So many lurkers! Or...bots?

**maborosi** · Yesterday, 12:06 PM

I'm sure we've all noticed the 400+ guests on the forum.

Is it mostly crawlers/bot traffic? Or are people really just that shy?

**baanoo** · Yesterday, 01:48 PM

ha! Maybe a lot of folks aren't sure if they want to hang out with us or not?

**SandyBottom** · Yesterday, 02:54 PM

Could it be members who aren't logged in?

**EdG** · Yesterday, 07:29 PM

I suspect that the 400 guests are web crawlers and people who followed links from search engines. Web crawlers use a range of IP addresses so that they will appear to be separate users to the board.
Ed

**shayna** · Yesterday, 09:55 PM

And why is it always around 400? If it gets too high then the server seems to jam up (500, 503 errors) and only start working again once the number drops down to about one or two hundred. I thought it was all those people get fed-up with waiting and going off to some other site instead. But who can say? Perhaps the server is valiantly battling evil bots and doesn't have time to let people onto the site?
Perhaps I am getting this confused with Pac-Man, the first and last video game I ever played.

**maborosi** · Today, 12:42 AM

Originally Posted by shayna

And why is it always around 400? If it gets too high then the server seems to jam up (500, 503 errors) and only start working again once the number drops down to about one or two hundred. I thought it was all those people get fed-up with waiting and going off to some other site instead. But who can say? Perhaps the server is valiantly battling evil bots and doesn't have time to let people onto the site?
Perhaps I am getting this confused with Pac-Man, the first and last video game I ever played.

LOL You are cracking me up!

Yeah, it does seem to hover around 400, doesn't it? It's odd that it's consistently around that number. I'm on a couple other forums and this seems to be an unusual ratio- but it's odd that it always seems to sit around that number.

EdG- that's what I suspected as well. I'm thinking a lot of crawlers. But is there something unique about LHC that means it gets crawled a lot more?

SandyBottom - I wonder, too. I know there are some odd things- like, I haven't been able to come onto the forums for a few years now unless I'm on a VPN (or cellular connection). Maybe there's something related?

baanoo- We're scaring them off with our weirdness!

**TatsuOni** · Today, 01:47 AM

Right now it's 450 guests and one person logged in. I'm apparently all alone being logged in.

**EdG** · Today, 04:08 AM

Originally Posted by maborosi

EdG- that's what I suspected as well. I'm thinking a lot of crawlers. But is there something unique about LHC that means it gets crawled a lot more?

I have seen my posts on bulletin boards appear within hours on search engines. I think the web crawlers visit bulletin boards frequently to try to find current posts.

ETA: 9 users are viewing the "Site Support" forum within 30 minutes of my post.
Ed

**shayna** · Today, 06:18 AM

Originally Posted by EdG

I have seen my posts on bulletin boards appear within hours on search engines. I think the web crawlers visit bulletin boards frequently to try to find current posts.

ETA: 9 users are viewing the "Site Support" forum within 30 minutes of my post.
Ed

Wouldn't it be humiliating to write what you think is some kind of profound post on LHC, then look at the viewing numbers and see that they have dwindled down to almost nothing!

**EdG** · Today, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by shayna

Wouldn't it be humiliating to write what you think is some kind of profound post on LHC, then look at the viewing numbers and see that they have dwindled down to almost nothing!

The board had a thread about that. https://forums.longhaircommunity.com...ad.php?t=88642
Ed