Good viewing much appreciated. Thanks.

Darren, as others have posted you have every reason to feel unappreciated by the lack of responses you receive to your monthly report, but you still have a hardcore fan base who eagerly await your detailed analysis. Unfortunately your resignation is not accepted   

Hi all,

Thank you for your kind comments.

I have been feeling that the amount of time put in to the Posting League was becoming something of a burden anyway. What pushed me into acting upon this, on this occasion, was that I was off on holiday on the 4th (I got back yesterday), had an exam for work on the 2nd, which I spent the 1st revising for, so I had a very small window to get anything issued.

But then, on the other hand, the number of posts on TWO reached a new low. I haven't checked how many posts have been made so far in April, but I suspect the figure is going to be even lower. If it wasn't for "daBomb", the highest new entrant in April's league would have been one of the spammers who lit up the weather forum last night (as featured on Dave's Facebook group), which says it all really. When people reach a new peak position, they are often doing so with their 16th highest ever posting total. So what kind of accomplishment is that - one worth writing about?

I will carry on doing the monthly leagues, but in a form that takes me less time to prepare as I did this time. During the winter months the league may go back to its fuller form as there is more to discuss.

Thank you Darren for going to continue the monthly leagues with an "Abridged" version..  An easy life is much better...

I, and I am sure many others are grateful Darren, that you have decided to continue with the posting league, albeit in a form which is less demanding on your time.

To analyse why there has been such a drop in posting is very difficult, maybe there is too much competition, maybe the British climate has become too mundane, maybe some of the membership are too critical of others points of view, whatever, a lot of the more knowledgeable members have found new homes and taken their "fans" with them perhaps. 

The hardcore membership have remained faithful to the forum, and at a guess I would imagine that a high percentage of posts come from those who have been here for ten years or more.

I can't be critical of Brian, who has introduced many new features to make life easier for us all, and should be hugely thanked for that, but I am sure that he must have worries that the popularity of the forum has dwindled, particularly in recent months. This is noticeable on the Weather Forum, where up to five days of Current Conditions appear on page 1, so there is a distinct lack of new topics to discuss.

Perhaps some thought should be given to coming at weather from a different angle, and with this in mind, I have often thought that an internet based "Weather Channel" type forum would do well, with a webcam section, particularly interesting during extreme events, wind, snow, thunder etc. This might introduce new membership, but it needs someone cleverer than me to sort out the logistics.

Anyway, thanks again Darren, I am glad you have decided to continue, at least for now.

I think the reasons for drops in activity are quite clear, actually. It's not just TWO that is suffering, as if it were some kind of failed site amongst others that are more successful... generally web sites and web forums are in decline.

In the old days, people used to have lots of different web sites bookmarked. You like the weather - you go to a weather site. You like sport - you go to a sports site. You like music - you go to a music site. You can see that having to pop into each site to get what you want is quite time consuming, just like having to visit the butcher's, the newsagents, the bakery, the hardware shop, the clothes shop, etc. is quite time consuming. Inevitably the web changed, and now you can get anything you want by visiting the web's equivalent of a hypermarket, where you can get everything you want - Facebook. In one single place, you can find out how your team did, when your favourite band is going on their next tour, see your cousin's holiday photos, and inevitably, find out about the weather as well. Sure, there are some people who avoid the hypermarket, but they are becoming the exception.

Then there are those who get their information via mobile devices on Apple or Android - they don't use a web site or URL, they use an App. There is a Facebook app. There isn't a TWO app, and whilst you can create a link to TWO so it looks like an App, you probably wouldn't unless you were already a heavy user.

Not only that, but the ability to join in forum-style conversations with like-minded folk is also present on Facebook in many forms, notably Dave's "Electric Daveyland Weather watch" which also features several members who stopped posting on Facebook years ago. Benefits of this arrangement is that spammers are easy to root out, it's harder to "hide behind a username" and troll or make pointless comments, and it's easier to boot out those who cause trouble.

There is a problem with this - in that new members haven't generally joined, so inevitably most of those who are left here are those who have been around for a long time. But so many of the great posters of old hardly post at all now.

Another factor I think, is that in those first few years of TWO, the ability to post in a weather community was new and exciting. We've all grown older and more cynical now, and somehow posting that it's currently cloudy and 15C or whatever in a thread on a forum seems like too much effort.

I think that Brian probably isn't losing any sleep over the drop in popularity of the forum. Lower usage reduces his bills, and I'm sure it was originally only set up as a loss leader to drive traffic to his website. As he now has Facebook and Twitter presence, I assume that the majority of his traffic comes from them, and that it wouldn't surprise me at all if, at some point in the future, he decided to replace the forum at some point in the future with discussions on his Facebook page. I suspect that won't happen for a while, though.

That's partly right although I can't see any reason to close the forum now or in the foreseeable future. The cost of running it in terms of bandwidth and more importantly CPU cycles is low with the current level of traffic and there wouldn't be any benefits to removing it. It could also be seen as a 'Beeching cut' which could be a mistake in a few years time as technology and trends change again.

Originally the forum wasn't set up as a loss leader but that's effectively what it was. At the time I didn't understand the dynamics and business side of the web like I do now. 

Posting League

The posting league is calculated each month by comparing a snapshot of users and post totals with one from a month earlier. The total number of posts for each user includes posts from all forums going back to November 2001. All users are automatically included in the survey.

Who topped the chart this time?  Find out here!

Posting League Records

Every month, various statistics are updated, such as biggest climb to number 1, most consecutive months in the Top 10, highest new entry, etc.

You can access the information using this link: http://two.dazsmith.co.uk/ 

The following sections have not been updated, but are still available...

Rogues' Gallery

A collection of photos of TWO forum members, the more the merrier! Members are shown in descending post total order, again including all posts made since November 2001. Those who haven't posted for at least 6 months are removed. This is also updated once a month.Please submit your photos to me, by using the TWO Private Message system, or alternatively the "Contact Darren" link on my web site.

Three members were removed, and three members were re-added. We now have 94 photos.

Don't be shy - send in your photos! If you are already there, maybe you'd like to send in an update - some of the photos are 10 years old!

Regional Analysis

This new section allows you to view how many posters are in each region of the UK as well as overseas, and how many posts they make. You can drill into a particular region to see posts per county, and then drill into the county to see all the members in that county that posted during 2013 or 2012. If they're not listed, they didn't post - everyone is there!

All Time Top 100

Every month, a list is compiled showing the Top 100 TWO members of all time, including those who were banned or have lapsed. Changes in overall position compared to the previous month are also shown, as are all those climbers in positions 101-300. Post totals include all those made since November 2001.

2014 Year End Analysis

The year end analysis for 2014 is now available. See the full top 300 table for the entire year - who was poster of the year? Read the write-up which picks out the movers and shakers from the year. How did the posting rate compare with previous years? Who were the Top 5 female posters? The Top 5 Scots? Welsh? Irish? Foreigners?

Also see the updated Regional Analysis section, which now includes full data for 2014 as well as 2013 and 2012. Which region of the UK had the most posters, and the most posts? Which region has the most posts per head of population? Which county had the most posts - did Oxfordshire retain its lead? Who is the top poster in your county or region?

All this is now available. The December monthly analysis is still available to read via a link from the 2014 analysis home page.

 Thank You Darren for all those figures. Wonderful work.. Good to be here...

Great & detailed analysis, Darren - many cheers.

Yours,

Mr Consistency

Thanks Darren

Cheers as ever for the stats. Darren.
It would be good to see a few more faces in the Rouges Gallery,as it's nice to see a face behind the characters posting here.

So, come one guys.

Damit, not even made it into the top 10.

Part of the appeal of TWO is its small size. I have attempted to join the NW community, but frankly its boring. You don't get to know anyone because there are so many users. One of the perks here is that I recognize people by their usernames and posting habits.

Thanks as always Darren! 

I promised that every 3 months the Gallery and All Time Top 100 would be updated - and this time they have; the next scheduled update is at the beginning of September. The posting league has also been updated of course.

Posting League

The posting league is calculated each month by comparing a snapshot of users and post totals with one from a month earlier. The total number of posts for each user includes posts from all forums going back to November 2001. All users are automatically included in the survey.

Who topped the chart this time?  Find out here!

Posting League Records

Every month, various statistics are updated, such as biggest climb to number 1, most consecutive months in the Top 10, highest new entry, etc.

Rogues' Gallery

A collection of photos of TWO forum members, the more the merrier! Members are shown in descending post total order, again including all posts made since November 2001. Those who haven't posted for at least 6 months are removed. This is updated every 3 months, unless updates are received. Please submit your photos to me, by using the TWO Private Message system, or alternatively the "Contact Darren" link on my web site.

Two members were removed, and two members were re-added. We still have 94 photos.

Don't be shy - send in your photos! If you are already there, maybe you'd like to send in an update - some of the photos are 10 years old!

Regional Analysis

This new section allows you to view how many posters are in each region of the UK as well as overseas, and how many posts they make. You can drill into a particular region to see posts per county, and then drill into the county to see all the members in that county that posted during 2013 or 2012. If they're not listed, they didn't post - everyone is there!

All Time Top 100

Every three months, a new list is compiled showing the Top 100 TWO members of all time, including those who were banned or have lapsed. Changes in overall position compared to three months prior are also shown, as are all those climbers in positions 101-300. Post totals include all those made since November 2001.

You can access the information using this link: http://two.dazsmith.co.uk/ 

Thank You Darren for providing the posting league.     Much appreciated...

Thanks Darren

Cheers Darren