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Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm
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It is as big as my slice. RSG Role Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/mclaughlins.htm
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RSG is bigger than US Steel.
Let’s see … 1. It covers the world. 2. There’s one in every city. 3. Most of the offering is quick bites. 4. It’s cheap. 5. Whether it’s good for you is open to question. Definitely McDonalds. Cheers Colin Wilson RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wilsonc.htm Trentham Golf Club: http://www.trenthamgolf.com
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Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm
Hello ..Stephen from Toronto Canada Favorite 7 Courses Played Crowbush Links PEI Tooth of the Dog ( Dominican Republic)( casa de Campo) Doral Blue Monster Angus Glen Toronto Devils Pulpit Toronto King Valley ( Clublinks) Glen Abbey Toronto
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Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too.
Charlotte, NC — "If you can’t hit ‘em long, hit ‘em straight." Joe Wright RSG Role Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wrightj.htm
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Vern Bowen,checking in..from Calgary Canada…
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. Charlotte, NC — "If you can’t hit ‘em long, hit ‘em straight." Joe Wright RSG Role Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/wrightj.htm
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I’ll give you half an answer. I’ve wondered about this myself from time to time, so I took it upon myself tonite to count how many unique posters we have to RSG. Eliminating the meowers, and the obvious spammers (FS on Ebay:), and those responding only to the idiotic threads (like the Tim McVeigh threads), I counted a total of… drum roll, please…. 432 unique posters in the time period from 4/25 to present. That’s 2 weeks. I was, frankly, quite surprised. I would have guessed perhaps 150 or so. Many, many of course are one-time posters, perhaps asking a question about this or that. But 432? Wow. I wish I could figure out a multiplier (for every poster there are "X" lurkers) to see how large our community is, but alas, there’s no way. Before I counted, I would have guessed perhaps 2000 total lurkers and posters. Now, I’d guess perhaps as many as 5000 worldwide. There is, of course, no real basis for that guess other than my gut feeling. Mike Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm
– Mike Dalecki RSG-Wisconsin 2001 Info: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm
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Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone?
I would bet there are many ‘lurkers’. I have been visiting here for a few years, but I probably don’t have more than 50 messages in all that time. Sometimes I have nothing to say. <g I guess since I am near Seattle, I feel more like Frasier Crane and his radio show; "I’m listening". — Tim http://www.kingcountyhomes4sale.com – Seattle Area Homes http://www.golfstockmarket.com – Fantasy Golf Stock Market http://www.tritongolf.com – Premium Golf Balls
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Hiyas….Scott….from Seattle Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too.
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Thanks for doing the hard yards, Mike. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ll give you half an answer. I’ve wondered about this myself from time to time, so I took it upon myself tonite to count how many unique posters we have to RSG. Eliminating the meowers, and the obvious spammers (FS on Ebay:), and those responding only to the idiotic threads (like the Tim McVeigh threads), I counted a total of… drum roll, please…. 432 unique posters in the time period from 4/25 to present. That’s 2 weeks. I was, frankly, quite surprised. I would have guessed perhaps 150 or so. Many, many of course are one-time posters, perhaps asking a question about this or that. But 432? Wow. I wish I could figure out a multiplier (for every poster there are "X" lurkers) to see how large our community is, but alas, there’s no way. Before I counted, I would have guessed perhaps 2000 total lurkers and posters. Now, I’d guess perhaps as many as 5000 worldwide. There is, of course, no real basis for that guess other than my gut feeling. Mike Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm — Mike Dalecki RSG-Wisconsin 2001 Info: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm
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Great information, Mike. Indulge me, if you will, while I try to project these numbers a little so they fit another paradigm — namely, radio/tv "ratings." RTR (radio-tv ratings) are typically broken down in this manner: (follow along and this should make a little bit of sense — or not)… * CUME (the cumulative number of unique listeners/viewers per week) * AQG (Average Quarter Hour) (the estimated number of listeners/viewers tuned in during any given 15-minute window) (In TV, this is commonly referred to as "sets in use," which is intended to reflect the actual number of viewers at a given moment.) Okay, so if we were to adapt that ratings paradigm slightly to fit this medium, the terminology and definitions might go something like this… * VISITORS – Total number of unique "visitors" (including both posters and lurkers) to the newsgroup, whether they used Usenet or some archived source, like Google.com, to access the message board) who "visit" the message board during a period of time. This could be broken into ANNUAL VISITORS, MONTHLY VISITORS, WEEKLY VISITORS, DAILY VISITORS. The total number of "visits" made to the newsgroup, whether by posters or lurkers, would be considered "overall usage." * USERS (Posters) – This is the number Mike has come up with. 432 USERS over a two-week period. * PHANTOM USERS (Lurkers) – These are the ones we’ll never know are out there. Now, what we don’t know without him going back and doing this again is whether the same 432 Users posted an article in each of the last two weeks. I suspect some did, some didn’t. I also suspect those who post do so more frequently than lurkers lurk. My guess would be that lurkers come and go, while a higher percentage of posters tend to come back again and again. (Some don’t.) This leaves us with the challenge of trying to project how many lurkers are out there. I would point out that "lurkers" might be similar to what we refer to in radio as "phantom listeners," which, in essence, are listeners who are not likely to participate in a poll or survey (the ratings). In other words, when the ratings companies call to solicit participation in their survey, these are the people most likely to say, "No, thanks," or "I’m too busy," or "What are you selling?" or "How did you get this number? – CLICK," etc. Interestingly, though it’s impossible to prove this theory, because after all, these are people who won’t be polled, it is believed that these "phantom" listeners may, in some cases, be among those listeners who invest the most "quarter hours" into the listening experience. In other words, some are heavy users who, unfortunately, go unreported. I suspect the same might be true of some lurkers to the newsgroup. They probably "consume" the newsgroup heavily (they’re VISITORS), but prefer to remain anonymous for whatever reason and therefore can never be "reported" as "visitors." In other media (radio and TV), there is a phenomena known as "P1 usage." This approximates the old "80-20" axiom familiar to all businesses — that you get 80% of your business from 20% of your customers. Indeed, by extrapolating raw numbers you discover that it’s even more extreme. In point of fact, upwards of 70% of listening to radio stations is done by around 5-10 percent of the audience. In other words, the "heavy users" contribute a disproportionately large number of the station’s overall quarter-hours listened to. Those listeners who contribute the upper percentile of quarter-hours are known as "P1 listeners." (The next set below them are P2s, then P3s and so on.) So, in RSG, the "regulars" (clique?) would be the P1s. On the one hand, my gut feeling tells me that the addictive nature of the interactive Usenet experience tends to inflate the percentage of "heavy users" beyond the percentage commonly associated with a less interactive medium like radio. But honestly, I’m not so sure. These numbers tend to hold up in almost any business model. 5 to 10 to 20 percent of the "actives" tend to make up 70-80 percent of the overall business "activity." So my hunch is, a similar model would hold true for Usenet. So based on that assumption (and admittedly, it is nothing more than that — an assumption, and you know what they say about THOSE) let’s extrapolate these numbers further. I’m going to make some verrrrrrry big assumptions here, and you can dispute them all you want. This might make for an interesting dialogue… I’m going to assume first that anyone who posts tends to be a heavier user of the newsgroup than a "phantom" visitor (lurker). So that automatically puts those who post into an upper percentile of usage (not necessarily P1). We’ll have to grab a number out of thin air here, but let’s say posters represent at least a P3 user, putting them in the upper 30-40 percent of "usage." I think that’s generally fairly safe. Let’s further assume that SOME of the "phantom users" (lurkers) fall at least into the P3 category, and there might even be some P2s and P1s in that group. This makes any estimates of overall usage very dicey since they’re "unreported" visitors, but we’ll press on anyway… Sticking with the ratings paradigm, I’d guess that most of the 432 unique posters in the past two weeks (because they’re all at least P3 users) probably posted at least once in EACH of the last two weeks (repeat customers). If those 432 people (which include most of your P1s, P2s and P3s) represented only 20 percent of all "visitors" (posters and lurkers), then there must be another 2000 or so "visitors" out there. I like that number, and I think it’s not too far off. Let’s call it a total of around 2,500 "visitors" per week (that includes posters and lurkers). What makes this interesting is that in broadcast media (which I think the internet is closer to than say print), the next phenomena you must consider is "audience turnover." That means this: Let’s say you’re a radio station with an average quarter hour audience of 25,000 listeners. That means at any given moment, there are about 25,000 people tuned in. An hour from now, you’ll still have 25,000 people listening, but it’s not the same 25,000 people. A percentage of them left, and were replaced by another group. The audience is "turning over" constantly. There is no doubt the same thing can be said for Usenet and RSG. But wait, this is made even more complicated by the fact that internet connectivity continues to grow at a rapid rate, and so, too, does interest in the game of golf. So how could you ever begin to factor in all these variables? Well, you’d have to be a helluva lot smarter than me to do it (which isn’t saying a lot, especially when you start getting into NUMBERS). But after inputting all these figures into the RANDYVAC computer, I like the number 1,000 for "posters," maybe over the course of a month. I suspect it’s double or even triple that for a year. Possibly even more, but I’d hesitate to suggest that. Admittedly, this is just a guess, but it’s based on a paradigm (albeit one more appropriately applied to other mediums) that I know to be reliable. And I’d figure the number of USERS (posters) is only around 20% of the overall "usage" of the newsgroup (total visitors). That percentage might even be smaller, which would mean the total number of visitors is even larger. It starts getting pretty scary. Is it unrealistic to think there could be 10,000 people who "visit" RSG (posters and lurkers) over a 3-month period? I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all, especially considering the 24/7, world-wide nature of the medium. When you get right down to it, that’s a pretty darn small number considering the "potential universe" from which the forum can draw its audience. But of course, it will always be the P1s who rule the roost. And that’s as it should be. Randy Proud to be a P1 user of RSG RSG-ATLANTA Information: http://www.YouGoGolf.com/rsg-atlanta.htm Charter Member, RSG "Clique" Night Watchman, FIAC My RSG Roll Call profile: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/brownr.htm RSG FAQ: http://ttsoft.com/thor/rsggolf.html Voiceovers/Narration/Production Services: www.RandyBrownProductions.com
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’ll give you half an answer. I’ve wondered about this myself from time to time, so I took it upon myself tonite to count how many unique posters we have to RSG. Eliminating the meowers, and the obvious spammers (FS on Ebay:), and those responding only to the idiotic threads (like the Tim McVeigh threads), I counted a total of… drum roll, please…. 432 unique posters in the time period from 4/25 to present. That’s 2 weeks. I was, frankly, quite surprised. I would have guessed perhaps 150 or so. Many, many of course are one-time posters, perhaps asking a question about this or that. But 432? Wow. I wish I could figure out a multiplier (for every poster there are "X" lurkers) to see how large our community is, but alas, there’s no way. Before I counted, I would have guessed perhaps 2000 total lurkers and posters. Now, I’d guess perhaps as many as 5000 worldwide. There is, of course, no real basis for that guess other than my gut feeling. Mike Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm — Mike
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Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm
I mainly reply to posts. Is that counted as a poster I wonder? Richard Bullock rsg rollcall: can’t remember my web addy but its on there somewhere
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Hi, I’m Alan in San Jose, CA…..just recently "joined" the group. Finally found you guys! Have only posted a couple of times, since most of the topics either have been answered already by multiple people when there is a question, or they may not relate too closely to me. Becoming quickly addicted though to checking in to see what is going on and being discussed! On a personal note, I finally broke through a mental wall yesterday and got a new personal best of 75. I was stuck on 77 for a year and couldn’t get it lower even though in the last couple months I have been even or 1-under a few times at the turn….. Thanks for being here group!!!
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks for doing the hard yards, Mike. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm I’ll give you half an answer. I’ve wondered about this myself from time to time, so I took it upon myself tonite to count how many unique posters we have to RSG. Eliminating the meowers, and the obvious spammers (FS on Ebay:), and those responding only to the idiotic threads (like the Tim McVeigh threads), I counted a total of… drum roll, please…. 432 unique posters in the time period from 4/25 to present. That’s 2 weeks. I was, frankly, quite surprised. I would have guessed perhaps 150 or so. Many, many of course are one-time posters, perhaps asking a question about this or that. But 432? Wow. I wish I could figure out a multiplier (for every poster there are "X" lurkers) to see how large our community is, but alas, there’s no way. Before I counted, I would have guessed perhaps 2000 total lurkers and posters. Now, I’d guess perhaps as many as 5000 worldwide. There is, of course, no real basis for that guess other than my gut feeling. Mike Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm — Mike Dalecki RSG-Wisconsin 2001 Info: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm
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<snipped On a personal note, I finally broke through a mental wall yesterday and got a new personal best of 75. I was stuck on 77 for a year and couldn’t get it lower even though in the last couple months I have been even or 1-under a few times at the turn…..
Alan, Welcome to RSG. BTW, I hate you. 
— Dan Driscoll Stuck on 80 since 7/00 Never under par for any 9
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Thanks for the greetings and the other Dan… :-) Trust that I know *exactly* where you are coming from. I had shot 80-82 so many times in my life, but couldn’t somehow break through. Then three summers ago I shot back to back 79s. It has never been the same since!!! Someday you will break through that barrier and all of a sudden your expectations, outlook, confidence, etc. all changes. I now don’t truly expect to shoot in the 70s every round, but I do expect to at least have a real good fighting chance. The last month was the first time I have broken through the under par at the turn barrier that forever also felt unbreakable. I have been 1-under at the turn twice in the last month. All barriers are meant to be broken!!!
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snipped On a personal note, I finally broke through a mental wall yesterday and got a new personal best of 75. I was stuck on 77 for a year and couldn’t get it lower even though in the last couple months I have been even or 1-under a few times at the turn….. Alan, Welcome to RSG. BTW, I hate you. — Dan Driscoll Stuck on 80 since 7/00 Never under par for any 9
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with his/her presence, and uttered…..: I’ll give you half an answer. I’ve wondered about this myself from time to time, so I took it upon myself tonite to count how many unique posters we have to RSG.
<snip You counted them? manually? you are keen! May I suggest something like Agtfind (a Forte Agent plug-in) or the like next time. it does it all for you, and very quickly. I’ve recently re-subscribed, and my news server only has partial threads back to about 20th March. In the time there have been approximately 1300 unique ID’s used (this DOES include spammers, but I was only after an indicative) of which roughly half have posted more than once (according to Agtfind). Just FYI. — Mad’Doug "Any errors in fact, thought, spelling or grammar occured during transmission."
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Hi, I’m one of the guilty parties. I’ve enjoyed reading rsg for many years and I think I may have posted twice! My suspicion is that this group is huge! No basis for that thought other than many people come in and out of groups without active participation. Your question has prompted me to reply, I enjoy this group and hope it continues to flourish. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. A
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There are really only 4 people who post here. The rest of them are either Hibbard or me.
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Denver CO Terry "Squeaks" Hansen AAC(F)BV66.0748.CO "We need to stop the exquisite sex and wholesome violence that underscore our children." George Dubyuh Bush on National Public Radio
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Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm
Been around a long time…don’t post as much as I used to. mth — Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/huntm.htm
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm Been around a long time…don’t post as much as I used to. mth
Please tell me your first name isn’t Mike. ;) Scott Travelling Sideshow Comedian, FIAC
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But not as big as mine. 
— Mike Welch RSG Roll Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/welchm.htm FIAC
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It is as big as my slice. RSG Role Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/mclaughlins.htm
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LOL! — Mike Welch RSG Roll Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/welchm.htm FIAC
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm Please tell me your first name isn’t Mike. ;) Scott Travelling Sideshow Comedian, FIAC
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Lurk daily, post rarely from Ann Arbor Michigan. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Every time I see a post from someone I have never heard before I wonder how many people actually contribute, lurk, pop in occasionally. Are there heaps more watching from the wings or is this about everyone? Could all you lurkers who have never or rarely posted just say hello and tell us where you come from. You are a part of it too. — doughboy rsg rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/powerj.htm