Forum numbers

Aquila Hawk · Post by **Aquila Hawk** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:55 pm

Ferrum wrote:Nikita, well said. However, when the forums are only 186 people out of 115,000, I don't think it has much impact on morale, only time will tell. Excellent post though.

Alright, this is something I kinda feel should be brought up. If for nothing other then to explain why there are only 186 forum members. First and foremost, a lot of those signed up emails are probably duplicates, ie. someone making sure they get an email indicating the beginning of testing. Out of all the people that preregistered, there are probably very few who decieded to religiously check the website. Out of those that have checked, there are some who just don't like forums or don't have time for them. Also consider that the forum has only been up for about 4 or 5 days. I know some smaller forums that would love to be able to pull in that many people seemingly at once. So I don't think it's so much lack of interest as it is people just aren't aware of the forums. True, there could be people who were put off by the delays (most of which seem to be NASA), and others whos priorities change. There is also something to consider in that this forum is in English, but there are members here from nations with a different primary language. Therefore, it might be a little more inaccessable to them. These are all factors in why there are only 186 out of 115,000 accounted for here.

Nikita · Post by **Nikita** » Sun May 21, 2006 11:04 pm

Aquila,

Funny enough, I wondered if most were just waiting for the e-mail or had forgotten about it! I do think time will tell. Good points, especially about duplicate e-mails, some have already indicated that they have done so!

Jdriscol,

I think some people have been on other projects that have had problems with similar set ups. Also, I think the immediate posts of names and challenges to be the first just brought this to the forefront. I think that your point is valid. You are one of the people who take the project seriously, but who also want to have the fun included. Good luck!

_Tilion_ · Post by **_Tilion_** » Tue May 23, 2006 12:01 am

Aquila Hawk wrote:Alright, this is something I kinda feel should be brought up. If for nothing other then to explain why there are only 186 forum members. First and foremost, a lot of those signed up emails are probably duplicates, ie. someone making sure they get an email indicating the beginning of testing.

This is not possible: I expected an email sooner so I also tried to preregister again to make sure I got the email, and the registration page told me that my email address was already in the database, so it was not registered again. Strange that some people do seem to be able to register twice.

Aquila Hawk · Post by **Aquila Hawk** » Tue May 23, 2006 9:51 am

_Tilion_ wrote:
Aquila Hawk wrote:Alright, this is something I kinda feel should be brought up. If for nothing other then to explain why there are only 186 forum members. First and foremost, a lot of those signed up emails are probably duplicates, ie. someone making sure they get an email indicating the beginning of testing.
This is not possible: I expected an email sooner so I also tried to preregister again to make sure I got the email, and the registration page told me that my email address was already in the database, so it was not registered again. Strange that some people do seem to be able to register twice.

Actually, what I ment is that some people preregistered two or more different email addresses. eg. Someone put both their home and work email addresses on the list. So two seperate emails would be sent out, but they would go to the same person.

Blakut · Post by **Blakut** » Tue May 23, 2006 10:17 am

Alright, this is something I kinda feel should be brought up. If for nothing other then to explain why there are only 186 forum members. First and foremost, a lot of those signed up emails are probably duplicates, ie. someone making sure they get an email indicating the beginning of testing.

Well, i signed up a few minutes ago, and i keep reading the boards. Maybe some are just reading the boards, and are not interested in posting.

Siegfried · Post by **Siegfried** » Tue May 23, 2006 6:36 pm

_Tilion_ wrote:
Aquila Hawk wrote:Alright, this is something I kinda feel should be brought up. If for nothing other then to explain why there are only 186 forum members. First and foremost, a lot of those signed up emails are probably duplicates, ie. someone making sure they get an email indicating the beginning of testing.
This is not possible: I expected an email sooner so I also tried to preregister again to make sure I got the email, and the registration page told me that my email address was already in the database, so it was not registered again. Strange that some people do seem to be able to register twice.

True. I registered under two e-mail adresses--not to get my e-mail ahead, but to be sure that I read it and received it.

DustTrailFinder · Post by **DustTrailFinder** » Tue May 23, 2006 10:06 pm

Blakut wrote:
Well, i signed up a few minutes ago, and i keep reading the boards. Maybe some are just reading the boards, and are not interested in posting.

The count we are using is for those who have signed up, not just those who have posted. See the "Memberlist."

S'latch · Post by **S'latch** » Wed May 24, 2006 8:23 am

You will probably find that most people who are more interested in this project than others, will be actively checking up on the status of the search and all information regarding it, just as I have done so today.

I am almost certain that as soon as everyone is e-mailed about the start of the search, that registration to this message board will significantly increase. Maybe there should be an e-mail sent out now about registering for this message board.

Siegfried · Post by **Siegfried** » Wed May 24, 2006 6:36 pm

DustTrailFinder wrote:
Blakut wrote:The count we are using is for those who have signed up, not just those who have posted. See the "Memberlist."

You don't have to sign up to read the board. And many people don't check every page of the site, they just look at the news, and may not know about the message board. And others still may just not have checked the website in a while, thinking (as the man who told me about this originally) that the preregistration was meant so that Stardust would contact them with any news of the project. Also, some people have a vBulletin-style message board phobia. Too many years using Yahoo. It's the exact opposite for me.

joecor99 · Post by **joecor99** » Thu May 25, 2006 6:04 am

I'm another one who pre-registered under 2 different email addresses. I wanted to have info go to both addresses so that I could have access to it either at home or at work.

Also, Anna, I was very glad to find that we will have to indicate where we saw a track. Otherwise, if a certain movie was particularly "busy" with cracks, etc., it might have been more difficult for those verifying the accuracy of a positive find. I just hope I will be able to be accurate enough (in the vertical location) to be able to get an actual positive, if I ever find one.

Verenique · Post by **Verenique** » Sat May 27, 2006 3:46 am

DustTrailFinder wrote:I am concerned about the fact that fewer than 200 people seem to show an interest during the first several days available to sign up to the message board out of the 100,000 who pre-signed to participate in the program. Even fewer have shown enough interest to actually post comments. I have to wonder how many of those 100,000 individuals will ultimately assist us in finding trails.

It just might be a case of non-awareness rather than non-interest. I first saw some info about Stardust project in a newsgroup. I immediately visited the project's Home page, pre-registered and then sat waiting for it to begin.

In fact, I forgot about it - being occupied with my specialty board-examinations and all. Then, I once again saw a banner about it, a few days ago and once again I remembered. I thought it had already started, since the banner mentioned something about the 17h of May, and was wondering why haven't I received an e-mail.

So, I think it would be much more appropriate for the people in charge of this project to sent e-mails regularly during that mid-period of waiting to all pre-registered users - instead of leaving it for the last moment. The lack of such a kind of action cools-off the interest to all participants: they just tend to forget.

DustTrailFinder · Post by **DustTrailFinder** » Sat May 27, 2006 7:05 am

Verenique wrote:Carbon number 7 inside my limbic's particular receptor, originated from a purple Supernova, generating illusions of explosions at a glance of your figure.

That's about the sexiest thing I've seen a person write, but so is your nic. Gotta say, I hope you're female, but even if you aren't, you do have a way with words.

It is small wonder that your specialty is hearts!

DustTrailFinder · Post by **DustTrailFinder** » Sat May 27, 2006 8:04 am

Verenique wrote:It just might be a case of non-awareness rather than non-interest.

That may well be true, but if someone is really interested in participating, you would think they would be anxious enough to keep checking back rather than passively waiting. So far, the members who have signed up have shown that anxiety, and my guess is that they will be the most devoted and interested in accomplishing the project objectives. Of course, I do recognize that there are many volunteers who want to be productive, but also have other commitments and interests. But still, the point is that most of them will have those commitments and interests once the project actually begins and they receive their first email that it's a "go". I think it's entirely fair to say that those with the most time available and the most interest in this project are those who have already signed up and kept watching for the start. I may be entirely wrong, but I don't think I am. Even if most of the actual trails are found by volunteers who sign in after being notified that the project is ready to begin, I will always think that those who came here first and wanted to discuss the project were more dedicated and more interested in the project, than those who came later. Not that any of it matters very much, because accomplishing the project will benefit all of us and everyone in this world from the new knowledge we will gain, no matter who identifies the particles captured. I would hope that almost all of those who pre-signed up for the project will actually participate, but what I am voicing is a concern that many have lost interest and will not participate.

Verenique · Post by **Verenique** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:19 am

DustTrailFinder wrote: I would hope that almost all of those who pre-signed up for the project will actually participate, but what I am voicing is a concern that many have lost interest and will not participate.

Although I believe that when the project will start, it will draw back people's interest, we do share a similar concern.

That's why I believe it was wrong not to preserve people's heat by regularly sending emails or other stuff about the project in the mean time.

PS: lol DustTrailFInder! No, despite my nickname I'm a male.
A Greek astrophysics scientist wrote a book, some 15 years ago I think, about a stellar objext called in greek "the Hair of Verenique" - if hair is the right translation for the word he actually used. A book that fueled my passion about space and the physics it involves.

As about my signature, well I was often fascinated by that poetic idea of where did those atoms making up my body participated in the past!

sb126k · Post by **sb126k** » Wed May 31, 2006 2:08 pm

I believe that simple things like this message board help greatly in keeping people interested. Other things that could be done could be as simple as creating a countdown clock on the forum to when the searching will start, to something as complex as creating other searcher exclusive websites to keep interest alive. One thing is for sure, though, and that is that interest must be kept as high as possible, or the project will take far longer than anticipated