Post #262773 by Humuhumu on Wed, Oct 25, 2006 7:00 PM

It is a real number. Those 5,000+ users weren't created by an anonymous machine (a few of 'em were -- there's always been the occasional spambot), they were created by people who upon finding Tiki Central liked it enough to want to create an account. Why they do this, without ever posting, I don't know. Some of them do it because they lurk, and they want to at least leave that little "I was there" imprint. Some of them do it because they want to send a PM to someone about something they've read. Some of them do it because they want to buy a Grand Membership to support a site they love, even if they don't post on it. Some of them do it because they want an Ooga-Mooga account. Some of them died before they had a chance to really say hello. Some of them just created an account and forgot about it.

Whatever the reason, it's a record of the history of Tiki Central, and while it may be a number that's meaningless to you, it's not to me, and I would be disappointed to see it go. Each one of those users is a little story, whether they've posted or not, and if you don't find it interesting, it's easily ignored.

If you're interested in a list of what you consider "active" users, that list will be impossible to create. Ask 10 different TCers what they think makes a TCer, and you'll get 10 different answers. If one counts the people who read regularly or semi-regularly but don't post, then based on my own experiences in talking to many tikiphiles in person out there, the 5,000 number comes closer than 300 does.

Basically, the act of counting TCers is a tricky one for many reasons, but removing the available data wouldn't make it any easier.