I know we are supposed to believe the Essential Groups are all the rage, and I have tried to see it that way. A few things just don't add up for me so I am asking your help.
The front-page features were the first big disappointment for me. I read them for a few weeks, until the disappointment at how poorly written many of them were made me walk away. Then, I decided my resentment toward the editors might be misplaced. Maybe the groups hadn't attracted many members, and those members were not publishing much.
I went back to look again. Membership numbers didn't appear to be the problem. I was amazed to see these numbers:
Books - 28,000 members
Food - 15,000 members
Health - 18,000 members
Money - 10,000 members
Movies - 31,000 members
Music - 16,000 members
News - 13,000 members
Politics - 34,000 members
Travel - 15,000 members
I have 400 members (connections) and average 41 comments on each article. That sounds about right according to the 10% will respond theory I learned years ago. I looked over the categories and numbers again, thinking I might want to switch to non-fiction and write for some of those groups. I read, and could surely write an occasional book review for 2,800 comments. I calculated that into my closest point conversion guesstimate and came up with $56. Politics was one of the reasons I came here in the first place. If I could make $184 for writing one article in each category, it would surely be worth my time.
However, when I checked one page of featured articles in each category, (I went back several pages to make sure I was looking at articles on which the comments threads that had stagnated) the 10% number was not there. Instead, this is what I found:
Book articles averaged 18 comments, one from 0.006% of the members*
Food articles averaged 14 comments, one from 0.009% of the members
Health articles averaged 24 comments 0.13%
Money articles averaged 19 comments 3.79% (thanks to an article about gas prices)
Movie articles averaged 15 comments 0.48%
Music articles averaged 17 comments 0.106% (including Donny's contest winner announcement)
News articles averaged 21 comments 0.161%
Politics articles averaged 47 comments 0.138%
Travel articles averaged 29 comments 0.193%
*Assuming the comments were left by group members, and each member left one comment, which is not the case
This leaves me with several questions:
- Why do tens of thousands of people join a group and not participate?
- How would belonging to these groups benefit me?
- How would publishing to these groups benefit me?
- Why are the people who publish to these groups more valuable to Gather than, say, someone like me who has found a comfortable, consistent 10% niche?
- Is my thinking way off track?
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Comments: 43
I'll let you know what I find out. Seems to me, that auto subscribing new members, then undoing it without notice would be a grand way to pad membership.
I know about every month or so, I go through groups and remove ones I have not read or posted to.
I'm going to miss Kris.
There are Liars, there are Damn Liars, and then there are Statistitions.
I do not think that your way of thinking is off track. What is different from what I have seen here is that you are really thinking about it at all.
Nor do I belong to or publish to large numbers of groups and I can't regret that now that I see your numbers. Gerry, thank you for that. When I open a page and have to scroll to get past the group listings, only to discover that the content is shorter than the list of groups, I scroll straight to the gold stars and voice my disapproval. Writing well doesn't seem to help either, although it could be that I don't write nearly as well as I'd like to believe. I hope you continue your statistical analysis until you unravel what type of good writing it is that actually attracts attention and provides memorable reading. I have completed this analysis and have both good and bad news for you. I don't know what you believe, but I believe your writing is in the top-writing category here. The bad news is that means you will not receive nearly as many comments as you would if you were "publishing" one liners or games. Sorry, Gerry.
I like that Suzy girl's idea. Maybe a Gather Guru. ANybody know a Guru? Depends. Do you want this guru to still be alive?
My new alter, Suzy Articlewriter, was added to Movies Essentials. She was not invited, nor did she join it. It just magically ended up on her groups page. On a closely related note (hey, my mother changes the subject in the middle of a word, so this isn't bad) - Is there anyone here who has not received a connection request from the singing stars or doctors? I've wondered how they found me, since Donny is the only one who commented on anything I've published.
Kathleen, I subscribe to my favorite groups and receive notifications when articles are published to them. That's why it upsets me so much when people publish to inappropriate groups.
wink!
(Nice to see you.)
Sandy, my hope today is to raise your personal 10% single-handedly... even though I am in a death-roll with Immigration and need to take the dog to the vet today.
I think I have stumbled upon Utopia.
:)
Looking at the stats in the most read lists indicates that the number of users who participate on this site is really small (as compared to other socializing sites).
Maybe, but not always, they post a few times and then get bored. Some continue to lurk *blush* Some like myself seldom find much worth commenting on. Sorry to say, but it's true.
After lurking once or twice a month for several months I'd estimate there are 1,000 to 1,500 regular members who post at least one day a month.
Happy posting!
Preponderance
Makes you realize you are ALMOST alone on here, ha ha
Happy Posting!
Preponderance
Oh, I never got a connection request from singers or doctors. Maybe because I commented about a gazillion times about how I have always hated Mr. Osmond!
By observing the articles accepted over a period of time, it becomes clear that certain authors receive twenty or more comments on all of their articles. What's also true, is that the same people generally comment on the articles of each of these individuals. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the commenters are reading specific authors, not the Essential Groups themselves.
The people who publish to these groups are more valuable to Gather than other writers because they have a following consisting of a mainstream audience, which is less likely to cause a disturbance.
Why tens of thousands of people join a group and then don't participate is just another mystery of the Universe.
I write mostly about books, sometimes movies - DVDs and in theaters. I sometimes write about life experiences. If I get 15 comments it's a lot.
I average about 25 points a day... now that we're in triple point territory, I average about 50 points a day (you can do the math).
Something is quite fishy.
I like the sense of community here. I'll keep it at that.