Yes, I believe that's what most of the New-ish members do. I believe they follow older members that have been here since the warzone got even bigger. I believe doing this might make a pretty positive change, especially for the forum and the members too. Usually, not all members do scare off a new member immediately, but they begin to get picky with the new member and the new member would also get picky which causes a fight.
I for one joined since I knew alot on GTA LCS and VCS, but I was also interested in the community. I for one think the community back in 06' was good because at the time, everything was interesting and I was a new member myself, along with other members that I'm friends with.
This forum will definitely get even more active when it's nearly time for GTA IV to be released, that itself will give a massive boost of members + Alot of posts & topics in the IV Forum. But I think at this time, we can't really do much to get us back on track unless we start off on a new slate.
EDIT: Who formatted the word Unless? I never did that, lol.