couldn't we just make the entering stage for a new member a bit more regulated, so that some more effort should be put in getting started?
So, that people who seriously want to join in are selected in a natural way, because it takes some effort...
For instance, say you
have to introduce yourself in the introduction section first before you can even post a song of yourself...(i mean, that it technically doesn't work without at least an introduction post), and even after the introdution e-mail it takes something like a week before one can start to post your own material? Meanwhile the new songwriter can listen and comment on other peoples songs. I think that songwriters that plan to stay the week and really do that without having a song of themselves on the boards, are more likely to really want to join in (as in interact with other songwriters). Chances are that these new songwriters will take some notice in some form of what is going on on the forum in that first week....
I am sure, this will give some natural selection, at the moment people that just finished a song, and are extremely excited about it (which is very understandable, by the way), Google a bit and find this place and directly put their song up for review, but often without being interested in other peoples projects or this forum. People that want to put their song up right away
somewhere,
anywhere, probably find a week too long....but their is a good chance that the ones that do subscribe and introduce themselves with the intention to wait a week before posting a song themselves will probably look at the forum during that first week, get a feel for the place and the regular posters, and who knows even respond to other people's posts
i have difficulty with people just putting a post up without looking at other posts, and not introducing themselves. I must say, once you have been here a while you get a good feeling on the basis of the first post (without any introduction of who they are), they are usually gone within two weeks after the comments on their song are slowing down (and some of them then turn up after half a year when they have another great song finished, and people who are new don't know that the poster only shows up when a new song is finished, so again the song will get two weeks of comments etc..etc...)
just my two eurocents