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I really don't think a lack of response is because the site is big. I'm not going to comment about why others might not respond, just why I might not respond. And I am not going to go look at your posts so I am not attacking you or your posts directly. Remember, we are not paid to answer your questions. We do it voluntarily for our own reasons.
This is a worldwide site with members from all over the globe. I may not be awake when someone posts. I may not be online when someone posts. I generally look at the latest posts and the unanswered posts. I seldom go to the different categories and look there. If someone posts and one person responds, unless I am online at that time, I probably won't see it. I know others look in the individual subject forums regularly, so this comment will not apply to a lot of them.
I look at the subject line to decide if I want to open a thread. Being specific in the title helps. If the title is vague or mushy, I probably won't open it. If you want a question answered, be a little specific in the subject.
If I can't understand the question, I probably won't answer it. Use punctuation and capitalisation. Use separate paragraphs. Make it fairly easy to at least identify the question. Try to give some basic information. I don't remember all your other posts. I probably have not read them. I don't know your specific situation. Give me enough information in that post so I can at least have a shot at giving you relevent information. There are many times that I respond and then the OP (original poster) gives further information that makes my response incomplete or maybe even wrong.
I have no problem at all in answering a question that is asked a few times each day. This site would die if the only questions allowed were ones that had never been asked. Besides, those are often the easy ones. Newcomers often don't know enough about the search feature to even search for the right thing. I have problems using it sometimes too and I've been trying for a while. A lot of times I do give links. Sometimes it is to a thread that gives differing opinions. Sometimes it is to an article that can answer the question better than I can. Sometimes, especially on controversial subjects, it is to show why I answer the way I do, based on actual studies, not just my opinion. Sometimes, those links saves me a lot of typing. If someone doesn't want to follow a link, that's their problem, not mine.
Sometimes people have their own agenda and will not accept an answer different than their preconceived answer. I tend to leave those alone if I recognize it in time.
Some people are on here for social reasons. Cliques do get formed. I have certain people on here that I joke with and insult. I feel that I know them well enough that I can do that and not really hurt someone's feelings. But if I don't feel that I know you, or if I feel that I am not part of that clique, I usually don't get involved in those threads.
Sometimes I don't feel that I have the knowledge or experience to respond to a post.
Several posts don't ask a question. I avoid those that are obviously someone proud of their chickens and want someone else to gush over how cute they are. Nothing wrong with that and there are plenty of opeople on this forum that can gush with the best of them. It's just not my thing.
Anyway, this is how I look at it. As you can see, plenty of others look at it differently.
