I find it amazing that in less than 24 hours a thread I start can have 200 views, but not one single reply. Is it even possible for it to be viewed that many times and not one single person have anything to say?

I'm not criticizing anyone for choosing not to reply but has it really been seen that many times? Do they count guest views or what? That makes me wonder if some forum categories should not be visible to guests...like the more serious stuff, I feel like you should have to be a member to read.

Some people not want the details they disclose open to just anyone on the internet, just saying.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by iPhone

I find it amazing that in less than 24 hours a thread I start can have 200 views, but not one single reply. Is it even possible for it to be viewed that many times and not one single person have anything to say?

I'm not criticizing anyone for choosing not to reply but has it really been seen that many times? Do they count guest views or what? That makes me wonder if some forum categories should not be visible to guests...like the more serious stuff, I feel like you should have to be a member to read.

Some people not want the details they disclose open to just anyone on the internet, just saying.

considering this is not a private website and is searchable through search engines (meaning anyone who types in google or other search engines anything to do with mental disorders will get psych central forum results, psych central website in their results) it is possible for a thread to build up more views then replies.

a person doesnt have to be logged in, to see psych central forums... for example if a friend of mine who is not a member of psych central types in the word depression, the thousands upon millions of results the friend would get would include psych central and any forum posts that contain the word depression.

this may be the reason why this site has a recommendation/ rule or guideline or suggestion not to use ones real name and any personal real life information that can point to a members real identity... because the whole wide world has access to psych central and anything that gets posted here.

[bearguardian]

Im quilty. I read it from a feed and dont notice the absence of replies. And I open it only if I have something to say. If I saw the empty thread I would make more effort to reply.

[lizardlady]

Iphone, could it be that people are voting in the poll and not posting a reply? I did that. Frequently when I vote in a poll I don't leave a written reply. I kind of feel like I expressed myself by voting.

[DocJohn]

Yes views represent mostly humans with some search engine bots. But it is mostly human views...

[bearguardian]

Now I wonder how much traffic I create on websites with the feed. Its amazing I was not blocked...

Originally Posted by lizardlady

Iphone, could it be that people are voting in the poll and not posting a reply? I did that. Frequently when I vote in a poll I don't leave a written reply. I kind of feel like I expressed myself by voting.

Yeah, that's true. Like I said it's not that I expect members to respond if they don't have anything to say. I'm just always amazed at how many views there are in contrast to responses or even "Thanks", not just in my threads but in others.

To the other PPs, I agree with not sharing identifiable personal information. I just feel that some of the content should be members only. I guess the takeaway from this is don't pay too much attention to the views (since some are from bots like DocJohn said).

[lizardlady]

Originally Posted by iPhone

Yeah, that's true. Like I said it's not that I expect members to respond if they don't have anything to say. I'm just always amazed at how many views there are in contrast to responses or even "Thanks", not just in my threads but in others.

I get that! There are times I post, tons of people view and few responses. Always leaves me wondering.

[sabby]

I've never paid attention to the number of views any of my posts get. It's not important to me who viewed my post, what's important to me are the responses I get. I appreciate all who take a moment to read and I really appreciate anyone taking a moment to respond. I do realize that those who are guests (viewing but not logging in) increase the number of views a post gets. I hope that those reading from outside of PC will find something that resonates with them and they get the urge to join our site.

[IchbinkeinTeufel]

Originally Posted by amandalouise

...because the whole wide world has access to psych central and anything that gets posted here.

Almost anything. Check out the Premium Poohbah forum if y'all have access, as that's more private; it's not indexed by bots because you must be a member in that group to view that forum, and thus won't show on search engines like Google. (giving bots that sort of power typically isn't desired on message boards)

John, please let the community know if that ever changes, although I'm sure that would never happen. xD

Originally Posted by iPhone

I find it amazing that in less than 24 hours a thread I start can have 200 views, but not one single reply. Is it even possible for it to be viewed that many times and not one single person have anything to say?

It's entirely plausible to have 200 views and sadly not one reply. I know it's frustrating. There are many reasons why people aren't replying, but here are some off the top of my head:

• The message is simply too long and people either aren't ready to commit to a rather long post. Walls of text also come to mind; they can be very difficult to read, I think especially for those with dyslexia.

• The content or topic is triggering to some people and so they view it, but then leave the thread once they realise. With so many ways to trigger somebody, it's incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to avoid for both sides.

• They just have nothing to say on the topic of your post. There are also many who are less vocal about things. For example, I come into this thread and type all this out, sharing my view and experiences. However, some others may read this thread and think plenty, but say nothing; it happens.

• They're busy, and so for whatever reason were able to read the post but not reply.

• There are a lot of "lurkers" when it comes to these sort of sites. Lots of people look through these kind of message boards, but take sometimes a very long time to work up the confidence or desire to even register an account. There are also members who have simply yet to or cannot sign in and so unable to leave a reply.

If possible, you could try posting into a forum that may be more relevant to the topic, that way it might catch the attention of would-be posters.

[Perna]

Part of the views, too, are sort of cumulative. If a few people respond to the post and then come to re-read it to see what the next/other people have responded or if you have responded back to them, etc., so a single person could view the post 3-4 times just checking.

And it's not like the title really says what the post is about/says; I'm sure there are a lot of people who open posts, read a bit and then move on to the next post; look at all the web surfing we do each day; it's just a smaller form of web surfing? :-)