I'll use myself as a guinea pig & example.

I found FT in the summer of 1998 when I was at the height of my travelling. I was too intimidated to post anything since everyone posting knew so much & I knew nothing. I sat and lurked during lunch for almost 3 years before getting up the nerve to register & post.

In those 3 years I absorbed almost everything they posted in the programs I used. I earned thousands upon thousands of miles due to what I learned from them. I'm STILL grateful. I also felt I knew each personally though they didn't even know I existed.

I finally registered in 2001. By that time, my travel had slowed down to 2 or 3 trips a year and I didn't have all that much to say, but when I could help, I always did. It hasn't changed to this day. If I see a question that I'm able to answer I do, and quickly. I generally post on the Orlando forum, since that was my first love & the first boards I posted on before FT. I also post quite a bit in Hyatt, with CO coming in second.

FT, in it's 8 year history has evolved as other boards have. The early adopters have become experts and look for the social aspect. On FT it's Omni, on tivocommunity, it's coffeehouse. That's where you find a lot of the old timers who already know all there is to know about the core purpose of the board. People posting more in a social setting on an IBB isn't unusual at all. It happens all the time and it's a natural progession as boards become established.

But that doesn't mean that we don't know what we're talking about. I think I'm on my 3rd or 4th planning assistance for a trip to Disney. You can't see it because it's all been done via PM for privacy reasons. But those people PM'd me based upon my postings and asked for more specific help. I also get quite a few PMs based upon postings in Hyatt, all of which I respond to.

So, yes, I may post alot on Omni, but it doesn't mean that I'm not helpful or don't want to be helpful. It means that I just don't have any questions that haven't already been answered OR that I haven't seen a question that I'm able to answer.

If you want to take post counts away, well, go ahead, but those people who have thousands of posts and are long time members probably have some of the most valuable information. They may not be posting in the core forums, but not from lack of desire. Ask a question & you just may find out.