It seems to me that there are fewer posts, maybe fewer posters? It used to be that if I was reading a popular GD or Pit thread and didn’t read it for a day or two, that pages might be added to it. Nowadays, I’m not getting that feeling. Are there numbers that would prove this one way or the other? Maybe a monthly report of the past year showing number of posts per day (per forum) and number of posters posting?
It has been pretty stable over the past year:
Alternatively you can click the link to a specific post (the “#1”, “#2” in the top right corner of a post) to get the post ID. Then you can plug different numbers in to get different dates and compare the rates over time. There are glitches, but maybe it’s a good general indicator.
For example, we’re in the 14,000,000 post range right now.
14,000,000 - 7/8/2011
13,000,000 - 10/7/2010
12,000,000 - 1/15/2010
11,000,000 - 4/2/2009
10,000,000 - 7/14/2008
Using these numbers, from 10 to 11 million it took 262 days. From 11 to 12 million it took 288 days. From 12 to 13 million it took 265 days. From 13 to 14 million it took 274 days.
From 10 to 11 million, the board averaged 3,817 posts per day. From 11 to 12 million, it was 3,472 ppd. From 12 to 13 million, 3,774 ppd. From 13 to 14 million, 3,650 ppd.
So over about the past year, the board has averaged about 125 fewer posts per day than over most of 2010.
Again assuming the postID is an accurate indicator of this sort of thing.
The increase in bannings probably explains the slowdown.
Do you have a cite that there’s been an increase in bannings?
[prepares self for irrelevant link and one-line description]
Initial posts appear to me to have gone down since about 2008 or so. Back then I would log in at almost exactly 3pm on weekdays and click ''New Posts" and would get 18 pages. I8 was so consistent I explored the possibility that it was a limit of some kind.
After we discussed this recently I checked again for a few days. Clicking ‘‘New Post’’ at 3pm weekdays now I only get 16 or 17 pages.
I believe postID is accurate and this is the best way to gauge posting rates. That said, the slowdown can be explained by real world forces.
10 million to 11 million covers the 2008 general election and its aftermath. Naturally, the board moved quicker then.
12 million to 13 million was also quicker due to Lost’s entire final season occurring in that timeframe. Each thread received at least 200 replies, and many of them went well beyond that. It’s not the sole reason for the increased post count, but it is certainly a major factor. The releases of Avatar and Inception occurred in this period as well.
At the rate we’re going, we should hit 15,000,000 around May 2012. Just in time for the 2012 general election cycle. Which, if history is any guide, will result in an uptick of board activity. Also, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man.
We have less spammer traffic than we’ve had in the past – we’re doing a better job of keeping the spambots off the board. In the past we often didn’t catch them until they made a post or two or more, now they often don’t get the chance to make any posts at all.
That by itself would cut down on the post count and would account for any drop we might have experienced in post count. Legitimate user traffic is the same or higher.
Thanks, all.
So, it appears that things have been fairly consistent. Still, my impression is otherwise. Might it be that the forums I frequent most—GD and the Pit—have experienced a downturn while the board, generally, has remained rather constant?