Members Who Refuse to Contribute to Your Forum

[Forces of Steel]

Have you ever come across members who are active members of other forums in the same category as yours, albeit mostly lurking? Do you think that it could be a personal vendetta against a particular staff member, or are they simply more comfortable on forums where they originally established themselves?

 

[Yoda]

I think that unless you have something new/exciting for them to post about, then they will always be more active on the forum that they originally established themselves on.

 

[Ashley]

I have had members in the past who have just lurked on my forums instead of posting, and when I first started out in the beginning, it did kind of bother me a bit, but after a few years as I grew older and more mature, I got used to it. Now days, it doesn't bother me as much. I never was, nor will I ever be, in something like this for the sake of competition. I'm not in this to beat sites that have been around longer than mine. all I want is a place to call my own where members can come and go as they please and everyone can have a good time and simply hang out. Heck, there's even forums that are similar to mine that I'll sometimes just lurk and not prefer to be active on, simply because I find their content interesting to read and just look around their forum in general. Not to steal ideas, obviously, but, yeah.

 

[Edelheid]

I'm a lurker myself in other forums, and what prevents me from taking part in discussions often times is a result of intimidation from the existing circle there. You respond to posts and it feels like you're invisible; they only respond to each other, mostly the ones who frequently agree with them, and even has this air of superiority around them for being around longer — though this isn't always the case*. It's even worse if they're a bigger circle, and the staff members are almost like in cahoots with them because they just don't respond to you either.

For the record, I responded to them, but it seems like they have absolutely no interest in doing the same. I dislike topics that limit discussions, those with limited scope, or at least topics that lets you respond once and you don't have to ever again. Even if you try and heighten the discussion to keep it going they just refuse to take to the torch. It's like they just want to visit a thread, respond once, and that's it you can't expect any further replies from them even if you reply with your point of view. It feels like you have to try and get under their skin to have them get back to you. I should've known better seeing that majority of their topics that fall in that category, but at first it felt like I could've enjoyed the forum and hopefully find one or two who are in the same page as me. I did end up finding one, but he ends up holding the same opinion as mine and ultimately left the forum before me.

I understand that most people might not want to involve themselves in in-depth discussions, and that's why I try and respond in some of those topics that I supposedly dislike. It's also the same reason why I gave forums like those a chance hoping for a even a tiny bit of a transitioning from them, too. I mean, I enjoy poking fun at each other in threads every now and then but when 100% of the activity is just that, I question my reasons for staying in the first place. I might as well just get the contact info of members that I get along with or visit the place once a week to catch up.

In a way, yes, having a staff member like that is a free ticket to repel members like myself from participating. I'm a pretty reasonable member; I don't resent any members from the staff team of any forum unless they give me a reason to, or if they're one of those who repeatedly shows this behaviour of misrepresenting people's motives and states his angry opinions as fact and then tries to pass it all off as a defense in threads. It just makes me want to never have anything to do with the forum again; one bad apple is enough to spoil the entire experience for me.

Even if you have a lot of topics, and you happen to lead the pack that continues to ignore me, you're not going to get any more responses from me. This is especially infuriating if said person is close with the staff. Might as well just leave them to enjoy the "community" they're so proud of.

Seriously, if a forum is even slightly interested in getting their new members stay, then they have to make a decision that will likely involve a risk angering some of their "pioneer" members who simply refuse to be friendly. Always have a friendly attitude and avoid ignoring the new members, encourage them, respond to them which hopefully fuels the thread, and make them feel like they're part of all that is, all that has been, and all that will be.

Okay — that does sound a little bit stretched or even borderline romantic, but you get the idea! :rofl:

*I used to visit this particular forum that I have been part of since the beginning, and when I returned it's like everyone decided to make a circle and the ignoring has since then begun. It's one annoying replica of real life behaviour that I despise.

 

[MrDawn]

Sometimes its the fellowship and trollish regulars that post on the forum that keep me from posting and eventually visiting that forum whole heartedly.

 

[Teg]

I see this happen all the time. Not just on my forums, but on other forums I'm staff on. While its annoying to the teams and owners of the sites to see this, one has to consider that maybe their site lacks something that the user(s) are interested in.

 

[Reverie]

Honestly I see this happen. I've had members who join who just never feel part of the community, but I also feel like those members do not try. They are stuck on other forums in their mind. I have no clue what to really do about it since most do not want to participate in events either. I guess focus on the members who partake in the community and eventually the other members might join in.

 

[Deleted member 17779]

Honestly I see this happen. I've had members who join who just never feel part of the community, but I also feel like those members do not try. They are stuck on other forums in their mind. I have no clue what to really do about it since most do not want to participate in events either. I guess focus on the members who partake in the community and eventually the other members might join in.

Reverie has kind of already hit home on this for me so I won't repeat her.

If you are doing everything you can to get people active and someone just wants to lurk instead of post, then that is their problem. Focus on the people that do want to be a part of your community and the others that don't want to participate will just have to miss out.

 

[Shole]

Honestly I don't care about them, if they want to contribute aweosome, if not awesome if they are reading the posts 😀

 

[Cosmic]

Hey, nobody is forced to peticipate on any forum. 😛 People use the sites they prefer, and if they don't prefer your site, then t probably needs to be improved or marketed to a different audience.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I think most forums will always have the type that lurks and only searches for answers. Some forums will get members who ask a question and then when they get the answer, they flee the forum.

I think it boils down mainly to literacy and time...

In terms of literacy, some forum members might not actually understand the intentions of a message forum nor even attempt to research what it is. They see a community that can answer their questions and that is all they are there for. They don't see the 'unwritten rule' that they should be active and post frequently so that the community can grow bigger and better.

In terms of time, not everyone is like us, not everyone has the time to be active. They join for a reason and then they are in and out. The internet invites that kind of person in general - if you need information, get online, get it and then do what you need to do.

 

[JohnyAF]

Hey, nobody is forced to peticipate on any forum. 😛 People use the sites they prefer, and if they don't prefer your site, then t probably needs to be improved or marketed to a different audience.

ya i think that's right! No one is forced to do anything! Just let them do what they want. Or maybe we will have no member at all someday! 😀

 

[Cierra]

There's a few lurkers on my forum and some people who are busy so they only log in infrequently every few weeks or so. I don't think that there is any hidden motive or anything. I figure if they would like to post then they will and if they're having any issues, technical or otherwise, they'll contact us. I think what [user]Ashley[/user] said "....because I find their content interesting to read and just look around their forum" is very true.