Comparison of Traffic on Four Forum Boards

a reply to: xuenchen

I don't have enough information to answer that question.

a reply to: DISRAELI2

You may be right, the wording is not as explicit as I would like.

originally posted by: ArMaP

originally posted by: TheMichiganSwampBuck
I just posted a thread here on ATS and then copied & pasted it to three other forums then compared the time it took for my thread to drop down the new topics pages.

I hope you have followed the Terms & Conditions of Use.

6) Use Of Content; Copyright. All content created by Users of TAN website are governed by an "Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Unported" Creative Commons Deed (hereinafter "Creative Commons License"). Users can share, distribute, copy, and transmit the work Users find on TAN websites provided Users provide proper attribution that includes the name of the Website User, the name of the Website, and a link to the content thread. These usage rights do not apply to any commercial use of the content found on TAN websites, and such use is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization from TAN. These usage rights also do not apply to derivative works, and such use is strictly prohibited without prior written authorization from TAN. Each post of each thread contains a "copyright" link that clearly specifies the method in which the material may be shared, distributed, modified, or used.

You will not copy, distribute, display, or publicly perform material from the Websites to Post on other websites or quote in offline research in a manner that does not comply with the Creative Commons License that specifies the author's member name as a member of AboveTopSecret.com, includes The Above Network, LLC and the member as owners of the content, provides the title of the thread, and a full URL to the board thread. 


Are you going to turn me in? To whom exactly will you report?
When I have a thread that is important to me (the one I pasted wasn't), I post it on my own website or forum board before I put it up anywhere else like some crappy dying has-been board with no known owners and moderators that seem to be winging it without oversight.

I challenge you. Put up or shut up by kicking me off Above Top Secret. I wouldn't miss a thing and you won't find me on Deny Ignorance either.

originally posted by: TheMichiganSwampBuck
Are you going to turn me in?

No, it was just a comment, and I am probably wrong in my interpretation of the combined points 6 and 17 of the Terms & Conditions of Use, as point 17 is specific for contributing members.

I challenge you. Put up or shut up by kicking me off Above Top Secret.

I don't have the power to ban members, only super moderators and administrators have that power.

originally posted by: TheMichiganSwampBuck
I should have included the following information in this study, the basic board statistics.

Above Top Secret
Members 326,911
. . . with these old statistics www.abovetopsecret.com

US Messageboard
Members 47,742

The Patriot Hangout
Members 818

Rogue-Nation
Members 234

The membership totals have little to do with post-turnover in these example boards. Obviously, active membership is a main factor and would be hard to determine.

I wasn't going to state the obvious, but when I look at the membership and compare it with the post-turnover rate, it sticks out like a sore thumb. ATS claims over 300 thousand members but my thread remained on the first page for two days while an obscure and much more primitive message board with less than 50 thousand members blew my post into obscurity in less than ten hours with a new post about every minute. TPH with just over 800 members has a new post every ten minutes and has been quickly delivering the content I used to find here. What does this tell you knowing the recent history of this board?

I will tell you what I think. The membership numbers here are inflated due to that hick-up that kicked everyone off. I'm not sure if anyone has access to the stats but my guess is that less than one-quarter of the membership numbers is a more accurate head count (and I'm being optimistic with that number). Personally, I believe that there are far fewer active members who managed to either get their old profile back or rejoin after that incident and many of them have moved on.

Also, many other things occurred to drive away contributing members of ATS, not all of them the fault of mismanagement, however, that ultimately became the case here. Now a lack of proper maintenance, and management and no progress forward have slowed this board to a snail's pace. ATS hasn't rolled with the changes to compete with other social media platforms either, then again, neither has these other forum boards I've been comparing.

I've been here for 14 years now and find it interesting to witness ATS clutching and gasping as it struggles to survive. It is a prelude to what I see coming for message boards as social media. The stages of decay and ruin are like those of a dying civilization soon to be lost forever. Somehow I find a morbid comfort in watching it waste away and die.

a reply to: ArMaP

Sorry for being cross with you, but I tire of people telling me what to do.

I think that your suggestion to cite a source (author) and provide a link to ATS (or any board) where it was first posted is only proper, even if I were the author of the thread. That is why I will publish my important content on my own website or board first before I post it here or elsewhere. This also gives me the added bonus of getting my links out there for the crawlers and search engine bots to find.

originally posted by: TheMichiganSwampBuck
a reply to: ArMaP

Sorry for being cross with you, but I tire of people telling me what to do.

I don't like it either, sometimes even if they pay me for doing it.