At 10:20 AM 12/2/98 +0000, you wrote:
As I understand the stats while the numbers of members look
"good" there are now 20 - 40 people looking at GP-UK and
leaving for every 1 or 2 extra who join.
Katie's estimate of 60 or so active members seems more realistic.
List traffic seemed to me to be overwhelming.
Selective reading was difficult as message subjects were often
poor indicators of message content.
One line additions to long quotes seemed to be increasing.
Perhaps it's just not feasible to grow an on-line community any
bigger? When the crowd in the pub gets too big you either split
into smaller conversations or the nature of the social interaction
changes.
For the most part I really like the "mix" on GP-UK and if that
means being a lurker 95% of the year that's fine by me. However if
we want to encourage more people on line perhaps we need to
replicate GP-UK with all its range of interests in some way.
I share the view previously expressed that sub-dividing into topics
would be a serious loss. However with Katie's comments about PC-UK
perhaps the computing issues could move?
I'd probably end up joining both, but new members might find it much
less intimidating. When I speak about computing issues I normally
mention GP-UK. When people hear traffic levels they normally groan,
but some have tried it - and they normally tell me later they can't
cope with traffic volume. Those people are interested in joining an
on-line group. I think we all lose by not "catching them" when they
are showing an interest.
What do others think?
Julian
Dr. J. Bradley, The Stonedean Practice,
Stony Stratford Health Centre, Milton Keynes MK11 1YA
Telephone 01908 261155, Fax 01908 265818
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