# Nearly 50,000 members **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 4, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018 "2004-12-04T03:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/1 "2004-12-04T03:38:22Z")
The total number of people who have ever registered is spiralling towards 50,000. Will Mr (or Ms) 50,000 win a prize? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/2 "2004-12-04T03:47:28Z")
Interestingly, while the footer says we have 49,721 members, our newest member’s ID is 49878. We seem to be missing 167 members. And at least 107,766 posts as this thread ID is 5568866 and the table on the main page says we only have 5,461,100 posts. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/3 "2004-12-04T03:48:38Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Interestingly, while the footer says we have 49,721 members, our newest member’s ID is 49878. We seem to be missing 167 members. > > And at least 107,766 posts as this thread ID is 5568866 and the table on the main page says we only have 5,461,100 posts. The Winter of our Missed Content? ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/4 "2004-12-04T03:52:39Z")
> [@Ilsa\_Lund](#): > > The Winter of our Missed Content? Bannings. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/5 "2004-12-04T03:54:12Z")
Trolls, maybe. There’ve definitely been more than 167 bannings in the almost six years the board’s been running on VBulletin. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/6 "2004-12-04T03:56:56Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Bannings. I was referring to the post count discrepancy. Bannings do not remove the username or the post count. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/7 "2004-12-04T03:57:33Z")
Is the members total for all members ever? Or just paid? ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/8 "2004-12-04T04:02:48Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > Is the members total for all members ever? Or just paid? Ever. I think the number of current paid members is something like a tenth of that, or maybe a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/9 "2004-12-04T04:21:22Z")
I can’t find the exact figures, but on 10/15/2004, we had 4,180 paid up members. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/10 "2004-12-04T04:29:24Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > And at least 107,766 posts as this thread ID is 5568866 and the table on the main page says we only have 5,461,100 posts. IIRC there are hidden forums that only the moderators can see. I believe they move deleted threads (spam, etc.) there so as not to affect the integrity of the database (one mod explained it was to “preserve continuity”). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/11 "2004-12-04T04:32:48Z")
A banned user is still in the database, and during that long winter, all information was lost, so neither of those are the right explanations. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/12 "2004-12-04T04:37:10Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > IIRC there are hidden forums that only the moderators can see. I believe they move deleted threads (spam, etc.) there so as not to affect the integrity of the database (one mod explained it was to “preserve continuity”). What would be the point of that? Continuity that only the admins and mods can see? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/13 "2004-12-04T09:10:58Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > I can’t find the exact figures, but on 10/15/2004, we had 4,180 paid up members. 4,292 according to [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5273543&postcount=9) post by **Tuba**. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/14 "2004-12-04T15:09:23Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Interestingly, while the footer says we have 49,721 members, our newest member’s ID is 49878. We seem to be missing 167 members. I wonder if the elections in Ohio used the VBulletin software.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/15 "2004-12-04T17:05:19Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > IIRC there are hidden forums that only the moderators can see. I believe they move deleted threads (spam, etc.) there so as not to affect the integrity of the database (one mod explained it was to “preserve continuity”). The first rule of hidden forums is don’t talk about hidden forums. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cheddarsnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cheddarsnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheddarsnax)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/16 "2004-12-04T18:31:25Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > 4,292 according to [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5273543&postcount=9) post by **Tuba**. That’s not Tuba. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/17 "2004-12-04T20:51:48Z")
> [@cheddarsnax](#): > > That’s not Tuba. Heh. I think he means [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=5569442&postcount=11) post, at the bottom. That post is like an epic! ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/18 "2004-12-04T21:34:06Z")
I figure that when we get to 50,000 members, the board will explode. Any bets? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/19 "2004-12-04T22:20:17Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > …this thread ID is 5568866 … Cecil on a pogo stick tapping out SOS in Morse Code, five point five bleepin’ million? I remember back before the millionth! ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018/20 "2004-12-04T23:58:21Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > I figure that when we get to 50,000 members, the board will explode. > > Any bets? On what? When, or how loud the explosion will be? Mention of hidden forums reminds me that there was a message board I used to frequent which had the name of its moderators’ forum visible, though non-mods couldn’t go there. It was strangely tantalizing, seeing it every time one logged on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nearly-50-000-members/278018.md?page=2)