Activity Levels

[Randy]

Have you noticed that forums have different activity levels?



Sometimes they are really really active and a week later its a ghost town for a few days..... Then its back to being full of life... Then dead...... and so on.



Why do you think forums do this? Wouldn't you think that a forum would have a steady flow of the same activity levels?

 

[beowulf]

i see trends



weekend people are out enjoying themselves

in summer i see a lot of canadians disapeer.............only time they have no snow so they are outside enjoying them selves....always comeback when the snow comesback in winter

quiter in the morning (gmt) cos the americans are still in bed

...............but when they are asleep, the aussies and kiwis are online

lot of people went quiet when the world cup was on

 

[Cranos]

Well first of all since most people on forums are still quite young, things like exams and holidays will give you a different activity level. Also on smaller forums, when one or 2 of the most active members disappear for a few days, you'll notice it pretty soon.



Activity is not constant and comes with waves most of the time.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

It also depends on what the admin does to keep people coming back.. Promoting, maybe sending out an email every few months, taking the initiative to create new topics once the other conversations have gotten stale, perhaps doing a contest every once in a while.. Things like that. If little to no work is going into the forum then activity levels can reflect that.

 

[Jazzy]

I think the slowest time (IMO) is in the summer. Members are outside more or on holiday/vacation. It starts to pick back up as soon as the weather starts getting cold

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

I am more active when its cold. Less chance of coming home covered in sweat and with a sun burn.

 

[MrMetroid]

Strangely enough I once had 100% activity in another forum and the next day it went down to 50%

 

[Cranos]

I think the slowest time (IMO) is in the summer. Members are outside more or on holiday/vacation. It starts to pick back up as soon as the weather starts getting cold

Really? I've noticed a huge boost in new forums and activity on a network I frequent, so I guess not everyone's outside.

 

[N!ck]

I think the slowest time (IMO) is in the summer. Members are outside more or on holiday/vacation. It starts to pick back up as soon as the weather starts getting cold

This is the opposite for many of the gaming forums I visit, when it's summer, it tends to be like a blown out forum party time

 

[ThaBawse]

I blame George Bush. There's nothing to rant about on forums anymore now that he's gone. His stupidity and daily mistakes were usually the fury that powered forums long ago...

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

Here is two good tips to possibly generate some activity:

1) Keep posting new and interesting topics, dont wait around for the members to create them as that may not happen.

2) When replying to threads, post something that is reply-provoking. Such as asking the member a question about something they said in their post.