How do you keep your forum active?

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

I think it is probably too late for that. the only comfort I take is in the knowledge that facebook/twitter etc. will be gone in a few years and forums will still be around in some form or another.


robert

[Holger]

^this

But I wont help them until that.
Remember: FB only takes, never gives!

[Cooper_si]

I think im quite lucky in some respects, but i do spend alot of time on the forum keeping it up to date with the latest version of mods, removing mods that dont get used, and adding mods (or should i say extensions now) to keep the variety an usability there.

I do get more posts on the forum than our facebook page, but i guess id be gutted to see it sway the other way round.

One thing that always sticks in my head is that i always used to post about the club on twitter, insta, facebook, and one person once said (OMG, i didnt even realise it was a proper club,forum) From that point forward it make it clear to me what i had to do to be clearer and who we were/about.

Just my 2p, but sometimes you have to stand in the users shoes and see what "they want/need" more than what the founder wants, then build good foundations from that...

[Holger]

My forum is thrieving and we have more posts every month, approx 10K right now.

Many years ago one user wanted to help us and started a FB-page with the name of our domain.tld
We said ok, lets monitor this.
Then the crap started flying. FB seems to be a magnet for children and people with childish behaviour.
The group got known for being abusive very fast. The problem was, it also mirrored on the forum.

People on FB did not understand that our forum was a forum, and had nothing to do with that FB-group. But for the FB-users our domain.tld became the FB-page/group.

We had to force the owner to take action and to install several admins to clean up the mess. Otherwise we would have told FB to delete the group. We have the power due to them using our domain.tld.
I still have the sheet in my drawer if the crap will start again (it is just a question of time).

For me, FB is just that ... Kindergarden!

[david63]

FB is just that ... Kindergarden!

Could not disagree - the trouble is that for many they believe that the whole world revolves around FB and if everything does not mirror FB then it is wrong and needs changing.

[Lumpy Burgertushie]

I agree. in general, people on fb act like children no matter what age they are. even my 37 year old son posts silly crap all the time. I signed up on fb a couple of years ago to keep in touch with him and my grandkids. all he ever posted was what his score was in some poker game. all I saw from anyone was stupid crap . they post where they are at any given moment, they post everything about themselves and their life. It is no wonder people get attacked, get their indentities stolen etc. if they post all their personal information on fb.

I dont' really care if people are at the mall or driving down a certain street etc.

I better quit, this is going way off topic and I apologize.


robert

[Holger]

^this!

[Volksdevil]

Well, following the general gist of this topic...I've just disconnected Twitterfeed from facebook and announced on our facebook page that it will no longer receive content from our forum. Feels good actually.

Will see how the activity on the site changes...

[Holger]

Cool! Good luck!

Keep us updated!

Edit: just read your "rant" on FB about your history-page. That is exactly the point!
People just hit the crappy Like button without visiting the page referenced to. Just useless!

[HiFiKabin]

FaceAche is all about getting as many friends as possible, and then telling them all about what you are eating, who you are eating it with, where you are eating it and where you are going to have a poo afterwards.

I wouldn't use it if you paid me.

[reptileguy]

First off, I fully understand the anti Facebook rants I see it differently though.
Holger is right: FB only takes, never gives!
But when it comes to FB, Reptileguy only takes, never gives. I don't post private stuff on FB. I don't wait till it ceases to exist but rather use it for my own advantage. My FB page does attract people to my forum, or at least reminds them of its existence every time I post a link or a picture.

[Volksdevil]

Cool! Good luck!

Keep us updated!

Edit: just read your "rant" on FB about your history-page. That is exactly the point!
People just hit the crappy Like button without visiting the page referenced to. Just useless!

Haha! Yep, cheers...The site is struggling but I'm going to stick with it for now.

[reptileguy]

I found an old topic similar to this one. Here is an interesting post in it:

Basically, keep things interesting, and keep in mind what users want. If your forum is growing, has activity, and content, keep doing what you're doing, otherwise, it will take something else to bring it down.

There are many factors that need to happen in the right order to build up a forum, but usually it only takes a small number of factors to leave the forum in ruins. From my personal experience, one or more of these things will be a major player in killing a community:

• Bad Staff
• No new content
• No way to get more members

Bad staff is an issue I have first hand experience with. A great forum with terrible staff is a terrible place to be. Quite a while ago, I quit a volunteer technical administrator position because the site was, simply, going nowhere. Constant talk of improving was as cheap as it was plentiful, but nothing got done in the way of actually maturing the staff. Needless to say, the place is in ruins now, with staff who are unable to make accurate judgments based on situations. If you are the community manager and you can see potentially bad staff, improve them while you have a chance, or be rid of them. It seems cold hearted, but this is business here. Don't let your forum fall victim to such things, it will destroy the members' faith in the leaders.

Content is key to any website. If your forum is your main feature, then the content is mainly based on your forums and how your users use them. This also has a downside: your members don't post, your new content ends. If they stop posting, the forum will die. Most medium to large sites have content separate from their forums, which makes them grow. Google likes this content, and it is the best SEO you can ever do to your website as a whole.

You can have all the activity in the world, but if only a few members are creating it, this activity can die very quickly. If there are no new members registering, then typically there are no new people generating content, and the ones that do can grow bored. This eventually leads to a group of people who lurk, after that, no new content is being created, and activity fades off into the distance.

Generally, if you can fill the niche your forum/website is targeted to and continue provide content for your users to absorb, your forum will have a harder time dying as long as there is something to discus. People will always have something to say, keep giving them that opportunity and they will grow bored as a whole less easily.

[mrgtb]

Forums are not what they was, not anymore with all other types of sites for using for discussion like Facebook. Getting a new forum going now is more or less impossible unless you're lucky or hit on a good niche covered. Sure, you can use fake users to start with adding content but they become very easy to spot by real users joining and only a matter of time before somebody brings it up on the board publicly that your using them and the forum is pretty much ruined losing any creditability. You'd probably find that using fake users won't get you anywhere anyway, bar wasting your time talking to yourself, lol.

Best option is start a forum with a few people involved in it, not on your own. If you do it on your own you'll end up having to use fake users for posting with and they only get spotted. And that pretty much sums up the problem with forums today, too many of them are bullshit sites using fake users.

[Austin Scott]

Hi there,
You can easily keep your forum active by following these simple activites
1. Create on on boarding progress for your community
2. Make a video about how to use your forum
3. Tell people how important for them to use this forum
4. Encourage forums that require regular interaction
5. Spend time in the community yourself
6. Promote the active members to special positions
7. Send weekly newsletters about the new activities