Join a challenge, look into the age-groups, whatever amount you have to lose, etc. This is actually a really active site, just get a little more involved in specific areas
ETA: Oh, and we do have a lot of "lurkers." It's nothing against you if they don't comment, they may not be registered members or they may not be ready to discuss their own issues.
I see what you are saying. I, too, felt like that at the beginning. I kind of sit back and read and support where I can, but rainydays has a point. There are certain threads that have activity. Search through and get to know the people here. Good luck on your journey!
Surf around and check out the different threads. post wherever you feel comfortable. You will eventually find the place that is most comfortable to you.
I think due to the nature of this board and the topics people will be somewhat hesitant to sign up and share their all but I do log in at least once a day and I do a search for new posts and reply to topics that interest me
I actually think the opposite, lol! Maybe bc I only check in a couple times a day, usually in the morning and then again at night. There's always tons of new posts and I find myself unable to keep up with the dialogues so I just lurk. My favorite section is the Goals forum. I often re-read all those posts and admire the before/after pictures for inspiration.
I'm one who is hesitant to hit "Reply" I sometimes even start to reply then don't send replies I don't feel very authoritative, I am failing right now in my own journey I don't feel like I have much insight to offer but check out the forums find a place where you feel you fit.
I really know what you mean. I've been back and forth to this forum for years. I've never really found a place where I really fit in, but I keep trying. I get the same response, 200+ views, and maybe 2 replies. Just hang in there. I think a challenge is where it is at as well. I participate in 1000 miles in 2012 in the Exercise section. There is traffic there, but not a lot of chit chat in our thread. We mainly update on how many miles we walk each day. You are welcome to join in though. I'll talk to you. Welcome BTW.
The "viewers" are non-members who are just reading/lurking, so they cannot post a reply to you. Only members can respond to you. You do have to seek out forums and threads that are active -- you can usually tell by the dates of the posts. Some threads are very active, others are less; some people will reply once a day or only weekly.
A lot of people work, so the weekend or late evening is the only time they can come in. Just be a little patient, and people will reply to you eventually. Best wishes in your WL journey ...
In my experience on most of the sites set up like 3FC (even if the topic is crafts rather than weight loss), there's virtually no conversation in the introduction threads - it's just for introduction posts. To talk and get responses you have to go to the subject threads.
Even in the other threads, it's really common for threads to just peter out. When people don't have anything to add, the thread just sort of peters out.
When I started, that happened a lot (or at least felt like it), and I felt a little self-conscious/parnanoid about it (because I wondered if it was something I said that had ended the conversation).
Now, if a thread doesn't get a response right away (or ever) I just find different threads.
Sometimes threads get overlooked for a lot of reasons. One day someone will make a comment or ask a question that gets little or no response, and if they ask a different day or in a different forum it gets lots of attention and responses and will spark a lively long-lasting conversations.
I've even seen two or three year old "dead" threads get re-animated and get more responses the second time around.
I tend to browse and participate in a lot of different threads. In fact I usually find threads that interest me by clicking the "New Post" tab in the blue line at the top of the page. Then I browse through the new threads and post in those that interest me. Some days I post a lot, sometimes none at all. Most days, I get "caught up" in reading all the new threads and sink hours into reading all the interesting new posts.
There's really a lot of activity here, but not all forums/thread are equally active. Some areas/topics are really very slow and quiet, and others are very active, with lots of posting and debate/conversation.
The Introductions area is fairly slow but other parts of the board are quite active.
Ive been to the introductions board, the general support board, the 30s+ board, the 100 board, the atkins board. I post and I get about 300 views and IF i am lucky, I get a response.
It's hard to uplift each other if all we do is read the comments and not participate.
Maybe I just end up visiting popular threads, but it seems like anywhere I post there is usually at least 10 responses... and anything I post usually gets a fair amount of replies.. I think it really depends on how universal the topic is and how many people can relate.
you have to remember, too, that the posts come up on google. if you search through google and one of the results is a link to one of the posts here, it counts as a view.
Ive been to the introductions board, the general support board, the 30s+ board, the 100 board, the atkins board. I post and I get about 300 views and IF i am lucky, I get a response.
It's hard to uplift each other if all we do is read the comments and not participate.
But ill keep on trucking and see what happens
I think you might have more "luck" if you try casting a wider net. For example, as I mentioned earlier clicking on the "new post" site and browsing through the new posts for topics that interest you. Post in those that "speak to" your interests and opinions. Not all the threads will go much further. Some topics peter out very quickly, because people just don't have a lot to say. Others will go on longer, and some will even speak very heated and passionate debates and even arguments (though it tends not to get too crazy, because the mods will shut it down if there's any disrespect or namecalling).
Eventually you get a feel for which topics and areas are the most active, and which tend to peter out quickly either because that's just what some topics do, and/or they've been discussed to death previously and no one has anything new to contribute.
There are some extremely active threads that have lasted for YEARS, and get many daily posts and there are those come and go quickly, or hang around forever but the post rate is very low and slow. I've seen threads resurrected after two years or more.
I've been to quite a few similar social sites with similarly organized forums, and this is just how most of them work. Some threads get tons of responses, some don't. And for all of them, there are usually more lurkers than posters. Many people are too shy to post, and will always be lurkers. Others read so many posts that they can't possibly respond to all of them (I'm one of those members. I had to cut back on the amount of posting I was doing here, because I was sinking up to five hours on this site daily in reading/posting). Even though I'd make up to ten posts a day, I still always read more posts than I responded to, because I wouldn't have had room for anything else.
While you may see 200 views, you don't know how many threads each of those viewers have posted in. Many of those views are from people like me who have browsed all the threads, read 40 to 100 of them, and contributed in three or four or ten.
Some of us are long-winded (I can't help it. I try to be concise and that ends up taking me even longer to write, because then I end up writing my natural way and then going back and editing to take out all the extra stuff. Writing a short post ends up taking me longer than writing these mini books).
I can read much faster than I can post. I also don't have an opinion on everything I've read (or more commonly I have an opinion, but one that's already been expressed by a dozen other folks in the thread already).
The way I search the threads (using the "new post" button to see everything that's been posted since the last time I was here) this site is outrageously active. I can't keep up, and often have to make myself set a time limit so that I don't end up sinking six hours a day into 3FatChicks.
I hate doing that because I feel like I've "missed something" if I don't get to at least browse every new page. I scan each new page from top to bottom for threads I've participated in (yes, I know there's a way to select only the threads I've posted in) and for new posts that I find interesting. I respond to each that "speaks to me." And I can get lost in this for hours and hours.
Whether 3FC seems active or not, depends upon how you use the site. I'm overwhelmed by the amount of activity, because I'm a little bit OCD and want to read (at least the thread title) of every thread. I can't respond to everything (and no one would want me to).
I noticed this site isn't very active
