Active user count may not be accurate

The active users count is not really accurate because it is near impossible to detect active users due to the way the Internet works.

Because somebody could be reading a thread or closed the browser, the website does not know the difference, it will class people as "active" for 20 mins. And on each page refresh update the last active time.

If you mean the forum "view count" for threads, this is not accurate either, as it just adds a count every time there is a page load. So when you start a thread it will get 1 page view straight away. Somebody comes in reads it +1. They post, +1 and so on. When you get multiple pages, when somebody looks through the pages it is +1 for each page and then if they post, another +1 on return. etc.
You also have the search engines that load the page, another +1. 700-1000 is a lot, without a doubt, but the forum stats are not perfect.

If the thread views are from an independent stats program like Google Analytics then they may be more accurate, if not, it may be worth looking at setting one up for a better understanding.