[OSM-talk] Why do we have so many registered users with zero edits ?

[Mike N]

On 4/12/2013 8:00 AM, Jean-Marc Liotier wrote:
> Looking at the profiles of nearby mappers displayed on my profile page's
> map, I am astonished to find that most of them have made zero edits.
> Those people went through the effort of registering (some even added an
> avatar picture) but then did not use their account for anything - no
> edits, no traces, nothing.Why ? Are these mere spam registrations or are
> we actually losing good potential mappers in the first hours of their
> life as Openstreetmap users ?

   Looking at a few around here - they probably registered on the spur 
of the moment to maximize their social media exposure.   But they were 
not spammers in the classic obnoxious sense - just local businesses, or 
not wanting to miss a possibly important social tool.

   As far as the zero edits: I don't have any information on that, but 
wouldn't be surprised if they had tried to update something but got 
discouraged.   Local mapping groups are the best tool for hands-on 
assistance to get people started.