How has Mac-Forums gotten so large?

I suppose this may be a dumb question, but I really couldn't find any threads about the history of Mac-Forums. I'm just wondering how did Mac-Forums grow to 13,000+ members? Was it by word of mouth or what? I joined when I found this site on Google, but 13,000 people is a huge number. I guess this is a question for the veterans of this forum because maybe they'll know how it got this big. Did you advertise on other sites, did it just happen, or was it something else? This is something that I've been wondering about.

I found it through Google.

If you look through the member list, it only goes to 3645, though 1000 have visited in the last two weeks. My guess is the other 10K or so were inactive accounts (no activity over x months) and were purged.

I found the place the day I switched to Mac's back in 2003 on google (member 279) and liked the place, have never found any reason to go anywhere else

Yes, 13,000 is a huge number, though by comparison it is smallish...

Mac|Life (formerly MacAddict) Forums has over twice as many as us with over 27,000 members

MacNN Forums has over twice as many as that, with over 67,000 members

and MacRumors has a whopping 88,000+ members

True, those forums are older and have had more time to accumulate members and they do make us look small.... but only in numbers.

I joined up in early 2004 and found it to be, very simply put, much nicer forum to be a part of. Those others (some of which I am a member) have constant bickerings, flamings, etc. etc. etc. so I don't really visit them anymore. In fact, just for giggles, I logged into Mac|Life just now and my last visit there was on 9/9/2005.

look at what society we have here and how we go along with our business on this websight. no wonder why it's so large.

I am a new member so I can't speak for the vets but I found this place via google also.. people here are friendly and helpful so I have no reason to go anywhere else.

I just registered for MacAddict because when I was an ignrant n00b Windoze i asked if there was iMovie for Windows. :-O

I think I Googled and found this place.. it's been awhile I thought it was friendly also and I really liked the moderators since they were actually down to earth and not crazy like other forums.

btw iRye.. I love your avatar

As for why we have grown... maybe because we do have some good moderators, excluding myself of course since that would be presumption But we're not too strict, and we believe in our members that they want a good community also and that belief leads to the good members feeling that there is something special about this place and they enjoy it as much as we do.. so we get a lot of members that stay, instead of the huge flux that a lot of forums get... Just some guesses on my side since I don't have any stats to back it up, but that is what it seems like to me.

I googled to find M-F and found it to be such a helpful place for a newbie. I had so many questions at first and got all the answers I needed here. This forum is clean and very friendly, makes it a pleasure to log on every day and see what's being discussed. I haven't even checked out any other forums. I'm satisfied!

i chalk it up to fried foods, high fructose corn syrup, and a sedentary lifestyle.

oh wait, mac-forums, not me.

I googled also after getting my first Mac. (What would we do without Google!!!) What has kept me is not only the great people but the helpful advice. This feels like family.

Nicely put D3v1L80Y!

I joined on the day my Mac arrived, and had actually found a few other Mac forums, many larger. Something about this one seemed right, so I joined it.

It's a nice community here. And yes PapaNoHair, it does feel like family in a way.

D3v1L80Y said:

Yes, 13,000 is a huge number, though by comparison it is smallish...

Mac|Life (formerly MacAddict) Forums has over twice as many as us with over 27,000 members

MacNN Forums has over twice as many as that, with over 67,000 members

and MacRumors has a whopping 88,000+ members

Click to expand...

But to put some perspective on it, Mac-Forums purges inactive members monthly, I don't believe the other sites do that.

We started purging members 2 years ago. If we hadn't done that I would venture to say we would have over 50,000 "members".

So in short, we have over 13,000 active members. To compare apples to apples, we'd need to know how many active members the other sites have.

All in all, I think the end reason why we're so successful is the community of members we have here. Sure, the mods have set the tone, that is one of mutual respect, sharing, and clean fun, but it's the members that truly make the place. People here are helpful and patient. Caring and fun.

Many other boards are filled with presumptuous fan-boys with little time to help others but lots of time to be rude and condescending. Those types of people don't last too long here which creates a better environment for all.

Over the years there have been several "spin-offs" from Mac-Forums, mainly by dissatisfied former members who didn't appreciate the atmosphere here, but none have so far survived or thrived. I think that speaks volumes to the attractiveness of our members and community.

How long would I have to stay inactive to be up for purgery.....I mean, purging?

yogi said:

How long would I have to stay inactive to be up for purgery.....I mean, purging?

Click to expand...

'
It's all in the forum rules

I joined up Jan 04, 2005. I have had Macs for a long time before that, but got my first PowerMac G4 with OSX in Summer 2004 and was looking for a Forums to call home after years at Anandtech (Which I still visit for helping PC people). A close friend who finally went with OSX found Mac Forums and told me. Been here ever since and will be as long as there is a Mac Forums and Macs! Great group of people here. :spook:

I joined the day I switched, found the place through google.

I also found M-F on google. I joined in October 06, I think? It was before I had purchased my mac. I was doing my research and I found all you lovely people.

I knew about Mac-Forums for a while, at least two years. But the timing and feeling to the forum really wasn't right for me to join before. Now it is. :girl:

I think every forum has a "personality" that comes through the whole make-up of the forum itself. It has to do with the population of people, the mods, the topics that are mostly discussed. I've said it before, I think M-F has a great bunch of people who give it an outgoing, humorous, and very nice personality and the mods keep anything that might spoil things under control. No wonder it's growing and people like it here so much...it's a great place to be!