Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

clem57 — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 16:19:40 GMT

So the question is points and why some do not participate? In my case, I enjoy the time spent here versus a video game or Facebook time. I think I made a good exchange considering all the people I meet here. It also follows the rule that 20% of the people generate 80% of the traffic. But in this case it more like 10 90.

Thanks,

Clem

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

jgerred — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 22:09:57 GMT

Well, it depends on what you consider "active". Some people have projects that are worked on a sporadic basis due to life getting in the way!

Granted there are probably some folks that just signed up for an answer to a homework problem, but there are probably others that signed up, looked for a specific piece of information, maybe asked a question or two and then life got in the way of what they are working on.

Speaking from personal experience, I signed up looking for some advice, asked a couple of questions, browsed the articles, and then had no time to work on my project for over a month.

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

dougw — Thu, 10 Nov 2016 04:29:07 GMT

Great work Mark,

It is always interesting to obtain insight into the participation statistics for this forum.

The members and their activities are one of the big reasons that make this site so interesting, so their participation is crucial to our level of enjoyment. Any insight we can gain into understanding participation and how to increase it is important and interesting in its own right.

When looking for examples of how to increase participation, there aren't any better examples than e14, so there aren't obvious things missing.

Social media like Twitter and Facebook may have much higher participation, but the content is not of the same caliber, and I'm not sure adding a more social aspect here would have a big beneficial effect. It might, but I suspect the members here are not generally the type to tweet 100 times per day.

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

fvan — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 20:52:43 GMT

I remember collecting data in November last year. At the time, I collected the "last login" date of about 360.000 members. The result was that only about 50.000 members had logged in in the 6 months prior to my data collection. Perhaps I should try running the exercise again, see how these numbers have changed.

While I agree that points do not necessarily reflect on the quality of contributions, and that members can disappear for a few months between posts, it does annoy me when statements like the one below are made:

"... collaborate, share ideas and converse with over 440.000 engineers and innovators from all over the world ..."

There may well be 440k accounts on the platform, but the number of active users is just a fraction. 440k is impressive, and keeps sponsors etc ... happy, but it's a lie, isn't it?

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

DAB — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 20:43:57 GMT

The chart has been very consistent ever since I joined back in 2011.

You have a few people who consistently participate, others who chime in once in a while and a whole bunch of people who rarely if ever participate.

These results are probably typical for any organization that includes engineers and technical makers.

Most are introverts who feel uncomfortable dealing with other people.

Some people can overcome this reticence when they need help with a problem, but then soon disappear.

Then there are the regulars who stay here and blog, post, and try to encourage others.

As the chart shows, these people are few, but luckily, we are not discouraged by others not participating. We just keep waiting for that one additional participant that can see the fun we are having and becomes a regular participant.

Is there a solution for getting more participation, I honestly do not see an easy one.

You have to want to interact, and introverts do not normally want to.

As they mature, they may develop into good interactive mentors, but it takes a while.

All we can do is to keep posting interesting things in hope of enticing more people to read and then participate.

DAB

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

shabaz — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 20:32:44 GMT

Hi Mark,

Interesting chart!!

There are some things that this community offers, that might not be showing up in the points.

For instance I have no idea if watching webinars increases points but that would seem to be a very valuable resource since it is free, usually high

quality training, and as an example the Building Automation Webinar accouncement has 70,000 views since August, so a massive number of people are seeing it.

Some of these people may dip in and provide a few high quality bits of information in comments and then might not reappear for a few months, but the contribution could be highly valuable, for instance one member (Meng-Lun) worked on a useful API for the BeagleBone Black but he only very occasionally contributes, yet his few contributions have been valuable to many.

Similarly there are many others like this who will contribute less frequently but make valuable contributions.

I'm just wondering if maybe the level of participation we have is natural for our field. Generally even the most esoteric questions get answered so I suspect there are enough members where when their radar flags up in their specialist area, they will contribute.

RE: Observations on point accumulation by the top 60 Element 14 members

mcb1 — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 19:49:51 GMT

[mention:cfece103b6b1472f8ae8457a53614c1a:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05]

Very interesting observations.

Victor used to do some other analysing based on login frequency.

He reached a similar conclusion about numbers of very active members.

Many at the top of the list undertook quite a few Design Challenges. These take some effort and will generate quite a few points based on content, likes, etc.

Some of these challenges were complex and wouldn't have suited others, so I believe they have been cut back.

You are right about the changing of the list. For me personally I've had other personal priorities in the last year, so my contribution has been much less.

Often I'd like to provide assistance, but the reality is I don't have the time available.

There was also a cleanup of the points system to remove anyone that was staff, supplier and 'paid' blogger, which will have changed some rankings, but overall the results won;t have changed.

My question to you is ... what would you suggest to encourage participation.

You've been here for nearly 5 years, so do you consider yourself active.?

From my observation there are a large number of members who see this as an alternative to search engines in order to seek the answer to their assignment.

Others simply sign up for the freebies.

There is no reason they can't be accepted for a Design Challenge or Road Test as each application is read and considered on it's own merit regardless of their ranking in the community.

Participation is not a new problem, and like many things you get out what you put in, so some effort on their part may give exponential rewards.

cheers

Mark