8,000 members and just getting started...

[exile]

How can we keep our posts per member ratio yet get their signup volume? :rofl:

Yar, well, that's the trick, innit!?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Here's a stunning comparison.....according to Big-Boards, the #1 forum is
Gaia Online
Posts : 1,248,006,185
11,008,052 registered users

forum information

The Gaia Online Community is an anime and manga related website, featuring a bank of links, an anime art repository, and a role-playing oriented message board. These forums present a number of innovative and original ideas such as a cartoon-like discussions layout, completely customizable avatars for which you can buy items in a shop, or a rather sophisticated money system allowing you to spend and earn gold in various ways.

Creation date: February 2003
Hardware: 80+ web servers, 11 database servers (4 dedicated to forums), 3 session database servers, 1 memory cache server

Number of moderators: 119

I am SO! in awe right now.

 

[exile]

119 mods???????

I don't think I'm in awe... extreme bafflement is more like it. They need 119 mods???

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Another site there has 500. I talked to an admin a while back...he had 1,100 at the time.

Of course, he was getting 35,000 posts a day at the time.

I'd be satisfied when MT is doing a solid 1,000/day (average now is 550).



And NO! That's not a hint to swap toast recipes in TLP thread!

 

[terryl965]

Another site there has 500. I talked to an admin a while back...he had 1,100 at the time.

Of course, he was getting 35,000 posts a day at the time.

I'd be satisfied when MT is doing a solid 1,000/day (average now is 550).



And NO! That's not a hint to swap toast recipes in TLP thread!

OK no recipes swaping

 

[morph4me]

What we don't have in quantity, we more than make up for in quality.

 

[exile]

What we don't have in quantity, we more than make up for in quality.

Dead right, Tom.

I've always been struck by the care and thought which has gone into many of these threads. People seem anxious to actually uncover some of the truth lurking below surface appearances in the topics they choose to discuss. I know that Bob has expressed some anxieties about the ratio of 'chat' to MA substance posting, but everywhere I look on MT there are serious, often intense exchanges going on about matters of MA history, technique, pedagogy, attitude... the works. And the important thing is that new people get into these discussions and very soon establish themselves as minds to be reckoned with. To me, that says that we're doing the right things...

 

[Catalyst]

A person not posting, though, may not be a sign of disinterest or departure. It seems a pretty fair number of people now regularly pull views and opinions off the Internet, much as people used to read several physical newspapers per day. They may not be debating actively, but they may well be learning/using/disseminating the data found here.

I think this is very true. Some of us may not post a whole lot, but we log in practically every day and use MartialTalk as a source of information, moreso than as a place for discussion.

Some of the things that I've seen on here have caused me to ask questions of my instructors regarding techniques, application of techniques, martial arts history, etc. (I personally think that someday, Exile should write a history book of TaeKwonDo).

Based on what I've seen on other Martial Arts Forums (juvenile behavior, troll baiting, flame wars, etc.), this is the only MA Forum that I'm willing to support financially by paying $'s to be a supporting member.

I've always preferred quality over quantity. Don't worry about being the biggest, focus on being the best (which I think MT is).

 

[crushing]

OK no recipes swaping

Recipes are fine, Terry, just not toast recipes. Hmmmm. . . .I wonder if anyone makes ice water like I do?


Thank you Bob, for this community!

C.Rushing

 

[arnisador]

much as people used to read several physical newspapers per day.

Hey, I still do! I have delivered to my home the local paper, the paper from the state capital, and the WSJ, and also get the NY Times on Tuesdays for its science section!

 

[exile]

I think this is very true. Some of us may not post a whole lot, but we log in practically every day and use MartialTalk as a source of information, moreso than as a place for discussion.

Some of the things that I've seen on here have caused me to ask questions of my instructors regarding techniques, application of techniques, martial arts history, etc. (I personally think that someday, Exile should write a history book of TaeKwonDo).

Based on what I've seen on other Martial Arts Forums (juvenile behavior, troll baiting, flame wars, etc.), this is the only MA Forum that I'm willing to support financially by paying $'s to be a supporting member.

I've always preferred quality over quantity. Don't worry about being the biggest, focus on being the best (which I think MT is).

I appreciate the compliment, Catalyst—very much! But I'm better as a critical consumer of TKD history than as a generator of it; I think I have some skills for assessing the quality of argument and factual coverage... but the real pros have language and documentary interpretation training which would take me way beyond my competence. I'm just thankful they're around to keep our feet on the ground as far as solid history goes in these areas...

What I've bolded above is absolutely accurate. I've looked at around eight or so different MA boards at one time or another and none of them comes close to MT. It's like comparing apples and... clarinets. The level of thoughtful posting here is off the charts, compared with the average standard out there. I understand exactly what you're getting at.

 

[Skip Cooper]

I don't believe I can add much more than what has already been posted.

All I can say is thanks for putting up with me

As they say here in Texas, "Y'all are alright by me!"

Which means: I like you too...I think? I wasn't raised here, so I'm not sure

 

[diamondbar1971]

I have been on this site for about 9/10 months now and I don't post that much; I usually am looking for old students of mine or people that I trained with way back when or just friends I haven't seen in a while and its interesting to see just who is on here and to see what they have to say. I have only come across a couple of rude jerks on here and there doesn't seem to be as many teenagers who have spent days, weeks or months, in the arts and are slamming veterans with decades of experience. I see this on other sites but not here.

 

[exile]

I have been on this site for about 9/10 months now and I don't post that much; I usually am looking for old students of mine or people that I trained with way back when or just friends I haven't seen in a while and its interesting to see just who is on here and to see what they have to say. I have only come across a couple of rude jerks on here and there doesn't seem to be as many teenagers who have spent days, weeks or months, in the arts and are slamming veterans with decades of experience. I see this on other sites but not here.

To me, that reinforces the wisdom of the age restriction in place on the board. There's another thing, though: on the whole, people coming into a new situation tend to adjust to the patterns of behavior that are already in place. People who are used to really hostile, nasty interactions based on other sites they belong to find that they get only negative responses from other member—nothing that supports their efforts to inject bad blood into the discussion—and often are labelled as trolls and isolated, and this is even before any actual mod action comes into play. So people like that either adjust to the prevailing norms here or respond to being marginalized by upping the ante, which sooner or later leads to banning.

On the whole, the system works very well, I'd say: you can take virtually any position on anything you like, but you'd better be prepared to provide good solid reasons, because there are a lot of knowledgeable people on the board—in the MAs and other domains as well—who are going to press you to support your point. For that reason, people on MT seem to think a bit more before they set finger to keyboard than what you find on many other MA sites....

 

[jim777]

I'm a mod on a guitar forum called Jemsite.com, and we have about 17K members, of whom about 3500 login (not post, mind you) once a month. It's a nice site, lots of good conversation.
One of the things I've secretly wondered about on here though is the occasional allusions to "that other MA board" that everyone seems to know but me :lol: I honestly couldn't be bothered. the wealth of knowledge here, the sheer size of the forum in regards to the various rooms for individual style discussions covers everything. Heck, I found Seido practioners here

Great site, numbers be damned!

jim

 

[exile]

I'm a mod on a guitar forum called Jemsite.com, and we have about 17K members, of whom about 3500 login (not post, mind you) once a month. It's a nice site, lots of good conversation.
One of the things I've secretly wondered about on here though is the occasional allusions to "that other MA board" that everyone seems to know but me :lol: I honestly couldn't be bothered. the wealth of knowledge here, the sheer size of the forum in regards to the various rooms for individual style discussions covers everything. Heck, I found Seido practioners here

I think of the place you're alluding to as sort of the pre-Giuliani-era Times Square of MA sites ...

Great site, numbers be damned!

I think that's really the key. And the numbers will get there over time, I believe.

 

[exile]

A little update is in order: in less than three months, we've climbed to the 9,000 member level. At this rate, we should reach 12,000 quite comfortably by the end of the year. Something is being done right on this site....

 

[Sukerkin]

You'll get no disagreement from me on that score :tup:.

 

[exile]

You'll get no disagreement from me on that score :tup:.

It's good to see these numbers—we've had a bit of turmoil in some parts of the board in the past few weeks, but a thousand new members in eleven weeks puts that minor turbulence in the right perspective....

 

[exile]

BTW... we just passed the 10,000 mark!!