Do members ever get deleted here? The ones, that are banned or have zero posts ...

[spinnerlys]

Hi,

I recently took a look at the Members List from the back and found more than 130.00 registered members with zero posts. As time is limited and looking at every profile will also add to the server load, I didn't find out, if everyone of those members is still active (has logged in).

Many of these members with zero posts most likely are spammers, which got banned after they have been found out.

My question is, why don't get spammers and members, who have zero posts and haven't logged in for over a year, deleted?

I'm a much less active member on another message board (170 posts) and had to join again after I was absent from that forum for many years (relapse I guess), and I found out, that during the purge (that's what it is called over there), many accounts have been deleted, even ones with posts, but they were accounts who had been inactive for over a year. I had no problem with that anyway.

I can get, why users, who got banned, but haven't had their posts deleted (Tallest Skill, ... ) will not get deleted, but why should the others with zero posts and no activity not get deleted?

Has it something to do with the board software or the servers?
Would deleting 130.000+ "inactive" accounts free some space on the servers and lessen the load? Is little consequence the same as no consequence?*

I'm just curious, I don't want to impose anything, just want don't know why it is that way, and in what way it adds to the forum experience.

Thanks for reading, and hopefully answering some of my questions.

Btw, I found this thread: "delete account"
and this in the FAQ:

*
There is normally no need to cancel a MacRumors account. If you expect not to need to post at MacRumors, you can simply stop visiting our site. There is nothing you need us to do. Under our Privacy Policy, we won't email you or release your contact information. Inactive accounts are of little consequence. The advantage is that if you change your mind, perhaps because you have an Apple-related question, you can return to MacRumors, log in, and post.​

 

[Gav2k]

A user account takes up very little space tbh.

I ran two forums in the past and found deleting members left a messy forum. Especially if they were an active member then stopped posting. Deleting them messes posts up and causes issues when searching for posts.

 

[spinnerlys]

A user account takes up very little space tbh.

I ran two forums in the past and found deleting members left a messy forum. Especially if they were an active member then stopped posting. Deleting them messes posts up and causes issues when searching for posts.

Thanks, I can see, that deleting accounts, that have posts under their belt can create some chaos, but what about accounts with ZERO posts? Especially if there are 130.000+ (almost a third of the members here) such accounts.

 

[-Ryan-]

Thanks, I can see, that deleting accounts, that have posts under their belt can create some chaos, but what about accounts with ZERO posts? Especially if there are 130.000+ (almost a third of the members here) such accounts.

The effect on the forum is so neglible that there is no point. Also, if those members do decide some day that they wish to post, their account will still be available. Read here.

 

[rdowns]

Nice stalking.


The problem isn't members with no posts, it's members with many posts in the iPhone forums.

 

[spinnerlys]

The effect on the forum is so neglible that there is no point. Also, if those members do decide some day that they wish to post, their account will still be available. Read here.

Did you mean the part I boldly quoted in my original post? See below:

Btw, I found this thread: "delete account"
and this in the FAQ:

*
There is normally no need to cancel a MacRumors account. If you expect not to need to post at MacRumors, you can simply stop visiting our site. There is nothing you need us to do. Under our Privacy Policy, we won't email you or release your contact information. Inactive accounts are of little consequence. The advantage is that if you change your mind, perhaps because you have an Apple-related question, you can return to MacRumors, log in, and post.​

Nice stalking.

Had some hat to kill, and was browsing the member list and saw that there are 13000+ pages, and from page 8750 (+/- 100) or so onward, there are only posters with zero posts.

The problem isn't members with no posts, it's members with many posts in the iPhone forums.

There will be a purge someday.

 

[-Ryan-]

Did you mean the part I boldly quoted in my original post?

I'm going to have to shamefully admit I didn't notice it. I'm going to say that's because I thought it looked like a post signature --- centred and in a different colour.

 

[spinnerlys]

I'm going to have to shamefully admit I didn't notice it. I'm going to say that's because I thought it looked like a post signature --- centred and in a different colour.

Ah, okay. I change the colour to a darker one then.

 

[belvdr]

130,000 records are nothing for a database, which I'm sure is indexed on userid. If each record took up 4K, you're only saving less than 500K of disk space.

You'll spend more time monkeying with the system for no return.

 

[GGJstudios]

Roughly a third of all members have zero posts.
Roughly a third of all members have only 1 post.
That means when a newbie posts for the first time, there's about a 66% chance they'll never make a 2nd post.

 

[xUKHCx]

In answer to your thread title question only a few fringe cases.

In answer to the overall question they aren't. You pose the question as how this benefits the forum experience, in general not a lot. It only benefits those who sign up to view the forums and then come back a year or so later that they don't have to sign up again. I am willing to guess that this affects only a few people.

Of course asking for action or inaction then the question should be in what way would it benefit the forum experience by deleting them. Again I am willing to guess that in general not a lot.

 

[GGJstudios]

Of course asking for action or inaction then the question should be in what way would it benefit the forum experience by deleting them. Again I am willing to guess that in general not a lot.

My guess is the only benefit would be in making those user names available again for new members.

 

[WildCowboy]

Some users may also register with no intention of posting simply in order to take advantage of such features as thread subscriptions and other customizations that can improve their browsing experience and that's fine. Those users could obviously be distinguished from other no-post users by checking activity dates, but it's just an example of why someone might register but never post.

As noted, there really isn't any compelling reason to delete inactive no-post memberships.

 

[Doctor Q]

It's true that abandoned accounts use up user names that others might like to have. But if a user posted and we deleted those posts and their account, it would "break" the discussions they had with other users. More importantly, users sometimes post after months or years of inactivity, so we never really know when an account has been abandoned. One user went over 7 years without a post, then began posting again!