We have 4300+ members. Only 30+ participate. Why?

[steve-in-kville]

At most on a poll I may get just over 30 people to vote. We have over 4300 users. I get that a bunch may be bots, but not that many. I go through the new members thread and see many with one or two posts. I'd like to more of the newer members participate. Did their bishop find out they registered here? Did they find out who some of us are in real life? Did I scare them away with endless food polls?

[Szdfan]

Why do you assume that it has something to do with you?

The food polls are one of the more benign and enjoyable aspects of MN.

[Grace]

Could it be that many members enjoy reading the threads, but really don't have time to engage and type out posts. Also some might be reading from their phone and typing out a post on a phone can be a pain. It is much easier to type on an actual keyboard.

I enjoy all your polls, Steve.

[mike]

Often the polls are time limited, and a lot of people may not happen to see it in that time period.

[steve-in-kville]

I think this has been mentioned before, but I wonder if the online forum platform isn't dated. Everything is on social media. There's a page for about any special interest one could imagine on Facebook. Hence maybe while the average age on MN is around the 40/50-ish range.

[temporal1]

steve:
At most on a poll I may get just over 30 people to vote.
We have over 4300 users. ..

The polls, all polls, OFTEN bring out ‘way more numbers of overall members than actively posting members!
i’m often curious about who these silently-voting folks are, and wish they would engage.

i see it as part+parcel of the MD-MN phenomena.
on MD, there would be occasional posts attempting to lure them into discussion! some comical. (thinkin’ Country Boy.)
poor results. some are DEDICATED READERS. quiet. CB has become quiet!

i do NOT presume any quiet person has NOTHING TO SAY.
often, once they find their voice, they have PLENTY to say, often not anything expected.
it can be fascinating.

early in my MD experience, i was fortunate to visit IRL with a couple of members+wives.
both wives were regular readers, never posting.

i think there are quite a few family members who read but do not post. maybe much more in the past, when MD was more of a new thing, when family computers were more common, before so many individual devices and so many online options.

i had the impression, when FB took quite a few MD members, some who had been quiet on MD, opened up on FB.
not sure, i didn’t get into FB much, or in a conventional way.

steve,
you may not be satisfied with the response you receive here. but you probably receive as much or more “traffic” as any.
my guess is, more.

[steve-in-kville]

steve,
you may not be satisfied with the response you receive here. but you probably receive as much or more “traffic” as any.
my guess is, more.

I just want to see people smile and laugh. That's all

[Robert]

steve,
you may not be satisfied with the response you receive here. but you probably receive as much or more “traffic” as any.
my guess is, more.

I just want to see people smile and laugh. That's all

Your are quite Pollish.

Maybe we need to create a new forum section call Pollland. We could appoint you as pope or ambassador of Pollland. Maybe we need to have a poll to select your title.

[ohio jones]

We have over 4300 users.

Of the 4315 listed in the Members directory, only 410 have completed the registration process (we don't let just anybody in, you know). 242 have posted somewhere other than just the Welcome thread, and some of those are no longer with us. 37 "real" users have logged in so far today, and 88 this month.

Given those numbers, I'd say a participation rate of around 30 is pretty good.

[steve-in-kville]

[

Maybe we need to create a new forum section call Pollland. We could appoint you as pope or ambassador of Pollland. Maybe we need to have a poll to select your title.

I'm open to suggestions for a title