Do you regularly visit some forums as a guest? Or always log in?

[Razasharp]

Are there forums that you regularly visit as a guest? Or do you always tend to log-in?

[SNN]

If I like the board, I register/log in. Otherwise, I just lurk.

[Joe Gronlund]

First visit might be a guest, i always login..

[Nick]

If I'm a registered member, I always log in. Mainly because I don't want to waste time getting messages that I need to register to continue, or have to see ads as a guest.

[OldRockSongs]

I lurk in lots of forums, but... I join lots of forums.

[Wayne Luke]

Are there forums that you regularly visit as a guest? Or do you always tend to log-in?
I actually lurk as a guest in most forums I visit. Many forum operators today assume that because I register I want to receive new Private Messages from them on a daily basis or worse, daily/weekly newsletter emails. These should be separate opt-ins. I suppose I could create a junk-email address and after confirmation for a site just send everything to /dev/null but its too much trouble. I think I am registered on 6 or 7 forums but visit quite a few more on a semi-regular basis.

[TomJames]

If I visit a forum regularly I normally register, but yeah I lurk on a few as well if they're sites I only visit once a month.

[cheat-master30]

I regularly visit quite a few forums as a guest, not because of any worry of spam or such like but because I'm only partially interested in the topic and in many cases wouldn't be able to add too much to the discussions. There are also forums I often view which I don't register at either because of being lazy, not wanting to join too many forums, since I already have way too many site memberships and those which just aren't interesting enough (or active enough).

[Razasharp]

Thanks all - Interesting stuff.

I visit quite a few forums as a guest too. Not for any other reason but I prefer to just read what's going on rather than actually participate (as I'm too busy).

Most of my own forums are actually cut-down versions for guests - so I may rethink that at some stage.

[xjuliox]

I like to login just in case i might have to reply to a thread.

[Kinneas]

I tend to lurk and only register if I need to or If I have a vested interest. I learnt quite quickly not to sign up to any forum I come across.

This one particular forum seemed to think I wanted to recieve a weekly spam mail from the Admins there telling me how great it was. The funny thing was when I tried to edit my preferences to unsubscribe it said I didn't have permission and apparently needed to post more first. My response was to blacklist that domain from my email.

[MRGTB]

I actually lurk as a guest in most forums I visit. Many forum operators today assume that because I register I want to receive new Private Messages from them on a daily basis or worse, daily/weekly newsletter emails. These should be separate opt-ins. I suppose I could create a junk-email address and after confirmation for a site just send everything to /dev/null but its too much trouble. I think I am registered on 6 or 7 forums but visit quite a few more on a semi-regular basis.


Pretty much the same as you, there are very few other forums I'm a member off. And the few that I am are offical sites like phpBB, vBulletin, IPB etc. I tend to just browse other forums as a guest. I don't see the point in registering, unless I intend to be an on-going active poster. Otherwise, whats the point.

Trouble is, like Wayne pointed out above. To many sites just want to spam your in-box after you join. I learned that a long time ago, which is why I don't join forums willy nilly now. Another interesting thing I've noticed these days. If I'm searching for some information to help me understand something better, like working with CSS file, or trying to find other web design information out. I'm much more likely now to find it on a persons Blog, who's using programs like Wordpress, than on a forum board. Good information it seems these days, is to be found not on forums anymore. But peoples personal sites or blogs.

[Floris]

From my home location I am always logged in. But I use Opera to browse sites as a guest, so I do not forget how the site looks like to our visitors.

[Quillz]

I'm usually, but not always, a member at boards that I visit regularly. When I was reintroduced to the wonders of the Internet about eight years ago, I used to be a lurker for years before actually joining. So there are a few boards were I didn't join until, say, 2002 or 2003, but I had in fact been reading them since the late 90s.

[peterska2]

I only join a board if I really need to. At one point I was a member of a huge amount of boards because I would always join them before deciding if I wanted to stick around or if I even liked the site (you don't want to know what some of them were about which I would have realised if I had looked first! *hangs head in shame*) Nowadays I tend to only register if I really need to. If a site starts hassling me with popups or floating notices to join then I leave - quickly. If the site doesn't let me browse as a guest and decides that I have seen enough and should register - I leave and never go back. If the site has pop up ads or pop under ads - I leave. And then usually if I do decide that I am going to join I end up going back less than a week later and changing my email to something that is complete nonsense because I end up with constant spam from the forum in the form of newsletters (I don't care how many new polls you got yesterday), email notifications that I can't turn off (don't people know that you have to be able to unsubscribe from emails?), or other general junk mailings.

[MRGTB]

Facebook - annoys me!

I joined a while ago to see what all the fuss was about. Then later closed my account. Now, I'm constantly getting junk mail from certain applications I installed, that your asked too do so when people contact you sending you stuff. Like this person "rated you", install this to check it out etc. These applications seem to use a large number of different email addresses to send you mail, so they still get through even after you send them to JUNK.

[Chousho]

Facebook - annoys me!
To be fair, Facebook was so much better around 2004. When they allowed everybody access to it and added all of these new applications, that's when it started becoming a nuisance. If you create a general account without adding any of the scruff, it should be a much better experience.
Even then, I still long for the time when Facebook was college/uni exclusive.

Now, I'm constantly getting junk mail from certain applications I installed, that your asked too do so when people contact you sending you stuff. Like this person "rated you"Wow, so before I actually read that part, and just glanced at it, I totally thought you said:
"And how I get mail from people saying, 'I hate you'".

I'm blaming this on my consumption of questionable pie products.