70,052 Registered DU users..How Many Lurkers?

[Blaze Diem]

Everyone from DC pollsters to international watchdogs, from politicians keeping an eye on "which way the wind of public opinion" is blowing, to Rovian stooges giving an occasional look over their shoulders. Across America and throughout the world, people can count on Democratic Underground for current (non-reported) news, critical to American policy.
Opinions from the gut, and theory of possibilities based on facts.
We are a huge part of the check and balance system intended in our US Constitution. Bush et.al. attempts to stifle that system in their quest for the brass ring of fascist one party rule, but forums like DU are the powerful force that pushes and shoves its way in their faces.
We, at DU, and all those who research, post, argue, and inform, do so because of the common belief in humanity, peace, and justice.

As we speak truth to power, and the 70,052 registered users post and join in, I wonder how many enter as "guests" and why?

[RandomKoolzip]

1. 70,050.

The rest are me and Bouncy Ball's sockpuppets.

[ebayfool]

10. I'm a sockpuppet?

:woohoo: I've made the big time! LOL!

ummm, who's am I - yours or Bouncy's?

[alittlelark]

2. 10,250 is my guess... benign lurkers anyway.

As for Trolls.... yeah.

[DearAbby]

4. I lurked for a while before joining,...I am guilty..but I joined the best

place one can be, you guys are the greatest...I mean that.

:applause: <~~ This one's for you DU!

[alittlelark]

11. It is a cool place! I post almost nowhere else.

[carnie_sf]

3. 70,000+ of us?

Maybe liberalism isn't so dead after all>

[housewolf]

5. And how many registered at one time or another

and abandoned us? How many "active" users are there - say, that check in regularly or even have checked in within the last year?

Curious....

[Blaze Diem]

12. I guess they come & go,

but we'd probably be freakin amazed at who is really reading and why they do so. Do people like Oprah or Letterman, the leaders of foreign countries or people living in similar oppressed governments like WE ARE.
Do the million or so bloggers derive their educated opinion from the wisest at DU?

DU Watchdogs are everywhere.

[ebayfool]

6. I lurked for a good bit before venturing into the water. I'd bet there are

alot of people like me - reading, learning, trying to see how to negotiate the forum without getting into hot water (still working on that one, I am!). No idea how you could guess the numbers, admin probably has a good idea of it, though. Coming out of the shadows & actually posting is kinda like a 'wild white-water rafting ride' at times ... intense, scary, thrilling, mundane, all kinds of things!

Still, an 'E' ticket ride!

[EST]

7. When I joined DU, after lurking for a long time,

I felt I had come home, and, with rare exeption that hasn't changed.

[Ms. Clio]

8. I think the ratio of lurkers to registered members could be 10: 1

I think many more people read here than register as members, and the majority who do register post very little.

[R. A. Fuqua]

9. I once read a scientific paper

that estimated on "talk radio" shows only about 1% of the audience ever tries to actually call up and participate in the discussion.

I have no idea if message boards are similar--but if they are--and only 1% of the audience has tried to participate in the discussion--then we are talking about huge numbers here. (It is probably not good to extrapolate from talk radio to the internet(s) because the media are so different--but it makes me feel good!)

I would have to say though that I am sure many of the people who check us out are probably NOT extreme liberals--we definitely get checked out by people who are just curious--and also many who are outright enemies to liberalism.

[Blaze Diem]

15. I too believe the numbers may be huge..

This is a great place isn't it!
I always enter DU knowing that I am not just posting to the usernames I read at the time.
I believe I am speaking worldwide.
I enjoyed Elizabeth Edwards posts last night..maybe that's what made me wonder about the numbers.

[R. A. Fuqua]

18. I agree--

I personally think that every Democratic activist in the U.S. knows about this site (and think of how many there must be!). Also--their conservative counterparts ALSO know about the site--the number HAVE to be huge!

Although, I have to admit (shamefully) that unlike you I don't always think about the audience (I probably should). I guess that when I get a conversation going with someone--it is so cool and I forget that the whole world may be reading it.

[ohtransplant]

13. I only lurk - never post.

Wait a minute...

[Elwood P Dowd]

14. How many registered members does the Nazi Republic have?

That has to be the biggest clusterfuck of a site on the internet. High schools have better sites than that.

[Blaze Diem]

16. HAAAAAA Yep!!

As in PRESIDENT Clusterfuck.

I wouldn't even want to lurk on a freep site.
Why waste my time.

[boguspotus]

17. I joined, but still a lurker:

Checking DU for me a multi-daily thing - but I hardly ever post. By the time I have a really good question to ask or comment to make, someone beats me to it.

But what can I say? This place rules. But some people do need to take a chill pill sometimes. (Shouldn't we all be friends even when we disagree?)

[Quixote1818]

19. Once you check in, you can check out but you can NEVER LEAVE!

I lurked for about a week then saw something I HAD to post on and then it was all over. I am addicted and traped in this website forever. I may check out from time to time but I can never leave the Hotel DU.

[Blaze Diem]

20. Same here..I spent almost 6 months not signing in..just reading the posts.

I was kept well informed, always something interesting being posted, then there it was..I had a question to ask and a statement to make.
Its nice to have that option.

[anitar1]

21. Lots of lurkers.

I know a few who are progressives and have lurked for quite some time. I lurked for over a year.

[Blaze Diem]

22. Nothing wrong with lurking..

Its an informative place. And if the drama gets to you, there's always the DU Lounge to lighten things up a bit. I've read some hilarious posts in the Lounge.
Its a crazy place sometimes!
Nice place to unwind.

[Old and In the Way]

23. If Skinner, Elad, or any other Admin is lurking.....

How about including daily unique IP address hits? I think that would be quite interesting....and really show just how much reach DU really has. I know this software captures IP address....would think it would be reasonably simple to post this info, similar to the data that you're sharing now.

[H3rring]

24. I think ..

You might be surprised by just how many lurkers there are! I signed up specifically to reply to this topic; I couldn't help it. I know plenty of purely lurking conservatives who read DU, too--and not because they want to get inflamed or become trolls or anything. (I always try to converse with both sides, too.)