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Top 50 Posters Extrapolated, July 2009

Doctor Q

Doctor Q

Administrator
Original poster
Staff member
Sep 19, 2002
40,469
9,383
Los Angeles
This is the lucky 13th 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
2007: January, July
2008: January, July
2009: January​

The legend of column headings follows each chart. My comments and analysis follow the charts.

Measurements were taken on July 3rd.

Please remember that these charts and this discussion are for amusement and general interest only. Posting to build your post count (and to get your name into the next Top 50 thread) aren't allowed.

Chart #1: Current Top 50 Posters

Computed by Doctor Q in July, 2009

Code: 
                      Cur     Cur   Prev  Delta
Rank  Current Top 50  Posts   Rate  Rank  Rank
----  --------------  ------  ----  ----  -----
  1   mad jew         32,206   0.0    1      0
  2   mkrishnan       25,853  11.0    2      0
  3   Doctor Q        23,574   8.1    4     +1
  4   Mr. Anderson    22,482   0.0    3     -1
  5   jsw             22,106   2.6    5      0
  6   Abstract        20,737  15.8    8     +2
  7   Eidorian        20,131  17.5   11     +4
  8   Blue Velvet     20,001   6.9    6     -2
  9   edesignuk       18,450   6.5   10     +1
 10   ~Shard~         18,283   1.3    7     -3
 11   bartelby        17,919  15.6   15     +4
 12   iGary           17,900   9.1   13     +1
 13   PlaceofDis      17,773   2.4    9     -4
 14   wdlove          16,567   0.0   12     -2
 15   devilot         15,555   0.2   14     -1
 16   iBlue           15,162  11.4   20     +4
 17   raggedjimmi     15,041   7.2   18     +1
 18   yellow          14,873   3.4   16     -2
 19   robbieduncan    14,691  10.2   21     +2
 20   Tallest Skil    14,477  37.4  ---    ---
 21   WildCowboy      14,261   4.5   19     -2
 22   bousozoku       13,998   0.0   17     -5
 23   rdowns          13,828   12.8  27     +4
 24   Sun Baked       13,590   5.4   22     -2
 25   MacNut          13,224   5.1   23     -2
Code: 
                      Cur     Cur   Prev  Delta
Rank  Current Top 50  Posts   Rate  Rank  Rank
----  --------------  ------  ----  ----  -----
 26   Jaffa Cake      13,128   9.0   28     +2
 27   Mitthrawnuruodo 12,280   2.8   26     -1
 28   IJ Reilly       12,271   6.7   32     +4
 29   CanadaRAM       12,177   1.0   24     -5
 30   eyelikeart      11,896   0.0   25     -5
 31   Nermal          11,728   3.0   29     -2
 32   Rower_CPU       11,198   0.2   30     -2
 33   sushi           11,191  10.6   41     +8
 34   twoodcc         11,077   8.3   38     +4
 35   emw             11,059   0.0   31     -4
 36   Applespider     10,943   2.6   34     -2
 37   jessica.        10,768  18.3  ---    ---
 38   dmw007          10,588   0.3   33     -5
 39   alphaod         10,449  15.1  ---    ---
 40   Lau             10,364   3.1   36     -4
 41   xUKHCx          10,308   7.2   44     +3
 42   vniow           10,281   0.1   35     -7
 43   arn              9,901   1.1   37     -6
 44   Queso            9,871   1.9   40     -4
 45   Chundles         9,705   3.0   42     -3
 46   jelloshotsrule   9,581   0.0   39     -7
 47   nagromme         9,302   1.7   45     -2
 48   EricNau          9,228   3.6  ---    ---
 49   Eraserhead       9,202   3.5  ---    ---
 50   skunk            9,180   3.2  ---    ---
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 (January 2009), 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.
Other stats and charts:
 
Length of membership

Mean average among active posters in the Top 50: 67.0 months (5.6 years)
Standard deviation: 18.3 (1.5 years)

Among active Top 50 posters, the members with the longest memberships remain the same:
arn, 98.8 months (8.2 years)

Second place: MacNut, 90.0 months (7.5 years)

Third place: edesignuk, 87.3 months (7.3 years)
​

Shortest among active members: alphaod, 16.8 months (1.4 years)
Second-shortest: Tallest Skil, 34.7 months (2.9 years)
​
The graph below shows the distribution of length of membership among the Top 50. The current distribution is in blue. The distribution from 6 months ago is in red. Last time the peak was the 6-to-7 year range (my peer group), while this time it's the 4-to-5 year range.
 

Attachments

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Comments on the Current Top 50 Posters chart

Changed members

Six members joined the Top 50 list, only one making the Top 25, and three just above the Top 50 cutoff.
Tallest Skil (#20)
jessica. (#37)
alphaod (#39)
EricNau (#48)
Eraserhead (#49)
skunk (#50)​

They displaced six members who were near the end of the Top 50 list 6 months ago:
psychofreak (was #43)
katie ta achoo (was #46)
MacRumorUser (was #47)
jefhatfield (was #48)
Mord (was #49)
iMeowbot (was #50)​

Changes in rank

Highest rise in rank: sushi up 8 slots to #33
Next highest is a six-way tie among members who gained 4 positions. One reached the Top 10:
Eidorian (up to #7)
bartelby (up to #11)
iBlue (up to #16)
rdowns (up to #23)
IJ Reilly (up to #28)
twoodcc (up to #34)​

Highest loss in rank: vniow, down 7 slots to #42, tied with jelloshotsrule, who dropped 7 slots to #46.
Next highest:
arn (down 6, to #43)​

Three members retained their position in the Top 50 list:
mad jew (#1 for the 5th time in a row, despite being inactive)
mkrishnan (#2 for the 2nd time in a row)
jsw (#5 for the 2nd time in a row)​

katie ta achoo missed the Top 50 by 83 posts (0.46 posts per day, the equivalent of 1 post every 2.2 days).
MacRumorUser missed the Top 50 by 187 posts (1 post per day).

Last time, we noted that skunk missed the Top 50 by the equivalent of 1 post every 4.2 days, so perhaps it's fitting that he edged out katie ta achoo and MacRumorUser this time.​

Changes in the Top 10

mad jew hasn't posted since September 4, 2008 but is still 6,353 posts ahead of #2 mkrishnan.

Doctor Q, now #3, makes a few posts per day less than mkrishnan, so mkrishnan is increasing his 2,279-post lead at a rate of more than 1000 posts per year.

Mr. Anderson, who was the top all-time poster for years, now posts only occasionally (including the day before yesterday). He was passed by Doctor Q but is holding onto the #4 position, with #5 jsw nipping at his heels, only 376 posts behind.

The high post rates of Abstract (#6) and Eidorian (#7) have moved them up 2 and 4 slots, respectively.

Rounding out the Top 10 we have three non-U.S. members: Blue Velvet (down a bit to #8), edesignuk (#9 and going strong), and ~Shard~, who is still holding on at #10.

The number of members with 20,000 or more posts grew from 5 to 8. I predicted it would be 7. Of the Top 50, 42 now have 10,000 or more posts. I predicted it would be 43. I predicted that it would take 9,077 posts to make the Top 50. The actual number is 9,180, so I was off by 1%.

Together, the Top 50 members have made a total of 720,358 posts at MacRumors (an average of 14,407 each). I predicted it would be 703,582 (2% less).

Posts in the last 6 months

This section excludes members who were not in my radar 6 months ago, since I didn't track their post histories. I try to spot up-and-coming posters who might join the Top 50 before the next 6-month period. For example, DoFoT9 has been making 9.7 posts per day and has 7,271 posts to date, which could lead to Top 50 range 6 months from now.

Highest number of posts in 6 months: Tallest Skil, 6,772 posts, 37.4 posts per day
Next-highest:
jessica. (3,321 posts, 18.3 posts/day)
iJohnHenry (3,196 posts, 17.7 posts/day)
Eidorian (3,169 posts, 17.5 posts/day)

They were the only members with over 3,000 posts in 6 months.​
Another 7 members had post counts between 2,000 and 3,000 in 6 months: Abstract, bartelby, alphaod, dukebound85, leekohler, rdowns, iBlue​

Infrequent posters:
These 10 members made few or no posts yet stayed in the Top 50: mad jew, Mr. Anderson, wdlove, devilot, bousozoku, eyelikeart, Rower_CPU, emw, vniow, jelloshotsrule​

Predictions from 6 months ago

In January 2009 I predicted that the Top 10 members would be:
mad jew, mkrishnan, Doctor Q, jsw, Mr. Anderson, Blue Velvet, Abstract, Eidorian, ~Shard~, PlaceofDis
​
The actual results are:
mad jew, mkrishnan, Doctor Q, Mr. Anderson, jsw, Abstract, Eidorian, Blue Velvet, edesignuk, ~Shard~
​
Therefore, the projection was right about 9 of 10 members but had jsw and Blue Velvet in the wrong positions.

Excluded members and posts

MacRumors "bots" (members Macrumors, MacBytes, and DailyTunes) and banned members are excluded from my tracking. Otherwise, MacBytes would have been #15 on the Top 50, down from #14 six months ago.

Members who retire from posting voluntarily are included in my stats and the Top 50, if they qualify, since it's interesting to see how long they hold their positions. As you can see from the "Infrequent posters" list, long-time high posters stay in the top ranks for quite some time!
 
This is the first-ever Top 50 list without jefhatfield, whose account was retired in 2006, so we'll commemmorate it with a chart of his rank over the last 6 years.

The scale should really start at rank 1, not rank 0, but Excel and I are lazy.
 

Attachments

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Doctor Q said:
This is the first-ever Top 50 list without jefhatfield, whose account was retired in 2006, so we'll commemmorate it with a chart of his rank over the last 6 years.

The scale should really start at rank 1, not rank 0, but Excel and I are lazy.
Click to expand...

Isn't jefhatfield just using a different name now? I could be wrong, but I thought that was the case.
 
I'm surprised that jsw posts 2.6 times/day. I figured it to be less. Same can be said about my post rate! I didn't think it was that high right now! :eek:


Tallest Skil is just posting ridiculously right now. Interpret that however you want. :p



I hope the Jew sorts out his problems, perhaps "repair permissions" his troubles, and comes back.
 
Despite my best efforts at only posting in That Other Forum, Where Posts Don't Count, I seem, to have infiltrated the Top 50 for the first time. Where did I go wrong?
 
techfreak85 said:
Once again, Doctor. Q, You left me off the list again...:p
Click to expand...
Since your Location is set to "Waiting in line for the Verizon iPhone in Portland" I assumed you were too busy to be in a list at the very same time.

Doctor Q the administrator could comment on jefhatfield's retirement, but today I'm just Doctor Q the math geek, tracking the numbers and hoping I don't invade anyone's privacy... other than pointing out where techfreak85 is, of course.
 
skunk said:
Despite my best efforts at only posting in That Other Forum, Where Posts Don't Count, I seem, to have infiltrated the Top 50 for the first time. Where did I go wrong?
Click to expand...
I have 19 boards blocked off on my Forum Spy. Plenty of places where I don't really enjoy the subjects of conversation.
 
Doctor Q said:
This is the first-ever Top 50 list without jefhatfield, whose account was retired in 2006, so we'll commemmorate it with a chart of his rank over the last 6 years.

The scale should really start at rank 1, not rank 0, but Excel and I are lazy.
Click to expand...

OMG, I didn't know that I would be anywhere in this thread, well anyway if you want you can cancel my current 63dot account and call me Jefhatfield again.

-63dot/aka Jefhatfield
 
skunk said:
Despite my best efforts at only posting in That Other Forum, Where Posts Don't Count, I seem, to have infiltrated the Top 50 for the first time. Where did I go wrong?
Click to expand...

MacRumours old age. Even if you post at a slow rate, you'll get to the top eventually. I'm sure a young guy like iJH will overtake you eventually. ;)


leekohler said:
Isn't jefhatfield just using a different name now? I could be wrong, but I thought that was the case.
Click to expand...
You've been posting with him for awhile now. ;) I know it's difficult to remember.

It is weird not to see the name jefhatfield around, and remember that he's still posting.
 
Eidorian said:
I have 19 boards blocked off on my Forum Spy. Plenty of places where I don't really enjoy the subjects of conversation.
Click to expand...
lemme guess.

Mac basics?
buying advice?
Political, Religious, and Social Issues?

just few.:cool:

personally i have the Political, Religious, and Social Issues blocked and that's it.
 
techfreak85 said:
thats against the forum rules. ;):p
Click to expand...

I was one of the first dozen to hit 100 posts as Jefhatfield, first to hit 200 posts, first to hit 500, 1000, and 2000 posts, so that all happened maybe before there was that rule, and I eventually became 63dot.

Other longtime poster Duke Street became Mr. Anderson. To avoid confusion, it's probably appropriate to be called Jefhatfield again for those on this forum who were here in the earliest days of 2001-2003.

I know Alphatech, Kela, John 123, Spikey, and many other founding posters have different names now, too.

-63dot, Jefhatfield
 
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