Knowledge Management using Forums/Discussion Groups 2

[Ussuri]

At my last employer the company operated a discussion group system internally across the intranet. This was very similar to Eng-tips in its usage and content.

Every few months the Knowledge Management Team would provide details of how well the sites were being used. One common point that was raised that the number of people who would post on the forum was about 10-20% of the total people who actually read them.

Eng-tips has 487,000 members with over 17,000 posts a month and that got me wondering. Why is it that lots of people read a forum but only a small percentage will contribute? Is this a confidence thing or does it require a specific type of person to want to try and help solve a strangers problem?

 

[bradpa77]

Eng-tips has 487,000 members with over 17,000 posts a month and that got me wondering. Why is it that lots of people read a forum but only a small percentage will contribute? Is this a confidence thing or does it require a specific type of person to want to try and help solve a strangers problem?

I've wondered that about a lot of the discussion forums I've been on. It seems like a lot of people sit on the sidelines and don't get involved.

I imagine there are a lot of members in that 487,000 number that NEVER visit the site though. A lot of people may have signed up and forgot this place existed and then never really returned. Or they stuck around for a month and got bored and then left and don't ever read these posts anymore.