Membership numbers?

[FastFreddy2]

Bit of query I'm sure everyone is wondering about .....


The membership is growing, I think. I've noticed a pattern of growth, then reduction. For example; there looked to be 420 members the last time I looked, but today; 375.

That's quite a drop. Is it possible to indicate why so many new members are removed? I'm sure they need to be (or it wouldn't be done) but it's quite an enigma.

[euchrid]

Another oddity:-

The Members List just returned a total of 34.
At the bottom of the home page, the "members" figure is given as 378.

They can't both be right.
In view of the paucity of posters, i'm tempted to believe 34 is the more accurate figure.

[Admin]

They are 2 different figures.

Active members, and "Total members"
Active members are simply those who are around regularly, almost daily.

[euchrid]

Originally Posted by Admin

They are 2 different figures.

Active members, and "Total members"
Active members are simply those who are around regularly, almost daily.

OK - thanks for the heads-up.

The 'Active members' figure is obviously the most important one
- it really doesn't matter how high the other figure gets - we could have 10,000+ passive/inactive/uninterested/non-visiting members yet the "liveliness" of the H4M forum wouldn't be improved.

It's probably not worth monitoring that 'total members' figure at all, Freddy.

BTW, the current "active members" figure at HHP is 1800. I guess we need to get a serious recruitment drive underway here somehow if we're to catch them up.

[FastFreddy2]

Originally Posted by FastFreddy2

there looked to be 420 members the last time I looked, but today; 375.

That's quite a drop. Is it possible to indicate why so many new members are removed? I'm sure they need to be (or it wouldn't be done) but it's quite an enigma.

Originally Posted by Admin

They are 2 different figures.

Active members, and "Total members"

Any chance of some movement on the answer to the query?

Originally Posted by euchrid

It's probably not worth monitoring that 'total members' figure at all, Freddy.

BTW, the current "active members" figure at HHP is 1800. I guess we need to get a serious recruitment drive underway here somehow if we're to catch them up.

1800 people regularly posting on HHp? Seems unlikely.



Regardless, people become members here for a reason, and every member is an opportunity. [A contribution opportunity.]

On another Forum where I'm a member, there are 13,000 members worldwide. [One of the most active forums on the planet.] But there's probably fewer than 300 regular posters....


This place could never be as busy as HHp. Either forum has a predominently male membership. The HHp if fairly diverse compared to HH4M, even so, it's a niche interest group.

With interest in shoes/heels even amongst men being small a fraction of the whole populace ..... We could be talking about a hundredth, a thousandth, a hundred thousandth of a percentage of the populace? Bulletin Board Forum membership for any interest group is going to be a small percentage of the whole group. Already you could be talking of a thousandth of a thousandth percent of the whole UK/US population.

No surprise then that across the English speaking world, HHp has managed to get less than 'active' 2000 members....


Reduce the interest opportunity even further, by allowing only discussion on men wearing heels, 3 or 400 members becomes a big number.

From the little feedback we get here and from the experiences I've heard elsewhere, I'm not at all surprised members here feel disinclined to discuss their personal life or interests in what could become a public place, if they got careless or who were subject to hacking. More likely though, those used to hiding their interest, just carry on hiding .....



.....

[euchrid]

Originally Posted by FastFreddy2

1800 people regularly posting on HHp? Seems unlikely. .

That isn't an 'active posters' figure, rather it's the 'active members' - basically it's the number of people who have been regularly logging on & visiting the HHP site. Unfortunately the term 'regular' is also relative since many of them haven't actually visited it this year!
The figure for visitors during 2009 is roughly 800.

In the case of our 34 "active members", 4 of them havent visited H4M this year yet (at least they haven't bothered to log-in when visiting)!

Why someone would register on the site, make a handful of posts and then "disappear" is a mystery to me but there are presumably many people out there doing just that.

Yes, this is a niche interest site, but since there are so few of them around (for our particular peccadillo), I would have expected people to gravitate to them like wasps towards a very jammy jam-jar.

You are probably right in that many fellow heel-admiring/wearing males are still very much 'in the closet' and wary of leaving too many internet footprints (stiletto-heeled ones ).

[Admin]

The number of "actual members" displayed, is only how many have actually registered, but doesnt take into account those who never bother to validate their email, and so, complete their registrations.

Every month or so, I go through and wipe out all members who have not verified their email address, as 99.9% of them are just spammers, or time wasters anyway, thus, the number drops back down, and every 6 months or so, I might even go and delete all members who have not logged in for 6 months and have never posted.

Same applies for both websites.

[FastFreddy2]

Originally Posted by Admin

Every month or so, I go through and wipe out all members who have not verified their email address, as 99.9% of them are just spammers ....

Ahhhhh.

That explains that then..... Thank you.

Originally Posted by euchrid

Why someone would register on the site, make a handful of posts and then "disappear" is a mystery to me but there are presumably many people out there doing just that.

Yes, this is a niche interest site, but since there are so few of them around (for our particular peccadillo), I would have expected people to gravitate to them like wasps towards a very jammy jam-jar.

You are probably right in that many fellow heel-admiring/wearing males are still very much 'in the closet' and wary of leaving too many internet footprints (stiletto-heeled ones ).

Very well put.

....

[dww]

In answer to the coment make a few posts and disappear, Yes I do visit the site and have a look around, not very often I will admit.
But until I find something I can comment on and add my two pence worth I will carry on looking (sorry guys). As for HH Place it appears to be going in a what dress will I wear with these shoes sort of direction, nail varnish shaving etc is not me. So there you can have my two pennies worth, and yes I am more than happy to meet up with like minded people and have a good time, no problems so far.
All the very best David.

[HFMROK]

DWW,

I see your statement and that sums it up for me too.

Personally I can't get my head round what I can best describe as obsession with stiletto heels that most seem to have. I get an overwhelming image in my mide that for the majority the wearing of heels is for sexual reasons rather than style reasons. I suppose that is why the stiletto has such a following. Cuban heels, my favorite for guys, just don't have that "sexual" connotation that the stiletto has regardless of their height. I guess that is why I wear cubans without giving it a second thought.

Simon.