• LUCZORAMA SHIPWRECK SCAVENGER HUNT GIVEAWAY. 4 Weeks of Fun • 1 Legendary Prize ((OcCre’s Fram Ship)) • Global Crew Welcome!
    **VIEW THREAD HERE**

Discussion Why Do So Many Members Never Post? Let’s Talk!

Jimsky

Jimsky

Administrator
Staff member
Administrator
Forum Moderator
Joined
Nov 3, 2018
Messages
13,988
Points
938

Location
Brooklyn, New York USA
I’ve noticed over time that quite a few folks register here, but never post—or maybe only write one or two messages and then go quiet.
I understand that not everyone wants to jump right in, and that’s perfectly okay, but I’m genuinely curious: What keeps new members from posting more? Is it nerves? Not sure where to start? Concern about experience level? Language? Something else?

No pressure at all, but if you’re reading this and haven’t said much (or anything), this is your invitation to chime in. Even a “Hi, I’m here” is enough to get going. We all started somewhere, and we’re glad you’re here.
 
I have a theory about this Jim, maybe all of the new people seen all of the work done on the boats.....then started to build their own, wacking a few fingers with a small hammer, or cut their fingers with the xacto knife or even worse, glued their fingers to the boat with ca glue (yeah I'm guilty of all of the above lol) and just can't type.
 
For myself, I often don’t have something that contributes to the conversation, so don’t post in it. Starting a build log is intimidating too, though I know theres a lot of leeway in how many pictures/steps to show. Also I’m very introverted and don’t crave attention/likes.
 
I don't remember, but have non-registered visitors here the same rights to see/zoom in on images or is it limited like on some other forums? If limited, that might be the reason. Otherwise i wouldn't know.
 
That's an interesting question @Jimsky . I have seen time and again where people would post an introduction and maybe show a few photos. They get dozens of, "welcomes" and often some, "ooh, show us more's" and then, as @Woodpecker said, crickets. It's a shame, really.

I can relate my own story which may offer a different perspective. I frequent a few forums, mostly I.T. related, and I'm quite active - and vocal. I joined SOS last September, but just lurked until my first posting in January. Why?

First, I didn't have an active project at the time, but knew I would be starting something soon. As I've said, and many of you know by now Redface, I'm vocal and I don't mind jumping into conversations and perhaps cracking a few jokes and maybe even poking a little good natured fun from time to time ;).

What I didn't want to happen was to be that guy - you know the one - he shows up to a party where no one knows him and just jumps into everyone's conversations like he belonged there.

Since I didn't have an active project to ask questions on, I decided to wait until I did, then introduce myself and start a build log. That way, I could sort of "prove myself" and ease my way in to other threads without being looked upon as "that guy".

Now, well, for better or worse, you're stuck with me and I probably won't shut up any time soon. ROTF

Finally, I want to thank all the members here who have made me feel welcome and part of the group. Looking back, I realize that I really didn't have anything to worry about, 'cause you're all great people, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it. :D
 
perhaps members do not realize what goes on behind the curtain there are staff meetings, and we do discuss how to improve the forum. What can we do and what shouldn't we do.
Here is part of a discussion

a valued part of the forum, the true heart of a forum lies in discussion—sharing ideas, insights, techniques, and stories that keep the spirit of the hobby alive.

if it lies in discussion a majority are not part of the discussion over 1/2 of all the posts are by 100 members out of 21,000 the top 100 members posted 284,492 of the listed 422,054
my thought is what is the other 20,900 members looking for? granted there are 137,561 posts made by 21,900 members. an extremely small % and what % is just a simple comment?

so 20,900 are NOT sharing ideas, insights, techniques, and stories or sharing their passion, exchange knowledge, and support one another which according to the above statement is the heart and soul of the forum.

out of the 100 making 284,482 posts how many are NOT information on model ship building and just comments?

the stark reality is a very small handful of members are actually providing useful information on the hobby of model ship building. After you weed out the comments by the top 100 what do you have left?
 
are we looking at a social community or an information platform for building model ships? can we have both?
if the majority just want kit reviews, how to articles, what glue to use etc etc then omit all the clutter and chit chat and just get down to the nitty gritty. Structure Ships of Scale as more of a library of articles and quick references with a general forum as a secondary.

we or actually i have been watching the forum and did notice off topics and or controversial topics draw the most comments. Build logs get little feedback other than "nice job" so is the membership bored or has everything been posted about model ship building so there is nothing left to say?
 
Lurkers are prevalent on every website Jim. It's just the nature of the beast. You are only going to get engagement from about 10% of the people who use the site. And that ten percent includes the top 1 percenters who account for half the content and the rest of 99% who account for the rest. There are a lot of reasons for this. Some people are checking out the hobby to see if it's right for them and then decide it's not. Some aren't engaged in the hobby and never will do a model, but they like seeing the models from time to time. Some don't want to talk about the hobby, they just want to enjoy it quietly. Some don't feel their posts would get any attention anyway. And some are just looking for a technique here and there and don't really frequent the website.
 
Are there any statistics on what fraction of the membership follow up their initial introduction with visits to the site without actually posting anything? As Dave Srevens suggests, they may be making good use of the site for information and guidance. Postings are a record of information flowing into the site but there is no record of how much flows out.
 
I just want to add a little. I'm infrequent poster BUT... look and used this site very frequently. This is my go-to place for researching techniques, builds and, let be frank, look at all the wonderful works being done. It is just inspiring. Now to the crux of the topic:

I started my build logs a while back at Model ship world, simply because then I did not know of Ship of Scale back then. I'm sure many here peruse both. Personally, I did not want to duplicate logs. It is just as simple. However, this will change when I start on some of the Chinese-made kits, which frown a little there (I respect the reasons... it may just be too wide blanket). Many are just outstanding. I'm guilty of having 2 POF kits waiting to be build, 3 plastic tanks, one plastic ship and still looking for new futures projects... Please stop posting those great builds (joking). Thank you all for helping spend money!!

Second, I'm an intermediate builder... and as such I'm don't quite have the skills to answer questions, for example. I do use the "thumb up/reply feature" to follow builds that attract me the most (mostly because I'm planning on making the same or similar).
 
Last edited:
Even when I don't post about a project I am working on, I like to just say "good job, or looks great" to those who are posting.

That and to take time to have fun, and poke fun at some greats like Doc K, from time to time to keep thing on lite side of some heavy subjects that can uber technical at times.

I know we have lots of lookers, but guests are not "registered" as Jimsky was talking about.
 
Interesting discussion Jimsky.
Speaking for myself, I come to SoS to see other builds and mostly am seeking ideas on different building techniques and ways of achieving the inspiring models that so many make.
Amongst the fraternity here there are some exceptional builds and what I want to know is how these magnificent results were achieved. Many if not all post photos, which are informative and beautiful, but often the techniques used to achieve these results are not obvious without luring discussion.
Some members do post how to pictorial threads and these are especially enjoyable to read and learn from, but they are few and far between.
After that is said and done, the friendship and comfort from mingling with like minded individuals the world over and talking about things of detail, that many other people would find boring, is a core attribute of the forum.
I don’t really know any of the folk here on SoS, but strangely I consider all of you as friends.
Maybe I’m weird.
 
My story is much like RussF. I have been working on plastic models for a long time and became interested in trying wood. I found SOS and MSW and joined both. I was very unfamiliar with the jargon. I looked at a lot of build logs and really enjoyed the comradely and the give and take and exchanging ideas that I saw.

I started commenting by telling people how much I enjoyed what they were doing and how good their projects looked. I then built a simple Dory to get my feet wet. (My Dory would probably have leaked so my feet would have gotten wet!). I then started my first log with a Norwegian sailing pram. TBH SOS makes posting a log very easy. My reading on the sight and some books enabled me the understand the terms better.

Like Russ, I did not want to be, as Russ so eloquently puts it, "that guy - you know the one - he shows up to a party where no one knows him and just jumps into everyone's conversations like he belonged there."

I got nice feedback and good suggestion of my build that really helped.

Things have kind of blossomed since then and I love to offer suggestions and tell of my successes and failures. I am a slow builder (Still work part time) and I enjoy taking my time and think things through.

SOS is a valuable resource and I love reading and corresponding here.

Rob
 
I don't post often. My main motivation is to let folks who do post build logs here know how much I appreciate their work. There are some builds I really enjoy following and I think it is important to let folks know that. I have a build log going elsewhere, but I build so slowly that I think one build log is enough, better not to disappoint folks at two or more sites. My next build, I'll start my log here, since I find myself increasingly visiting this site first.
 
My career took me to a small town and a small city. While both had interesting maritime histories (Ohio River, Lake Superior) I never lived where there was a ship modeling club close enough for me to be active. I have, therefore, built ship models in isolation. Belonging to the Nautical Research Guild was helpful but Journals were only received Quarterly and other commitments kept me from regularly attending conferences. I suspect that there are many other lone ship modeling builders like me.

SOS has been a game changer as it allows me to correspond daily with other builders.

Roger
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top