Demographics of DU

Who are we? There have been a number of polls and threads that try to gauge just who is on the roster, whether by class, by ideology, by choice of entertainment, etc.

Rather than try to answer that question or even go into an attempt at any sort of delineation, I think it is interesting to look at the total membership data. I don't think there are 35,000 or so that make up DU; probably the number is probably much less. There are people who post under different screen names, for one, and then there is the question of people who registered and never came back, or did so and lost interest after a couple of weeks or months.

Of course, the Admins have an idea of the actual number of DU'ers based on IP addresses, which can be an indicator of a unique user. Skewing the other way, though, partners and friends using the same computer will inflate the data. Tombstoned user accounts may or may not be counted among the total membership data on the lobby front page.

I am not asking the Admins how many they think are here, but just raising the question to provoke a discussion on just how many of us there are at any given time. After reading DU regularly for some time now I would guess that, though the number of new names has been on the increase, the users are not as high as are represented by the total registration data. (Now, there may be four or more times that in total *readership* which could possibly be calculated by number of hits.)

once or twice a week, reads what's going on, and leaves. He's registered, but almost never posts.

would know how many hits per day are from unique visitors and how many people are here at any given moment

the 'Ask The Admins' forum regarding this topic:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=120&topic_id=6904

It addresses the number of 'hits' and other things that the 'total membership' number doesn't reveal. And you're right -- the approximately 35,000 reflects total number of people who have ever registered on the site, without taking into consideration people who abandoned memberships when DU became DU2 several months ago, and people who've been 'tombstoned.' It doesn't answer all your questions, but I did remember seeing it and I know it gives some of the information you were asking about!

currently all the active profiles add up to 28,225!

the number of registered usaers who logged in within the past few months or weeks or days and get a good sense of who posts, or use cookie info to get some other number, but the main point is not how many but how much difference it makes. Unregistered readers probably outnumber people who register and post. I know that a number of folks have asked for help in projects being done outside of DU, and I know that many use the research done here as resources for other media outlet work. To my mind, it's not a question of who participates so much as a question of what is offered up and how far it goes.

Not how many, but how much of an effect. However, I am curious as to how much the actions of a few (thousand) affect the many (300 million...the world??)

Questions of this nature should be asked in the ATA forum. I am locking this thread. Please feel free to repost it there.


Thank you.

NYer99
DU Moderator.