I probably should do what I do best, and keep my mouth shut.. but I do have an idea on why someone may lurk and not join.
I joined because my husband had just gotten a dozen baby chicks and he didnt have time to ask questions, but I had a job where I could be on the board all day.
In time, and this is MY opinion and why I don't log in when I do come by, which is very rarely.. in time the board became more social and less chicken. And thats fine, because I have partaken in the social end and have even made friends here. But the focus is chickens.
Whenever I had a question, I would search for the answer first. Sometimes the search results are overwhelming. So I would ask a question. And no one would reply. But if I posted that I liked chocolate ice cream, there would be 600 responses. It got very frustrating because I figured someone out of the 50,000 members should be able to help. But the old timers were tired of answering the same questions over and over, which is understandable.
Anyway.. maybe someone really doesnt want to just chat. Maybe some people really are just looking for information. Maybe the 50,000 replies to 3 of the threads in the game section slow down the website. Maybe, just maybe, there are TOO many members. Maybe instead of trying to get more members, the focus could switch to keeping the members that are already here.
Did you know that back when there were 50,000 members, almost 15,000 had never posted, not even once? The number of enrolled members has risen, as has the number of people who never posted. And the number of people who probably shouldn't post has risen also. I think some folks fell ignored, and others may feel badgered.
Well, I AM going to hit the submit button this time. Normally I type up responses, then close the window. I'm only 1 of 300 or 500 or 92,000.. I expect this post, like so many of my others, will go unnoticed. But if you do happen to notice.. The orginal purpose of this site was to promote the joys of backyard chickens ( at least that is what I assume) Whether the users sign up/in, or just search without logging in.. the site IS meeting its goal. People are exploring the joys of having a backyard flock. That's all that is really important, no?
