Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

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newsbee
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Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by newsbee »

I would like to direct this question to forum owners who started their discussion boards years ago, and compare membership, activity etc with today, when FB groups seem to be the thing. In Russia, it is also VKontakte.
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Jodi-86
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Jodi-86 »

I know of a few forums that went from 30+ posters a day to about 5/10 due to members opting for Facebook groups,

These days most people are using mobiles and a lot of forums aren't responsive or properly configured, styles have come a long way though and forums that i've seen configured to look good but be simple to use on mobiles seem to be doing ok.

I do think at some point forums will kick on again, 2 major factors would be 1 - you have to be logged in to view facebook groups (i don't think i've seen any that you don't) 2 - if you wanted to look for a topic that you discussed 6 months ago - you got a longggg way to scroll to find it.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by AmigoJack »

Jodi-86 wrote: Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:33 pm2 major factors would be 1 - you have to be logged in to view facebook groups (i don't think i've seen any that you don't) 2 - if you wanted to look for a topic
Well, in a BBS you can use formattings way better than elsewhere, such as
  1. a
  2. list.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by KevC »

I started one of my sites in 2009 and it's doing fine. We have a facebook page as well but it barely gets any traffic. It's all on the forum. I think for certain things, each has its place but forums are still hugely popular for dedicated subject fields.
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hewmac06
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by hewmac06 »

I take heart in this earlier post:
I see Facebook and Twitter as though they are daily newspapers. What's written today is in the bin tomorrow. No-one is interested. Forums are more like libraries. You go there for information that will still be there tomorrow for you to go back to. We need daily newspapers. We need libraries. They can both live with each other.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Sistineko »

@hewmac06: That... is too true.

Regarding this subject, while forums and IRC are definitely dying down from less experienced users on the Internet as compared to Facebook or Discord, forums are definitely better for those who want to preserve their discussions, get proper support and take part in things no social media site could work properly with. I feel like forums have a unique community feeling modern social media groups and chats don't have.
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Jodi-86
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Jodi-86 »

AmigoJack wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:13 am
Jodi-86 wrote: Tue Dec 19, 2017 7:33 pm2 major factors would be 1 - you have to be logged in to view facebook groups (i don't think i've seen any that you don't) 2 - if you wanted to look for a topic
Well, in a BBS you can use formattings way better than elsewhere, such as
  1. a
  2. list.
Would i sound daft if i asked what a BBS is?

I think facebook pages and twitter are also a good way to get your forum promoted out there, i also notice a few forums that have lots of "off topic" sections look empty, the forums that pretty much only discuss the topic that it's named after seem to flow more - but having an off topic section for members only that only members can see is ideal.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Sistineko »

Off-topic forums and general discussion centred forums mainly only work if it's started by an already established userbase and can gain quick traction these days. Off-topic forums are good for getting to know people though and to chill. ^^

BBS=Bulletin Board System (I think). Just another term for forum software?
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by AmigoJack »

Shame on everyone who never asked himself what BB in phpBB means. No, not "bells & bloat".
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Mick
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Mick »

Not everyone likes FB and it's mates, especially me. I won't go near social media although I do have a dabble on Twitter on the odd occasion. Anyway, it's all cool, I like being a librarian.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by HiFiKabin »

AmigoJack wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:09 am Shame on everyone who never asked himself what BB in phpBB means. No, not "bells & bloat".

I thought everyone knew it stood for Bertie Bear :roll:
Mick wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 10:14 am Not everyone likes FB and it's mates, especially me. I won't go near social media although I do have a dabble on Twitter on the odd occasion. Anyway, it's all cool, I like being a librarian.

I wouldn't use Faceache and Twatter if you paid me. You have more SPAM in a week than the Danish Crown Group produce in a year.

... and I have no interest in who is doing what with whom and where they are doing whatever that are doing (which seems to account for 90%+ of the content according to my wife)
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Sistineko »

Fun fact: there is an 'anti-social network' called Twatter.
I agree that social media spams your emails even if you opt out or delete account.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by warmweer »

HiFiKabin wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:13 pm I thought everyone knew it stood for Bertie Bear :roll:
Nice one. :lol:

But seriously it's actually very simple: it's short for Big Brother keeping an eye on all those FB non-believers
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by HappySailor »

For me it looks like niche forums are still doing fine, but 'general' forums that are not dedicated to something have suffered a lot.
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Re: Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

Post by Holger »

We have not experienced any down since FB. But it is a niche we are in. But anyways, we are leveling at 10K posts per month, slowly rising.
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