Where do posters go?

I've noticed something interesting about the aviation newsgroups: posters
tend to disappear. I don't mean the posts getting lost, I mean that certain
people will post for a while and then just stop.

The way I see it, these groups have 3 types of inhabitants: the prolific
posters, the lurk mostly but post sometimes (who I feel I am a part), and
then people who post for a while and then disappear.

For example, a year or so ago, someone by the name of Tracey was asking
about questions about the medical. It seemed that she was on some sort of
medication that may have been a problem. She posted for a good 3 or 6
months and then nothing.

Another example: When I first started lurking this group, there are a
gentleman who worked as a professor of aerospace. He kept yelling at us for
discussing aviation accidents before the NTSB reports were completed. After
a while, gone.

I could go on and on reciting examples, but you know what I'm talking about.

Do these people decide to get out of aviation? I know that nobody here
knows for sure (unless you know the person some other way) so I guess this
is more of a general wondering than anything else. (I would be really
shocked if someone posted what happened to everyone how ever posted here but
then stopped.)

I guess what got me thinking about this was that I was wondering how many
(what percentage) of people get into aviation only to leave it. I think it
happens more than most think. (And, no, I'm not talking about the
percentage who fly until they cannot pass the medical due to advanced age.
I'm talking about the people who start flying and then, months or years
later, quit.) If all these people who have stopped posting are any
indication, then the number must be quite large.

If all these people who have stopped posting are any indication,
then the number must be quite large.

I don't think it is any indication. There are far more reasons to
stop posting to newsgroups than losing interest in aviation.

I don't personally know ANY pilots who visit this newsgroup. Most
aren't even aware of its existence.

James Blakely wrote:
I've noticed something interesting about the aviation newsgroups: posters
tend to disappear. . .

I don't see anything odd about this at all. I'm sure that many who have
posted on this NG are like me and have many other interests that some
times take their focus away from aviation to the point of not paying
much attention to this NG. I am also sure that many get busy with life
and just don't find the time to post anymore. Sometimes when I have a
question on a topic, I will post a question to an appropriate NG and
then hang around for a while and answer other peoples posts as kind of a
thinks for the help kind of thing, then I won't be heard from again till
I have another question for that NG. Once I start building the
homebuilt plane I plan on building you won't see much of me here because
I will be to busy building.

Chris W
Oklahoma City

"Greg Esres" wrote:
I don't personally know ANY pilots who visit this newsgroup.

Me neither, until I happened to run into Greg Arnold at the gas pumps at
St. Elmo Airport one day. We got to talking about his YAK (very cool),
introduced ourselves, and he recognized my name from r.a.*.

Most aren't even aware of its existence.

My regular pilot buddies don't even know usenet exists, and I've had no
luck getting them interested. Even setting up a reader in their AOL
accounts is beyond most of them.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

My regular pilot buddies don't even know usenet exists, and I've had no
luck getting them interested. Even setting up a reader in their AOL
accounts is beyond most of them.


Keyword "newsgroups"

Or, even faster (but =very= nerdy g keyword "news:rec.aviation.piloting"

(no quotes)

Sheesh, if this is too much for them, how do they ever figure out what runway
to land on?

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

"Greg Esres" wrote in message
...
|
| I don't personally know ANY pilots who visit this newsgroup. Most
| aren't even aware of its existence.

I have met several pilots who post on this group.

Sheesh, if this is too much for them, how do they ever figure out what
runway
to land on?

What makes you think they can do *that* either? ;-)

Seriously, I've tried to introduce a couple of local pilots to newsgroups.
In most cases, the textual format (Read: NO PICTURES) causes their eyes to
glaze over.

Bottom line: This is a forum for highly literate people -- which is
extraordinarily rare.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I would dare say that there are as many reasons for dropping out of a
newsgroup as there are people who do so. I certainly can't speak for them,
but as for myself...when I was an early student, I would make routine
postings about my flying progress and generally got really great feedback.
However, one day, I posted something, don't remember if it was a question or
made a statement or whatever, but someone replied and raked me over the
coals. Well, I said to myself, if that is what I am to expect, I would
rather spend my time in the books. It took a long time for me to work up the
ability to start posting again. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, it
wasn't until I finally passed my checkride that I began posting again with
regularity; and even now, do so with great caution. But that is why I
dropped out for so long. For other newsgroups that I dropped out of was
because the subjects no longer applied to me for whatever reason.

Harry
PP-ASEL

I've noticed something interesting about the aviation newsgroups: posters
tend to disappear.

Tis true. I depend on certain posters to learn such terms as "splaps" and
"aptmosphere" - how am I to expand my knowledge of aviation when they
disappear?

I'm often reluctant to jump into a thread because invariably, posting to
any news group increases my visibility and ends up increasing my client
count. Then I have no time to follow up on my posts and it makes me
appear to be a troll of sorts.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino

"Cartoons with a Touch of Magic"
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com