Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Top 50 Posters Extrapolated, January 2007

Once again, I think this was an excellent idea Doctor Q and I was happy to participate. Looking forward to reading the upcoming installments! :cool:
 
Interview question:
What led you to post so much at MacRumors?​

My comments:
People gave a variety of reasons for their high post counts here. What's apparent is that they got/get enjoyment from their interactions with other members. eyelikeart and wdlove admit that it was "fun to post" (although neither is an active member now). ~Shard~ echoes the "having fun" theme.

bousozoku and others mention their instinct to help people. I think that all of these members share that trait.

If Mr. Anderson hadn't lurked initially, as he reports, his "posts per day" rating would be even higher!​

Interview answers:

Backtothemac:
I made friends, and found common interests outside of Macrumors.​

bousozoku:
I felt a need to help people, wherever possible, though it turned more than a bit OCD after becoming an op for the IRC channel.​

Doctor Q:
So many discussions seemed interesting, from computers (my primary interest and profession) to random threads about random topics. I never expected my involvement at a single forum site would grow as it did, but MacRumors suited my geeky tendencies: discussing Macs, math, science, etc., doing recordkeeping like the Photo Directory and Free iTunes threads, and research for my Top Poster threads.​

eyelikeart:
It became fun to post and be a part of as many topics/threads as I could.​

jelloshotsrule:
Killing lots of time during school. I'm a procrastinator. I still remember the night that I was supposed to be doing a hand drawn animation at my desk, but instead I was up on MacRumors. I pulled an all nighter to finish the animation, and was rewarded by being one of the first to read the announcement about the all new eMac. No one seemed to have seen that one coming, so it was probably the best surprise I've experienced on MacRumors.​

jsw:
I was drawn into the community almost immediately, and posts often seemed like part of a conversation with friends. Plus, as I spent more time here, I learned more and was able to give back by helping others, which I enjoyed.​

mad jew:
I surf MacRumors instead of watching TV. It's my way of relaxing. I remember being really excited when I reached regular status, let alone 6502 status! One particular iGary put it very nicely: this place is like crack. Having never had crack, I guess I'll just have to take his word for it.​

mkrishnan:
I just like it here! I like helping others, and I like being part of a community around my computer, rather than just having it be a piece of plastic. And then I've made friends here, and gotten to know people, and that keeps me posting.​

Mr. Anderson:
I didn't [post so much] at first. I lurked for months, then I started to get more involved. Work was also dragging at the time and that might be part of it.​

shadowfax:
My interest in Apple and rumors about future released drew me to the site, and when I had read all that I could of news, I started reading the community discussions and gradually became immersed in it--everything from random silliness to political/ethical arguments to photoshop contests.​

~Shard~:
I initially had quite a few questions which led me to naturally post a fair bit. Then, I started developing friendships with many of the members, which led to a fair number of posts as a result. Once I became more of an expert in the Mac world I found myself drawing on my knowledge and replying to other people's questions a fair bit. Recently I've been posting in the Private Forums since becoming a Demi which has kept my post count up as well. Lost of great discussions going on there! In general though, it's a combination of things for me - asking questions, helping people by answering their questions, providing support, feedback, etc. for other members on more of a personal level and then many times just goofing around and having fun in this great community. :)​

vniow:
Found out I had stuff to say? I dunno, I was really drawn in by the community and relative tight-knit aspect of it. Back then (in 2002) it was much much smaller than it is now so it was quite a bit easier to keep track of what was going on. I forced myself to become an active member and become part of the community and subsequently my posting rate went up.​

wdlove:
I enjoy posting. Once I got started, it was easy to continue.​
 
Doctor Q - this is a wonderful idea! It's interesting to see this information, and it definitely adds a personal touch to the numbers we see every 6 months.

It's interesting to see that the reasons for our "top posters" to be here are very similar to the reasons any of us are here. They may be the largest volume posters - but most everyone here shares some common bond around the sense of community and the overall enjoyment of the MacRumors experience.
 
Wait... am I missing something? Did wdlove really respond to the questionnaire or are his answers made up? I thought he hasn't been around here for over a year....

Edit: Er, nevermind. Just checked and it lists his last activity as being yesterday. I guess he's around, but just lurks. :eek:
 
It is interesting to notice how many of those who said they posted because it was fun have now withdrawn themselves from the forums.

A number of the users who had been around for a while (jefhatfield) are no longer active posters.

Obviously, those users have found something more enjoyable, or have had other, real-life commitments that have prevented them from continuing to post.
 
jelloshotsrule said:
i live for moments like this. my excuse? i think it's clear that if i have the power to bring you out of hiding for months and months (actually, today minus september 25, 2005... that's well over a year!), i owe it to the people here to keep posting!
Click to expand...

Now you just need to get wdlove and the others to post....

*grabs popcorn. watches and waits in anticipation*
 
jelloshotsrule said:
i live for moments like this. my excuse? i think it's clear that if i have the power to bring you out of hiding for months and months (actually, today minus september 25, 2005... that's well over a year!), i owe it to the people here to keep posting!
Click to expand...

I've got to admit, it was too tempting to reply to your post. :D
 
How much time per day do you spend at MacRumors?

Interview questions:
How much time per day did you spend at MacRumors at your peak? How much time now?​

My comments:
A lot of top posters have spent up to 8 hours a day at MacRumors, so it is definitely a home away from home for them. Or maybe we should call it their full-time job!

In the early days of the forums, it didn't take members much time to keep up with all of the forum discussions. These days, it would be quite a feat for someone to read all of the thousands of posts on a given day. For example, MacRumors has averaged about 3900 posts per day in the week since the keynote. If you spent 8 hours per day reading the forums, that would give you about 7.4 seconds to read each post, much less type your own. In 2001, it took 5 months (!) for 3900 posts to be made. At 8 hours per day, that would give you almost 20 minutes to reach each post and toss in your own opinion now and then.

Oops, I slipped back into numeric mode! :eek:

Clearly, people can no longer read every post, so we all pick and choose the discussions to participate in. These members have just spent more time doing that than others have.

Finally, I feel sorry for jsw, who apparently raises dumb children. :rolleyes:​

Interview answers:

Backtothemac:
8 hrs. peak; 15 minutes now.​

bousozoku:
Too much, and still, too much but less.​

Doctor Q:
It has grown over the years. I keep one eye on the forums throughout most days. First being a moderator and now an administrator, my responsibilities and the time required have grown, so I'm often around but not posting. Overall, I'm in and out over a 14-hour period most days. However, nothing will compare with a week in late February 2003 when I was on as much as humanly possible, having a great time reading and posting in the infamous Geek thread. It's still one of the best times I remember at MacRumors, ranking up there with a few April Fool's Days. :)​

edesignuk:
I used to just stay signed in all day while at work, and then be on it when I got home too.​

eyelikeart:
I was at work from 8-4pm during the day, plus probably a couple hours at night.​

jelloshotsrule:
It's hard to really measure because it's subjective how to actually account for it. because of my computer geek nature, plus my school work was almost 100% on the computer, i'd almost always be on it, and thus, almost always have a macrumors page open. but that doesn't mean i was actively looking/posting. but, safe to say 8 hours any given day.​

jsw:
At my peak, when work demands were very low, I spent most of the work day and some evening time here. Now, I spend an hour or so per day here, but it's spread out (a minute here, a couple of minutes there). Having a laptop and needing to babysit my 18-month-old often tends to find me in a room without a lot of intellectual stimulation, so I peek in here often.​

MacBandit:
At my peak I probably spent as much as 8 hours in a day. I kept up an average of 4 or 5 hours a day for a few months after that until I got a job out of town. When I was out of town I was working 6 days and didn't have much time to be at the computer. When I returned home from that I started a new job and just never got back into online chatting as I had. Over the last year I've started getting online more and more but my interests seem to be more diverse now and I spend more time reading and participating in various blogs than I do at specific forums. Now days I am probably only at the MacRumors website no more than 5-10 minutes per day. Finding the time now days has actually become easier due to my recent purchase of a MacBook (my first laptop). I can now surf and watch TV with the wife at the same time.​

mad jew:
Realistically, probably about three hours a day over the course of a week. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. I come by after work which is mid to late evening for me. This place is dead at that time, which might be why it looks like I post so much in quick succession. It's only because nobody else is here. :p​

mkrishnan:
I probably spend too much time here, but I'm not super aware of how much time that is. :eek:​

Mr. Anderson:
I'm not sure - hours obviously. I'd render things at work and as they spent hours rendering an animation chugged along. So I'd be able to post in between projects. I also spent a lot of time online at work researching and learning - one browser window was always on MacRumors and it was easy to just shoot off a response. Now being married, two kids and a mother-in-law to care for, I have a fraction of the time I did before. As is obvious from the fact I'm not in the top posters over the last couple of years.​

Rower_CPU:
At my peak, I'm almost afraid to put it into numbers. :eek: Probably off and on throughout the day from 8am until 10pm - maybe 4+ hours total? These days I don't spend as much time, maybe 30 minutes taking care of moderating duties and keeping tabs on news that interests me. I don't really find the time anymore since my current job keeps me busier and I'm doing more outdoors-y stuff off the computer.​

shadowfax:
That's a tough question. 3+ hours on average, I would guess. I certainly had peaks where I'd be browsing and participating in forums for the better part of a night, 5 or 6 hours. Some days, of course, I'd be away completely…​

~Shard~:
Definitely hours a day at my peak. Now, not as much. I was more consistent in the past as well, whereas now, sometimes I post several times in a day, but other times only several times in a week. Work keeps me busier now, as does my house, and I simply have a lot of activities on the go and a busy life. Macs (and subsequently MacRumors) is of course a part of that though. ;)​

vniow:
I remember staying almost all day on it at some points, the weather was usually crap or I wasn't feeling well so I couldn't be arsed to go outside so the computer stayed on. Now I spend about 8 hours/day roughly. I'm definitely a homebody so I probably spend more time on here than most.​

wdlove:
Probably 4 - 6 hours.​
 
Well, howdy, eyelikeart. You haven't been around, so you probably don't know that arn sold the site to a consortium of former members, led by swanny, mymemory, and tazo, and then went off to be a TV star. :cool:
 
Switzermac was behind the consortium, but arn didn't know that at the time. But all this info is for eyelikeart's ears only, and once again Switzermac has gotten us a bit off topic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back