Why do people register my forum and never write anything ?

[wii]

In one of my forums I have lots of members that register but never write anything, the forum is open for guests to read everything and they are not spammers, I don´t get it !

Any thoughts on why people would register a forum and never write - personally I only join a forum if I have something to say.

Thanks

[ses5909]

I am the same way wii and I also experience the same thing on my forum. I think most forums have that though! One thing you can do when someone registers is send them a custom welcome PM and a custom welcome email and encourage them to introduce themselves!

[wii]

I have done that already, I´m using vBulletin and enabled both the welcome PM and welcome Email with customized text to encourage people to write.

Strange.

[stymiee]

Some people register because they want to reserve their name. Others do it because they think they have to in order to read the forums. Others do it intending to post but never do. There are many legit reasons for it to happen. Every forum experiences it so it really is quite normal.

[rcj662]

I think alot of people join mutiple forums then only find time to post at a few. Some people forget which ones they joined and others only want to have urls in signature.

[Mittineague]

On my forum, I've found that there is a direct correlation between the number of registered non-posters and the number of SPAM bot thread-start / topic-comment attempts.

[MajorTom]

I've had my forum up almost two years (first link in my signature) and we get a lot of signups that never post. Wait a while, eventually some of them will activate and spam your forum. The #1 tip I could give for any forum owner is to block all signups from mail.ru accounts, they are always spammers. Heck, most .ru email accounts (Russian) are porn spammers.

[rickomaha]

1. They join and realize that there is not anything for them in the forum
2. They forget they joined
3.They are spam.
4. They just like to read.
5. They just wanted to see what its all about
6. They are spam.

[Mittineague]

block all

I find it sufficient in some areas to "react" rather than be "pre-emptive".
To me non-posting members might be legitimate so I give them a while to post before I remove them. I suppose I could try to make the "requirement" more discoverable.
As for ".ru" members, after so many SPAM attempts, the "wildcard" ban was triggered. So any legit ".ru" is inconvenienced. Selfish of me to add "me" into the equation perhaps, but I'm the one dealing with it.

Off Topic:

The script-kiddies may not be too smart, but it's a shame that they compromise legitimate users' convenience.

[wii]

I have dealt with spammers a lot in the past, but since the latest versions of vBulletin, I actived everything I can to make it as spam unfriendly as possible, I´ve had very few people that didn´t come from a real e-mail account.

I still wonder though why so many would take the time to register to a forum that is very obvious what it´s about and just never post, we are talking about maybe 80-90 % of all members never write anything at any point in time.

[Salient]

Some people register because they want to reserve their name. Others do it because they think they have to in order to read the forums. Others do it intending to post but never do. There are many legit reasons for it to happen. Every forum experiences it so it really is quite normal.

There's also the crowd that join because they think there might be the odd forum only available to members We have one chick who joins any site we create and has posted a sum total of once at one site. How the heck she finds some of the sites, private communities, remains a mystery as they aren't advertised anywhere.

[wii]

Might be an old girlfriend of yours that just want to follow you in everything you do online

We have one chick who joins any site we create and has posted a sum total of once at one site. How the heck she finds some of the sites, private communities, remains a mystery as they aren't advertised anywhere.

[COMTECH]

It happens on every forum.

I've began deleting inactive (0 posters) members after a 15 day period.

[worldofchat]

Thats the best thing to do comtech, not really sure why some people register and dont post, happens a lot on my forums too, I think its just normal.

Woc

[stymiee]

It happens on every forum.

I've began deleting inactive (0 posters) members after a 15 day period.

I wouldn't do that. Now they can never be active members unless they re-register which is an unnecessary burden that will turn away users. Just leave zero post accounts alone and let them do their own thing.

[Claymation]

I had a guy register and surf the site last week.
Then he took the time to email me and say that he registered, but changed his mind and to please delete his account.

I've been doing the forum thing for many years, and THAT was a first for me.

[cpvr]

I wouldn't do that. Now they can never be active members unless they re-register which is an unnecessary burden that will turn away users. Just leave zero post accounts alone and let them do their own thing.

Exactly and it doesn't hurt keeping them in your database.

[SRD]

As someone who registers but doesn't always post I can tell you my reason:
If I visit, read, and appreciate the site, I want to support that site, not neccessarily by posting, so I register.
Many sites rely on advertising and the number of members and hits can make a difference to the way the site can sell that advertising.
Many sites are based on a product, or support for that product, so, if I have used the product or found the info I need, whether or not I need to post, I register, again to show my support. I know I could post and say something like "Wow, what a great product/support site etc." and that some site owners may appreciate that, but this takes up my time and can clutter up the site making it difficult for visitors who really need info to wade through posts.

[Casitecenter]

1. They join and realize that there is not anything for them in the forum
2. They forget they joined
3.They are spam.
4. They just like to read.
5. They just wanted to see what its all about
6. They are spam.

its complete and well done
but my idea
it can be interesting if you give the people rewards to read and post in your forum
for example if you provide web hosting you can give them free hosting to convince them to send new post in your forum

and some of spammers are very helpful they copy the article from every whre and post it on your forum so this can attract people to come and see new post

[Wilks_eye]

some people just likes to react, and unless the thread is not something they feel strongly about or knows very well, they wouldnt join in.

[godXcel]

Some people forget which ones they joined and others only want to have urls in signature.

I think that is very true. What I do is once a month I email every member including those who uncheck recieving an email from the admin and I write a small blurb about recent additions and etc. Within 20mins of sending out that massive email, I can watch my forums hit a new high for most users online.

[moxie81]

I also have had this problem. In about two months, about 60 members registered. About 50 were spam bots. and about 8 never posted anything. the last two were me and a friend. So I have grown sick of the spambots and dsiabled my forum. I found a much better idea anyways. In two weeks, I made my first 35 cents, compared to 6 months to make $20 using adsense...
I tried the phpBB forums, and even after giving people MANY reasons to join, and participate, they were too busy/resistant to change. Oh well, it was educational, at least. - Chris

[robahall]

I find that on a lot of my own forums people just register and never post also.

But sometimes what you will find is that people 'lurk' around the forums, but just don't contribute very often, much like I do on sitepoint.

[calvinwoon]

most ppl are lazy... and with so many forums and distractions around.. it's no wonder ppl register and not post

[intelligence]

i think few people register and forget, if you will send them reminder with current thread info they'll coming back.