August 20, 2010

ZG Member Statistics Anomalies

Can't help to think that the Zeitgeist member statistics are not in order. While it's mentioned on the forum that they are sorting out different mailing lists and that this is the cause for some discrepancies, I reckon that's not all of it. Some countries that are listed have a disproportionate high number of members - where you wouldn't expect it. I'm wondering if there's a bit of foul play at work here. Lets take a look at some of the countries that stand out in membership (as of 8-20-10);
Afghanistan 2,258
Antarctica 32
Greenland 82
Neutral Zone 13
North Korea 80
Afghanistan. Unusual high number since it can be easily assumed that not many people have internet access and speak English over there in that country, let alone get acquainted with the Zeitgeist material. Maybe soldiers from the various countries that make up the NATO coalition list Afghanistan when they become members but I would logically assume they would forward their own country of birth. (Got a good comment from Muertos, and it's entire possible that a lot of members don't identify their home country when enlisting - Afghanistan being the first country on the list and some might be a bit too lazy to scroll down.)
Antarctica. Bit of the same mechanics here. Antarctica is not a country but a continent and all the territorial claims are still disputed. There are scientists of course from many different countries but again I would assume they would list their country of birth, not the place they happen to work at.
Greenland. This 'country' is still part of Denmark although with a great deal of autonomy. It's possible that some folks there would list Greenland if they have local sentiments and don't feel any affiliation with Denmark itself. When I picture Greenland, I don't see a modern easily accessible society. I see snow, ice and isolation. But maybe a bunch of folks have internet access there. I don't know.
Neutral Zone. From Star Trek? Not sure what this is doing here on the ZG membership list. Maybe some people don't want to list their country of origin and have this option? Strange if you ask me.
North Korea. Same story here since I would expect not many people have internet access, actually since this country is so restricted in so many ways I would imagine only some government officials have internet access and they wouldn't do anything on their own without approval. I would expect the ZG membership from North Korea to be zero.

What does this mean? Well, it's pure speculation on my part but I wouldn't put it beyond the motivation of some people that they would deliberately list some of the countries I mentioned. It's quite easy to find a number of free email providers, a quick search would reveal dozens. Maybe some people use those different email accounts, list a country that doesn't make much or any sense and let the numbers rise. At some point in the future when the numbers have grown these people get vocal and start to address the fact that some countries shouldn't have such high numbers in membership, and that therefore the Zeitgeist Movement is at fault. While this is strictly theoretical on my part, seeing some people behave on the internet and criticizing Zeitgeist sometimes stooping to incredible low levels, I wouldn't put such an action that I theorized past them. So, when some people start to get loud and make an issue about the membership statistics. . . You read it here first.

2 comments:

Muertos said...

Afghanistan probably has such a high number of members because in most online registration interfaces that require you to identify your home country, Afghanistan is usually the first country listed in the drop-down menu, and many people are too lazy to scroll through the menu and select their real country.

Ed V. said...

Thanks Muertos. That's a sound idea.