Why are there so many guests?

[Hanify]

I realise that there will always be a number of people who look for a while then join up, but there are consistently at least twice as many guests as users - sometimes 3 x.  Those of you who were guests for quite a while before joining maybe you could answer? (Given the guests can't).  I was only a guest for about 1/2 a day cos I just can't imagine being part of something where I can't comment ha ha.








EDITED:Moved to comments section-kitkatz,Moderator

[twirl]

I was a longer guest -- part of denying PKD -- I did not belong here - I thought I was not sick enough -
then I became interested in some of the members -- they felt like I did and I wanted to know them and now some members are like my family and I fell close to them --

[willowtreewren]

I found IHD through a search on improving my GFR so I could donate to my husband.

I liked what I saw and became a member immediately so I could ask that question.I believe it was Bill Peckman who replied and directed me to Living Donors OnLine. (Thx Bill). I didn't post much for a while because (believe it or not, I'm VERY shy), but then I realized that I needed to give back to the site because it was giving so much to me. Viola!

Aleta

[Stoday]

Most guests are bots scanning around.

[pklipe57]

I looked around the sight for probably two weeks or so.  I had just found out I was bound for dialysis and I was desperate for information.  This is has been a wealth of knowledge. 

[RichardMEL]

I think you'll find most of the guest users are web crawlers from search engines like yahoo, google etc going through the site indexing anything. Part of my day job is running a number of websites for my employer and almost whenever I check the stats there's a google or yahoo there doing the rounds - they constantly update their indexes so are always trawling around websites - specially web forums like ours that will change all the time.

[peleroja]

Viola!

Aleta

Thanks, Aleta, for my first belly laugh of the day.  Viola is a flower.  The French phrase you were looking for is voila, meaning something like "there it is."  Keep those belly laughs coming.

As for me, I joined as soon as I found the site.  Y'all know me; I always have something to say!

[dwcrawford]

See how I feel most of the time, Aleta.  Not only do I get called down for spelling errors but now gotta know your foreign languages too.  In a more private setting sometime I'll tell the embarassing story of a French vocabulary test I did once.

But to the topic...  I was looking for the answer to "is not doing dialysis equal to suicide."  Talked to counselor, priests, rabbis, etc. to no avail.  I snooped around IHD for a while and decided to go to the chat and see what I could come up with.  This absolutely fabulous lady with the screen name of Paris talked to me in chat.  I was so enamored with her grace that I decided to hang around.

[willowtreewren]

And so glad you did, Dan!

I am a terrible speller and I should have realized my error when the spell checker did NOT find anything wrong with "viola". It is also a large stringed instrument, but definitely NOT the French saying I was angling for! 

[Hanify]

Most guests are bots scanning around.

Ah - thanks Stoday and Richard.  That makes sense.  I have to say, I didn't find this site until I'd been doing dialysis for nearly a year and a half.  Earlier on, I don't think I was ready for it.  So I do understand why some people would be guests for a while before joining, just wasn't sure why there were always so many.

[jbeany]

If you look around without signing in, I think you show up as a guest, too.

[dwcrawford]

maybe some are searching the web for information and don't really find what they want here...

[paris]

Dan, I knew we were kindred spirits from the first day!!   I was a guest for awhile, like Twirl, I didn't think I was sick enough -- this wasn't me.  After I joined, Goofynina made me feel like I was family and I value my membership here.    Back to the question --- Richard and Stoday are absolutely right.   

[Deanne]

I lurked for quite a while because my kidney function was at ~50% & I didn't know if I'd really be welcomed here. Then I started to see messages from Sluff who was also at about 50% & decided to plunge in.

[sico]

I've thought about this too. I joined when i found this site, last Friday or Saturday. But did take a few days to get activated, so was a guest.

[okarol]

Sorry about the delay approving you sico, it usually is within an hour or so of signing up but I was in New York for 3 days and our other admin is also out of town.

I think most of the "guests" are web bots or crawlers, searching for emails and keywords - that's what drives the search engines - and then there are the spammers who look for busy sites to post stuff to - but since our upgrade the incidence of those types getting through are greatly decreased.

[Zach]

Pizza for everyone!!   

[sico]

Sorry about the delay approving you sico, it usually is within an hour or so of signing up but I was in New York for 3 days and our other admin is also out of town.

I think most of the "guests" are web bots or crawlers, searching for emails and keywords - that's what drives the search engines - and then there are the spammers who look for busy sites to post stuff to - but since our upgrade the incidence of those types getting through are greatly decreased.

No drama's, i'm here now and happy to be.

[Bajanne]

Sometimes when I am on a new computer, I try to stay as a guest for a while just to see what it feels like.  I don't last very long!