'ders hold the fort from about GMT 7:00 - 14:00. Sometimes me, Mayet and Subz creep around the halls while everyone else is sleeping, rearranging the furniture, scoffing cookies in the ATS kitchen and generally getting up to all sorts of mischief. But we have to be careful that Netchicken doesn't catch us - you don't want him breathing down your neck...especially considering thet Bird Flu thing 'n all.

Then when all the North Americans start waking up, we brew up a pot of international news threads to start off their day, then send them off to morning exercise with a couple of Republican vs Democrat threads...you know, get their blood flowing before they head off to conspiracy university.

The Brits are a bit of a handful though. In the morning they're all whining about how their tea and scones are cold, and then by the time evening rolls around, they're all piss-drunk and fighting in PTS. Later, they stumble back into ATS and start complaining about a "tosser" called Tony, before collapsing unconscious on the BTS floor, snoring like bears.

And then we are left to clean up all the mess. Yep...it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

I hope this humble assessment sheds some light on this perplexing conundrum.

OK, you got my WATS vote for the month.. Best tongue in cheek post from a member wearing a Skeptic Overlord Thong...

On topic, maybe the posts don't get more responses because there's only so much you can say about a topic? The first half dozen responses usually cover all the opposing views and nobody really wants to read 4 pages of "me too" posts.

Need to get more People from Russia, Middle East and China over here, as well as the pacific.

What do you suggest? Advertise on TV?

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

I hope this humble assessment sheds some light on this perplexing conundrum.

OK, you got my WATS vote for the month.. Best tongue in cheek post from a member wearing a Skeptic Overlord Thong...

Ditto that........and I must say, it was as much for the avatar as it was the content of the post!! LMAO.........Grady, you continue to surprise.

Tongue in cheek tho it may be, I believe you've put some thought into this, and sounds like a fairly reasonable explaination.

Whoa! Merkeva and I are the only ones in Dublin!

I didnt even know there was a Frappr map for ATS. Thanks for posting it It interesting to see where people are from

So Grady Americans are the ones with most of the free time in their hands?plenty of time during working ours to research their computer on conspiracies, watch porno and look for male sexual enhancers. Right?

BTW I thought that the most paranoid nation was here at home.

[edit on 15-11-2005 by marg6043]

Originally posted by marg6043
So Grady Americans are the ones with most of the free time in their hands?plenty of time during working ours to research their computer on conspiracies, watch porno and look for male sexual enhancers. Right?

BTW I thought that the most paranoid nation was here at home.

[edit on 15-11-2005 by marg6043]

the most free time on our hands? the American people are the hardest working people base on the number of hours we work per week. maybe the French should have the most time on their hands and be on dis website.

[edit on 15-11-2005 by deltaboy]

The only thing I love more than a good thread being ignored is when a thread is turned into something the topic has nothing to do with like "the French are lazy" when the thread is suppose to be about how to widen our appeal

Well, perhaps if threads didn't degrade into namecalling (the French are lazy) then more people would contribute.

$0.02

Glad to see I was on also.

There is a distinction between working long hours and working hard. Currently I am at work ( I work 3rd shift), I am working 9 hours a day 7 days a week (63 hours total) but I spend 2 to 3 hours on said board each night ( the perks of being on 3rd shift and being management).

I am not saying I don't work hard, I just try and pace myself.


P.S. Can I say the French are lazy too? And if I can is it because I am jealous that they get 2 months worth of paid Vacation per year (exaggerating of course) and I only get 15 days paid vacation ( along with 12 paid holidays) ?

Honestly I love the French, if it were not for the French we would have no French Kiss. Would we call it the German Kiss, the English Kiss?


Have a good night all, and be well.

Originally posted by QuickSilver_2005GT
Well, perhaps if threads didn't degrade into namecalling (the French are lazy) then more people would contribute.

Well actually that's my point, to often here on ATS good threads are ruined by people who are either to immature or just ignorant to debate in a reasoned civilized manner and as of late its Francophone bashing.

Hunting Veritas lives where I do. :|

I think he/she/it is stalking me.

---------------

There is an old saying; "Build it and they will come" and it will happen with ATS. The Internet is still a small thing in many parts of the World. It would be odd for us to have a high level of African members and Middle Eastern Members when this is based in English. Over time, more and more people will find us who can take part and understand us.

It is the same if you were to look up statistics of an Islamic Website in Arabic, there would only be a small number of members who were not from the Middle East. This goes on and on...however it will slowly change. You also have to remember your source only shows about 100members out of the 3000 which post often and the 27,000 lurkers.

Originally posted by Odium
Hunting Veritas lives where I do. :|

I think he/she/it is stalking me.

Where did that come from? Did I miss something? Are you serious? Cyber-stalking or real, honest to God stalking?

Peace

Yeah, my name's on that snapshot too. 3AM, that's my golden time.

So, Grady hit it right on the head, with his typical hammer-loving gusto. If it wasn't for the snarky, stereotypical, back-slapping, self-congratulatory we're better than everyone else attitude so perfectly captured in that single post, I would have tossed a WATS at him for the sheer humor value. Of course..it was the snarkyness, the well-worn stereotypes, that made it so funny, and such a joy to read. To hell with it. I'm giving him a WATS. I'll flagellate myself later for contributing to the downfall of original thought.

Quicksilver has a good point too, regarding the overall quality of posts. Of course, the overall quality of posts is nothing if not indicative of the overall quality of commonly held opinion, so there's not much to be done about that.

ATS is what it is, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. If everyone in the world was on ATS, ATSers would have nothing to talk about. Look at it that way.