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Doctor Q

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Original poster
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
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This is the 8th edition of my semi-annual analysis of the MacRumors Top 50 Posters.

Previous "Top 50 Posters Extrapolated" threads:
2003: July
2004: January, July
2005: January, July
2006: January, July

The legend of column headings follows the chart. My comments and analysis follow in the next post.

Measurements were taken yesterday. I've computed these numbers just for fun and to be a point of discussion. Reminder: The rules clearly prohibit posting to pad your post count.

Chart #1: Current Top 50 Posters

Computed by Doctor Q on January 4, 2007

Code:
                      Cur     Cur   Prev  Delta
Rank  Current Top 50  Posts   Rate  Rank  Rank
----  --------------  ------  ----  ----  -----
  1   Mr. Anderson    22,338   2.9    1     0
  2   mad jew         22,109  36.1    3    +1
  3   wdlove          16,570   0.0    2    -1
  4   Doctor Q        14,785  11.7    4     0
  5   jsw             14,686  19.4    8    +3
  6   ~Shard~         13,958  12.0    7    +1
  7   mkrishnan       13,177  17.2   12    +5
  8   iGary           12,925  15.1   10    +2
  9   edesignuk       12,510   1.5    5    -4
 10   bousozoku       12,428  13.1   11    +1
 11   eyelikeart      12,107   0.0    6    -5
 12   Rower_CPU       11,148   0.7    9    -3
 13   yellow          10,871  13.9   15    +2
 14   Abstract         9,904  11.4   18    +4
 15   Blue Velvet      9,726  12.2   19    +4
 16   jelloshotsrule   9,377   3.8   14    -2
 17   Nermal           9,121   6.6   17     0
 18   Sun Baked        9,019   4.8   16    -2
 19   vniow            8,953   9.4   22    +3
 20   jefhatfield      8,825   0.0   13    -7
 21   dmw007           8,802  24.3   50   +29
 22   PlaceofDis       8,787   9.5   23    +1
 23   Mitthrawnuruodo  8,368   9.1   26    +3
 24   Applespider      8,074   9.3   30    +6
 25   emw              8,056   9.9   31    +6
Code:
                      Cur     Cur   Prev  Delta
Rank  Current Top 50  Posts   Rate  Rank  Rank
----  --------------  ------  ----  ----  -----
 26   Chip NoVaMac     7,619   1.9   21    -5
 27   raggedjimmi      7,608  16.3   45   +18
 28   iMeowbot         7,489  11.0   38   +10
 29   MacBandit        7,400   0.0   20    -9
 30   devilot          7,379   8.0   35    +5
 31   WildCowboy       7,234  24.5  ---   ---
 32   CanadaRAM        7,190   5.4   32     0
 33   iGAV             7,144   2.6   27    -6
 34   arn              7,096   3.0   29    -5
 35   Chundles         7,012  18.5  ---   ---
 36   scem0            6,969   1.4   25   -11
 37   MrMacman         6,934   0.0   24   -13
 38   katie ta achoo   6,794  12.4   47    +9
 39   nagromme         6,703   2.9   33    -6
 40   Lacero           6,636   0.0   28   -12
 41   clayj            6,446   7.8   41     0
 42   Counterfit       6,160   3.9   39    -3
 43   Mord             6,095   7.7   43     0
 44   iJon             6,006   0.4   34   -10
 45   gekko513         5,725  10.1  ---   ---
 46   max_altitude     5,631  11.1  ---   ---
 47   Lau              5,582   6.4  ---   ---
 48   shadowfax        5,526   0.1   36   -12
 49   rainman::|:|     5,466   0.0   37   -12
 50   wrldwzrd89       5,405   0.7   40   -10
Columns:
  1. Rank = Position in order by post count, 1 (highest) to 50.
  2. Current Top 50 = members with the 50 currently highest post counts.
  3. Cur Posts = # of posts by that member.
  4. Cur Rate = average # posts per day by that member over the last 6 months, or for the length of their membership if they joined less than 6 months ago.
  5. Prev Rank = previous rank, as of 6 months ago (July 2006), or "---" for those who are new to the Top 50.
  6. Delta Rank = change in rank, i.e., # of slots +higher or -lower in rank since 6 months ago.
Quick links to the other charts I prepare:
 
Comments on the Current Top 50 Posters chart

--- Length of membership ---

Mean average: 43.0 months (up a relatively large 4.0 since 6 months ago)
Standard deviation: 15.5 months (up 0.6 since 6 months ago)

Longest membership among active Top 50 posters: arn, at 68.8 months
Second-longest: MrMacman, 66.0 months
Second-shortest: dmw007, 19.3 months (he was the shortest 6 months ago)
Shortest: Chundles, 18 months

Note: jefhatfield "retired" after 72.3 months, with a post count of 8,825. For his privacy, I'll say no more about his departure. eyelikeart isn't active either, but has been a member for 72.0 months.

Number of members in the Top 50 by length of membership (compared with last time):
between 6 and 7 years: 2 members (up 2)
between 5 and 6 years: 4 members (same)
between 4 and 5 years: 16 members (up 4)
between 3 and 4 years: 8 members (down 3)
between 2 and 3 years: 12 members (down 2)
between 1 and 2 years: 8 members (down 1)
less than 1 year: 0 members (same)

--- Changed members ---

Five new members joined the Top 50 list:
WildCowboy (#31), Chundles (#35), gekko513 (#45), max_altitude (#46), Lau (#47)
None made it to the Top 25.

Five members are no longer in the Top 50 list (previous ranks are shown in parens):
SiliconAddict (#42), Mechcozmo (#44), AlphaTech (#46), grapes911 (#48), Backtothemac (#49)

AlphaTech remained on the Top 50 for almost 4 years after his last post on April 9, 2003, but has finally dropped off for good.

--- Changes in rank ---

Highest rise in rank, up an amazing 29 slots (beating iGary's 21 from last time):
dmw007

Next highest:
raggedjimmi (up 18), iMeowbot (up 10), katie ta achoo (up 9)

Highest loss in rank, down 13 slots (the same drop iJon had last time):
MrMacman

Next highest:
Lacero and shadowfax and rainman::|:| (each down 12), followed by scem0 (down 11) and iJon and wrldwzrd89 (each down 10)

Six members (the same count as last time) managed to retain their position in the Top 50 list:
Mr. Anderson (#1), Doctor Q (#4), Nermal (#17), CanadaRAM (#32), clayj (#41), Mord (#43)

It is no surprise that Mr. Anderson retained his Top 50 position, but somehow Nermal managed to retain the #17 spot, just as he did last time. The number of members who pass him going up is always equal to the number who pass him going down. What's his secret?

MacRumorUser missed making the Top 50 by 147 posts (0.8 per day), not as close as some photo-finishes we've had in the past.

--- Changes in the Top 10 ---

mad jew moved past wdlove into the #2 spot. wdlove last posted November 7, 2005, but is still thousands of posts ahead of Doctor Q (#4) and jsw (#5, up from #8).

~Shard~ held steady (moving up slightly, from #7 to #6), while mkrishnan moved into the Top 10 at #7. iGary moved into the Top 10 for now, but he has left the forums (keep that discussion in that thread, please). iGary last posted December 7, 2006.

edesignuk, despite posting less recently, is still in the Top 10, but is now #9 instead of #5, while bousozoku is back into the Top 10 (#10, up from #11). bousozoku wins the all-time "flip-flop" award about being in the Top 10, as he apparently can't make up his mind about it. Proof: Look at his rankings over the past 5 six-month periods: #10, #11, #10, #11, #10!

eyelikeart (no longer active) and Rower_CPU (still kicking around) have slipped out of the Top 10, and are now #11 and #12, respectively.

--- Posts in the last 6 months ---

Note: This section excludes members who were not in my stats 6 months ago, since I don't have their post histories.

Highest number of posts in 6 months:
mad jew, with 6650. He had 6737 in the preceding 6 months, and 6310 in the 6 months before that, so he is remarkably consistent. Which is why I'm remarking about it!

Next-highest:
WildCowboy with 4512 (up from his 2724 in the preceding 6 months), followed closely by dmw007 with 4472. The others with over 3000 posts were jsw (3578 posts), Chundles (3406 posts), and mkrishnan (3171 posts).

There were 17 members with 6-month post counts over 2000 (last time it was 12) and another 19 (the same number as 6 months ago) with post counts between 1000 and 2000.

Nine members made more than 1000 posts in 6 months yet did not make the Top 50: Jaffa Cake (1806), 2nyRiggz (1663), IJ Reilly (1407), iBlue (1260), GFLPraxis (1218), rdowns (1097), robbieduncan (1069), EricNau (1069), CanadaRAM (exactly 1000 - how tidy of him). It's getting harder to get into the Top 50.

Lowest:
Among Top 50 posters with any posts in the last 6 months, jefhatfield (#20) certainly had the least: 1 single post. And that post was in the "Top 50 Posters Extrapolated, July 2006" thread!

Next-lowest:
MacBandit (#39) and MrMacman (#37), each with only 8 posts, nevertheless remained in the Top 50, as did shadowfax, with 24 posts.

--- Excluded members and posts ---

Member Macrumors, who represent site posts, is always excluded from my Top 50 tracking. Based on post count, Macrumors would otherwise have been #45. Unregistered or banned members are not included in my charts. For the record, King Cobra would have been #48.

Post counts used for computations are "net posts", those that contribute to the post count as displayed in member profiles. Posts that are deleted do not count, nor do posts in threads that are deleted or threads in non-counted forums.

Due to deletion or Wastelanding of threads, inactive members can lose posts. In the last 6 months, eyelikeart lost 1 post.

As those paying attention have noticed, mad jew will very soon pass Mr. Anderson to become the all-time top poster, despite Mr. Anderson having been a forum member almost twice as long as mad jew. It's a nice coincidence that it will happen while we are discussing these Top Poster stats.

I will now start working on my traditional 6-Month Projection and "End of Time" Projection and post them when they are ready. And this year I have a "special surprise" for everyone too. Stay tuned!
 
Hell yeah!! Gots me some serious rank in that list.

Awesome analysis as ever Q - well done ol' chap.
 
Doctor Q said:
Nine members made more than 1000 posts in 6 months yet did not make the Top 50: Jaffa Cake (1806), 2nyRiggz (1663), IJ Reilly (1407), iBlue (1260), GFLPraxis (1218), rdowns (1097), robbieduncan (1069), EricNau (1069), CanadaRAM (exactly 1000 - how tidy of him). It's getting harder to get into the Top 50.
Well, I'm honored to have made it to the "posted a ton but still didn't make it" list. :D

Maybe next year.
 
I'm going to have to step it up, it seems.

The Forum Spy will make that easier, now that I finally clicked it and found out what it was.
 
He-he... another year I've managed to stay on the top 50 list, yet go totally unnoticed... :D

...and another reminder that I have no life... :(

Thanks Doctor Q.
 
i love me some stats :D i think i'm pushing in around the 122 mark :rolleyes: o well macworld should help me drop into the top 110 :D
 
It is no surprise that Mr. Anderson retained his Top 50 position, but somehow Nermal managed to retain the #17 spot, just as he did last time. The number of members who pass him going up is always equal to the number who pass him going down. What's his secret?

Hehehe :cool:

Q must either like me or hate me now :p
 
Hey Q, is it possible to see the top 100 for the past 3 years. I think that is where the big numbers would change.
 
Go gett'em Mad Jew, you're the man. We will bust open the champaign to celebrate!
 
It's crazy how many more people and posters we have these days. I used to be very close to the top 10, now at 44. Now I probably post once a month. Looks like I'll be out of the Top 50 by next revision.

jon
 
These are always fun to see. Thanks Q!

I predict I'll be on the next one (at this rate) at which point I can hang my talkative head (hands?) in shame for it. :p
 
Considering that I spend far too much time on this forum, yet have never appeared on any of these lists, I do wonder if all of you who do appear just have pretend jobs...

:rolleyes: :p
 
Ive posted 1774 in a year and I was also banned for 3 weeks. Those 3 weeks were when I planned to post 22,457 times but I couldnt. I think I should be number 1. :D
 
Congratulations (I think) to all the Top 50. Never have so many people, had so little to say, so many times. :D
 
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