Why do some new members do this?

[Legacy Dash 438]

Probably just cause they suddenly decide, na, I don't want to be on this forum anymore.

If only they'd stay on a bit longer to discover the awesomeness... 

 

It doesn't bother me too much, although it would be nice if they weren't so many random unused accounts I suppose. 

[Cygnus 60]

Typically for me it has to do with how interactive a forum is as far as back-and-forth discussions that aren't drama, arguments, or just silly, and those things take a few days to a few weeks to start to get a feel for. What I really want is new ideas and stimulation on a particular topic or to find a sense of like minds.

 

I've only ever made friends through interaction, anyway, never through random messages or reading profiles. That would be like if I walked around a party browsing everyone's Facebook updates and interests on my phone as I tried to judge whether or not I wanted to join their conversation or talk to them in private, as opposed to just following whatever cue interested me. The online friends who've stuck or turned into offline friends are ones who found that we liked talking in the first place and had a lot of topics we wanted to talk to each other about. We had no idea what each other's interests were at first besides League of Legends or gin and tonic or what each other's personality was besides loud or a keen observer, and we'd have never found out if most of our involvement with the forum was short, standalone posts (which I see a lot of here).

 

I'm just saying... a five-minute drive to the local cafe and I can have people looking me in the eye while they talk directly to me. It's hard for forums to compete when it comes to fulfilling social needs because so many key elements of socializing are absent to begin with.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Cygnus

[Dsanders 5,747]

It's usually because they quickly began to feel like that they are not welcome here. Just not the right forums for them I guess. And forums in general are not favored by everyone. I'm guess the new members just wanted to take a quick glimpse of the place, make a few posts on some topics and on some of the forums games, and then just lost interest. It happens. It happened to me. I joined in October last year, and I enjoyed my stay for the time being, but I quickly just got bored of it. I was too shy back then to talk to anyone, and I still felt really awkward here. It didn't feel like a family to me... so I left. I left for an entire year, before coming just this last summer. And the whole forums looked entirely different. Well not entirely different... but the whole feel of it, and the old atmosphere it used to have felt different. I guess because it was much larger.. Anyways, I think the larger community and the greater opportunity of meeting friends was lot more available to me. So to my surprise, I suddenly began to feel that family-like environment, and I was motivated to post a lot more.

 

Now here I am, with a lot of free time on my hands, a whole bunch of amazing friends here, both new and old. I've made over a 1,000 posts, and been with my wonderful girlfriend on here over three months now.

 

So really, it takes time before finally feeling at home here, but once you do, it becomes really hard to leave.

 

That may not be the case for some of those short-term members that vanished, but at least that's how it went for me.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Dsanders

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

it's weird to join a forum that's already had quite a time running, the only reason I stayed here was because I joined 3 weeks after it launched, and I felt it'd be a great way to make friends, and I did :3

 

I think they just feel a bit out of place not knowing who's who, and they have a hard time making friends, I dunno xD

[Lisa 5,553]

Perhaps they feel alienated since this forum is now all about "the kool kidz". 

[Kallarmo 6]

Alright, so the way I see it is like this: The forum (or anything) is a acquired taste, sometimes you just can't jump something into your routine and get it to stick, if you aren't familiar with it or still a little shaky about it, you either forget or are just lenient about doing it.

 

I totally agree with this point here. Of course everyone has their own reasons that they might not even notice themselves, but getting a new habit into your daily routine really is hard!

 

I have left myself out of some forums I have joined because I haven't felt welcome, the atmosphere has been somewhat cold, I didn't know what to say and when I did I was too shy to say. For me saying out loud my opinion has always been very difficult, because everyone has always kinda pushed me down and I don't appreciate myself or my opinions so much. I guess some people may feel this way, too? And thus they stay silent and eventually decide that the forum is not for them.

 

Of course things like real life may come into one's way of being active on forums!

[Riddle 102]

Depends on me right now,  I got like

a ton of time off from work due to

the collage shutting down and such

and I've been re-watching mlp a bit

and found this site at like 2 in the morning

last night,  checked it out and liked

what i saw and the souls! 

 

I plan to stick around but at times

i do not like to be around ppl even

on the inter-webzs!

[Glaci 119]

Probably wanted to try it, enjoyed it but then didn't really get to know anybody so they decided to leave. Game well played, but it's just not for them.

[Midnight_Magic 72]

Hmmmm, well as a new member I will try and not do that  I think for me if it did happen would be due to my busy schedule both at work and home life. so far this has been a very friendly place to me 

[K-Kopp 5]

New member here. I made this account about a month ago, and then I quickly realized that I have nothing interesting to say. Mostly I lurk when I've got plenty of time and not much to do, only posting occasionally. Trying to get more active, just don't have much to say right now.

[Techite Sparkle 354]

Based on what I have gone thru lately. I'm surprised I'm on as much as I am here xD.

[PegasusBoot 0]

It's hard to get into a forum these days. I work for an anime convention, and was aghast when I learned that we had discontinued our forum. Anyways, I figured it was just me being almost 30 that it was hard to get into it. I'm trying, but with work, worrying about life stuff, and pining over things that were once worth pining over... it's hard to get into. Maybe people like the idea of a forum more than the actuality of being on one? Anyways. Trying to be here to stay, so... *fingers crossed*

[Scratched Disk 48]

There are also those who join for a single reason, such as getting their pony in a drawing or something.

[Rascal~ 657]

I actually did this when I first joined, I joined and was on here for a day before I wasn't here for about a week or two. 
For me, maybe not for other people, I actually forgot about the forums in those two weeks. For some reason, I actually forgot that I had made an account here, and some days I did remember but the homework has stacked up on me so I didn't go on. 

And then after that two week period I was on here everyday and for the entire afternoon to late at night just before I went to bed, and its been like that ever since. 

[Dsanders 5,747]

Another thing I like to add, is that for a large and continually growing forum community like this, a new member joining would probably feel more shy, awkward, and sense the whole "everyone knows everyone" kind of vibe going on greater than ever before. It used to be a lot easier for the new members joining to get accustomed to this site, as this whole forum was fairly new and tiny at one point in time, and everyone was new and just barely getting to know each other. It was more family-like.

 

But now, it's more like a ginormous high school, and with all these new members(essentially and for the metaphor's sake the "new kids") joining then leaving, it seems clear that they could just be having a tough time fitting in. 

[raspymanic 36]

I'm still here sometimes when joining new forums that have been running for some time it feels a little overwhelming, alot of you are already acquainted and it can be hard to join into big crowds. For me personally when a forum has 1000s of posts and threads it also feels overwhelming to read or even start new topics without feeling stupid for repeating old topics, but i do sit and read posts in my break, i like reading all your thoughts ect even if i don't comment

[LastChanceConnor 25]

I no longer let forums have a fairly big share of my computer time. I used to be on GTAForums, posting on the Chain Story every time someone posted, I was like a hawk watching the forum all day. Now I barely go on there because I'm too busy watching videos on YouTube. I don't even know what videos I watch on YouTube in the time I could've been on a forum.

 

There's my account on the Mystery Shack (Gravity Falls forum) that I've left abandoned for months now. It's not that I don't check it, I do, I just don't know what to post about. On here, it seems that I post from a character's perspective, it's ridiculous. My dreams of being an animator are getting to me. I'm now acting in-character, in school, on the internet, and at home (with my sister).

 

Or sometimes you'd just need to read a good book.

[~Lawful Haze~ 173]

Either they forget, or they find it hard to fit in with the premade groups...

It's a pretty darn big forum...I still feel like I know barely anybody here like

[Sunlight 357]

I made an account here and disappeared shortly after, so I can say what made me do it. It was really a combination of a lack of time and a lack of interest and friends. I didn't know too many people here, and I got kinda bored so I just left. I came back though, so yeah. xP

[Abdul Celestiel 9]

Maybe they are just shy. I'm new here btw

[GrimCW 658]

No idea.. I know I've tried joining some sites and found no interest in sticking around before...

Its hard to stay interested if none of the topics catch my eye, or the population is really low.

Or worst thing yet, the site is just horribly designed.

 

This forum however manages to fill all needs, and its well setup.. I question the idea of not letting dead topics stay dead by merging similar ones into them only to be lost in 100 pages of 3 year old posts.. but meh.. to each their own.

 

The people here, the topics, and the whole setup are really well off.. So.. nope, no idea why...

[Flank 14]

I think it may be because when they first join they don't have any close friends on the forums. maybe they are from another forum where they are friends with just about everyone and then suddenly they're here and everything is new and they just cant be bothered getting into it

[Skye 463]

Some people are scared.

Of people like me.

+W+

[Virulence 254]

Yeah I see this frequently.

 

I used to be like that, but now it's a must check thing for me.

[)O( Scarlet )O( 1,259]

Based on what I have gone thru lately. I'm surprised I'm on as much as I am here xD.

 

Dude, you ok? I'm here to talk if you want.