Peter Shaw wrote:"Out of 888 registered users, 800 have never posted anything at all!"
Clearly Giddins didn't check the facts before writing this. Actually only 277 have never posted anything at all. There are 800 users who have made less than 200 posts.
To check the facts SG would have to be a registered user, which he doesn't seem to be at present. However, even had those numbers been correct, some of the conclusions he draws would be wrong.
Every Internet forum attracts a small core of frequent posters, a larger group of occasional posters and a long tail of very occasional posters. There is also a very large group of unregistered users (lurkers). This forum is no exception. Just now, 'In total there are 47 users online :: 8 registered, 2 hidden and 37 guests (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)'. Those 37 guests are important. They show that the forum reaches far beyond the registered users and regular posters.
What's more, the lurkers and infrequent posters have their own views and are more than capable of sifting through the views and opinions of the regulars. They simply don't enjoy or have time for online discussions, which can, quite frankly, be a futile exercise. This leads to the impression that the obsessives (maybe 'addicts' would be a better word) are in charge. However, those who merely read the forum rapidly learn to filter those arguments and discount the repetition and the hobby horses.
This forum's existence means that hundreds (if not thousands) of ordinary players are better informed about the ECF and English chess in general that has ever previously been the case. The difficulty is that some posters lack the discipline and self-awareness to know when enough is enough. Certain topics rumble on and on long past the point at which anything new will be said or minds changed. If I had one wish, it's that every poster, having made their point and perhaps clarified it once or twice, would simply stop. Post again on the same topic when something new comes up, certainly, but endless repetition doesn't add clarity or convince anyone. Favour quality, not quantity; signal, not noise.
If I had a second wish it would be that posts would stay on topic and be reasonably concise, correctly spelled and grammatically correct (within reason - everybody makes mistakes). I'm sure that there's a parallel universe where this actually happens.
A third wish is that we could talk about chess more and chess politics less.
Enough. The saddle on my high horse is chafing.
