Should we allow guest posters?

[EllieArroway]

Currently, anyone can post as a guest without creating an account. If we change it, it will still be possible to view the boards without an account, but you will have to create an account to post. There is no activation period, so you can post immediately after creating an account.

There are some pros to forced registration -- you can't block/ignore guests, guests can't edit their posts, you can't search for all threads made by a specific guest, guests can't vote in polls, guests can't see the "new" or "new topics" features...

On the other hand, the main reason that people seem to want to remove guest posters is because people are using guest accounts as annoying AEs, but there isn't anything stopping people from creating an AE account to do the same thing, so removing guest posters wouldn't really solve that problem.

[PeonyParty]

I don't see the big deal, it just drives people to take 20 seconds longer to have to register.

[EllieArroway]

Jun 1, 2012 20:29:51 GMT -5 @smace said:

Is there a way to stop guests from voting ;-). lol.

Guests can't vote

[blinkinglight1]

Jun 1, 2012 20:29:51 GMT -5 @smace said:

Is there a way to stop guests from voting ;-). lol.

LOL!

[karmasabiotch]

Only of they like me.

[mayflowers22]

Jun 1, 2012 20:30:34 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

Jun 1, 2012 20:29:51 GMT -5 @smace said:

Is there a way to stop guests from voting ;-). lol.

Guests can't vote

:Y:

[Deleted]

I'm not sure how it limits freedoms.

I'd like to ban guests from posting just because I like knowing what name I'm talking to.

[EllieArroway]

I personally would like to ban guests because it would (hopefully) create less work for me. Like 90% of the complaints I get are about guests. But I'm sure if it's not one thing it will be another...

[margotmacomber]

Didn't the whole seesaw thing have multiple people posting under seesaw as a guest? That's the only issue I have with guest posters. It would be hard to keep one straight from the other.

Or I'm wrong, in which case I don't care either way.

[treedimensional]

guests = spam (at least in my mind.)

[EllieArroway]

That's another thing: if you don't create an account, there is nothing stopping someone else from posting under the same name as you. If you create an account, your username is saved & no one else can use it.

[alzi]

i think ae's should be forced to come up with more creative names than ae.

[Flitter]

There are less than 2k members and over 8k guests. What does that mean to the host of this board? Do they bank on member clicks/posts/ads seen/pages seen or on that of both member and guest alike? The answer to this is your best course if making bank is the goal here. If this site is privately funded, and hit counts don't matter, then it's up to the vision of the owner.

Since you are asking, I assume user preferences matter. Read no further if it turns out you were only talking to members. I believe disallowing guests to post will decrease current and future guest counts.

I would guesstimate no more than about 30% of Guest posters will become qmembers. These people want to stay and post. Another third just surfing around will just disappear once discovering inability to post. The last third want to stay and post but don/t care to submit info that may be shared to third parties to become a member.

If there's a board owner, it depends on how big and busy he/she wanted this forum to get and how fast. Growth would be restricted, but membership would still grow.

Feel free to adjust these numbers. Or try it out and see what happens. You can reverse this move if you don't like it right?

[dev22]

Yes, especially since many regs post as guests when they are lazy

[PeonyParty]

Jun 1, 2012 20:55:40 GMT -5 EllieArroway said:

I personally would like to ban guests because it would (hopefully) create less work for me. Like 90% of the complaints I get are about guests. But I'm sure if it's not one thing it will be another...

This is a very good and very interesting point. I change my vote. Ban the guests.

[EllieArroway]

Jun 1, 2012 21:12:23 GMT -5 @Flitter said:

There are less than 2k members and over 8k guests. What does that mean to the host of this board? Do they bank on member clicks/posts/ads seen/pages seen or on that of both member and guest alike? The answer to this is your best course if making bank is the goal here. If this site is privately funded, and hit counts don't matter, then it's up to the vision of the owner.

Since you are asking, I assume user preferences matter. Read no further if it turns out you were only talking to members. I believe disallowing guests to post will decrease current and future guest counts.

I would guesstimate no more than about 30% of Guest posters will become qmembers. These people want to stay and post. Another third just surfing around will just disappear once discovering inability to post. The last third want to stay and post but don/t care to submit info that may be shared to third parties to become a member.

If there's a board owner, it depends on how big and busy he/she wanted this forum to get and how fast. Growth would be restricted, but membership would still grow.

Feel free to adjust these numbers. Or try it out and see what happens. You can reverse this move if you don't like it right?

The vast majority of guests here do not ever post. I don't think changing the posting requirements will have any effect on them - they are just lurkers anyway and they will still be able to lurk. Creating an account only takes about a minute, and makes it a lot easier to post (no more captchas or viewing ads before making a post), so I don't think it will be a big deterrent either.

As far as ads go, guests are counted as page views just the same as members, so it wouldn't change revenue at all. However, if we have ad-free credits guests will still see ads while members will not. I am not spending or making any money here, so I don't care either way.

[shell403b]

Make 'em register.

[Guest]

I started on ML in 2008. And although I was never "accepted" into the fold, I continued to lurk for whatever reason, I really have no idea. There was a time when there was a LOT of trainwreckiness on ML. ML also used to be home of the mean girls (Tamb is the biggest exception of being a mean girl--she's sweet), although that softened over time. The reason I never created an account was I was around to remember times when a lot of personal information was revealed, including Elle's employer being emailed (whether it was lore by then or actually happened, I don't remember the time frame).

So, the real reason I never hung around was privacy reasons. I was never stupid enough to think that if I actually hung around that the same thing that happened t everyone else wouldn't/couldn't happen to me.

[cmeon]

Allowing guests to post? We may as well hang a big neon "WE LOVE SPAM!!!!" sign up there at the top. :-p

[Freely]

I'm not that worried about member security...but I didn't know it costs. Does it only cost if you turn off ads?

[EllieArroway]

Jun 1, 2012 22:13:47 GMT -5 @Freely said:

I'm not that worried about member security...but I didn't know it costs. Does it only cost if you turn off ads?

It's free, you just have the option to pay to remove ads.

[broc]

Does the 'host' even give a shit about how many people visit this board? Proboards is free. You can make your own message board right now on whatever topic you want.

I do think most of us would like new 'blood' to continue to find us, but if they're not willing to make a username, then they're not helping to build the community. In terms of getting GBCN 'sticky', making guests to register to comment forces them throw their lot in with us however briefly. However, I don't think this would cut down on trolling that much. The people who are trolling now are just going to make a fake gmail account and register. Meh.

[mayflowers22]

Jun 1, 2012 21:20:43 GMT -5 shell403b said:

Make 'em register.

:Y:

[LTLurker]

Banning guests just sort of reaffirms the idea that you all are cliquey and not really willing to accept new people unless they fit into "I'm a Democrat, athiest/agnostic, don't own a simple human trashcan, pay off my credit card bills in full, carry designer bags all the time and drive a BMW/Mercedes/Lexus" stereotype or are otherwise a special snowflake to be accepted because the ML elders say "you're so special! You should staaaay!" or say "She's so full of good trainwreckiness that we must have her around." The only really nice regulars on this board anyway are Tamb, Stellas, Dowager and Flexie.

[EllieArroway]

Jun 1, 2012 22:47:11 GMT -5 @LTLurker said:

Banning guests just sort of reaffirms the idea that you all are cliquey and not really willing to accept new people unless they fit into "I'm a Democrat, athiest/agnostic, don't own a simple human trashcan, pay off my credit card bills in full, carry designer bags all the time and drive a BMW/Mercedes/Lexus" stereotype or are otherwise a special snowflake to be accepted because the ML elders say "you're so special! You should staaaay!" or say "She's so full of good trainwreckiness that we must have her around." The only really nice regulars on this board anyway are Tamb, Stellas, Dowager and Flexie.

^o)

If we wanted to be cliquey, we could ban guests from viewing the boards at all and require all new accounts to be approved. Or just close registration completely. I fail to understand how allowing absolutely anyone to create an account makes us cliquey? It's no different than TN, or basically any other message board in existence.

[michellebelleaslazyguest]

In cases like this one, I post as a guest because I have difficulty posting from my phone. I am bored and browsing. When I try to log in I get an error message even though the same login works from my computer. It is probably a fatfinger error but it is a pita so I just post like this.

[LT Lurker]

When I say "cliquey," I mean being just so nasty/mean/spiteful that you make people go away who would otherwise be regular posters. After helping out Evee today, the "guest' was called a dork and boring. Way to make someone feel welcome and encourage them to create an account.

[margotmacomber]

Jun 1, 2012 22:47:11 GMT -5 @LTLurker said:

Banning guests just sort of reaffirms the idea that you all are cliquey and not really willing to accept new people unless they fit into "I'm a Democrat, athiest/agnostic, don't own a simple human trashcan, pay off my credit card bills in full, carry designer bags all the time and drive a BMW/Mercedes/Lexus" stereotype or are otherwise a special snowflake to be accepted because the ML elders say "you're so special! You should staaaay!" or say "She's so full of good trainwreckiness that we must have her around." The only really nice regulars on this board anyway are Tamb, Stellas, Dowager and Flexie.

Fucking false, idiot. I fit none of these standards and have been accepted for the most part. By not being a moron, using correct grammar and sentence structure, and not whining consistently.

It isn't that damn hard. Come up with something relevant to say, under your own screen name. Or go the fuck away.

Unless you have awesome MUD that gets ML up in arms in an entertaining way.

[Guesty guest]

Jun 1, 2012 22:47:11 GMT -5 @LTLurker said:

Banning guests just sort of reaffirms the idea that you all are cliquey and not really willing to accept new people unless they fit into "I'm a Democrat, athiest/agnostic, don't own a simple human trashcan, pay off my credit card bills in full, carry designer bags all the time and drive a BMW/Mercedes/Lexus" stereotype or are otherwise a special snowflake to be accepted because the ML elders say "you're so special! You should staaaay!" or say "She's so full of good trainwreckiness that we must have her around." The only really nice regulars on this board anyway are Tamb, Stellas, Dowager and Flexie.

Agreed.

[gretchenindisguise]

A) I'm flabbergasted that anyone would not join because they don't want to give any personal information out. Did anyone actually sign up with legit information?

B) I'm fairly sure it takes longer to type out the nonsense they make you type out to post as a guest as it does to create a log in.

C) I don't really care either way, I don't think it matters.