Are forums dying a slow death?...

[Joy Division]

On my last forum I had around 30 members but only a few of them were actively and regularly posting (and that was only because I knew some of them from previous large forums a few years ago) but since starting my new forum around 6 days ago it's been very difficult in getting new members, as some of my previous members don't even bother with forums now...it seems social networking has taken over, well imo anyway.

Some of the much bigger , well established forums are still going strong, often huge political party forums and the like, but a forum I had a wee nosey at the other day was well down on numbers, when I last checked in around 2 years ago there were between 10-20 thousand guests and members on daily ( mostly guests ) yesterday that figure was way down to 1500 guests/members, the guest making up the huge bulk again.

Some people's forums will be doing well enough for them, I was content before just to have a cosy few but even that seems hard to achieve now, even though my forum is in its infancy , but most forums I look in on are either dead or maybe have two or three logged on, I guess there are a few contributing factors as to forum topics, appearance etc, but I think the biggest contributing factor in many cases is a change in people's habits.

Of course not all forums are as quiet as others, but I would say the majority are, I had a look at forumotion directory and it's a graveyard of abandoned or near abounded forums , as was proboards 🙁

Maybe some on here have a forum that is doing well with regular posters , but does anyone agree with me that the majority of one man band forums are like ghost towns?..

I still see one or two small forums doing ok , but most not 🙁


In fact before I came back here, this place was way busier before!, dunno though, maybe folk are just on holidays or something 😉

Actually..let's put it to vote based on your experiences of forums!

But I think Facebook and Twitter have hijacked people's habits.

🙁

Sorry, I'm not trying to be a party pooper..I want the party! Lol, I'm just saying what I see in general.

Regards, JD

 

[RH-Calvin]

Forums are still active and are helpful to share thoughts and promote your business. Though social media are easily accessible through adaptable devices, I would prefer forums coming out with some innovative things to attract more visitors.

 

[Joy Division]

Thanks for your post RH

Yeah I agree that a wee bit more innovation is needed, all too often we come across forums with the same threads like...' What is your favourite colour' etc, lol (no offence to anyone with these threads!) but most forums offer the same discussion & even the gamer forums discuss the same roll play like games!🙁

I'm not a gamer but on the gamer forums I have looked at I've never actually seen anyone playing a game as in the games my son's play Along the like of Grand theft & Fallout4 , folk on these forums seem only to play roll -play style games where they are in a pretend -a -situation-game ...

Quite dour in my opinion but then I'm not a gamer and don't know much about the gamer forum things.

But I totally agree in that more innovation is needed as I've yet to discover a forum with something very different or something that can get & retain my interest.

Someone made a thread about what they would like to see FP staff to do on the promotional side of forums more ,rather than focusing to much on design/graphics etc, I agree !..

Maybe FP can do something along the lines of giving out FP$ to those who post on other's forums rather than the forum owner (s) making deals & exchanges for others to post for FP$? then any FP$ made to the poster by FP can then be spent on marketing etc from here?, maybe that is too much work though for FP to make checks to verify said amount of posts have been made on each forum before paying out FP$?

I dunno, but maybe something along those lines

 

[Joy Division]

C' mon folks! Why not leave an opinion on this as well as voting?

 

[Deleted member 8254]

I feel forums are dying slowly, as most of the users get information from social media's they are less bothered to check a forum for solution. 🙁

 

[Joy Division]

Hey Jazz, ta for your response, can you tick on the vote option please?, will give folk a quick idea of the numbers who think either way, thanks 🙂

 

[Page]

social media's has made an bad inpack to forum owners, however social media's also helps to promote websites and social media's is one of the biggest ways to get traffic. I use social media's and when there is an post or new content made on my website it gets tweeted or posted on the social media's wide. Yeah I might say that I only got about 5 users out of it.

There has been topics and talks about this before and I'll say this again they are dying but NOT DEAD. I'm on websites that have like over 200 active members a day, so what can't be wrong? www.lspdfr.com is one of them in fact. I'm into an gaming ways and own an gaming website and yes I'm having an hell here, it's dead and when I spend hours working on it I get nowhere.

I gave up once, but it's still running.

 

[Joy Division]

Yeah some forums still going well but in the last 6/7 years I've noticed a huge drop in traffic right across forum world , you mention that social media is basically a help as well as a hinderance for forums , but a you say, you've picked up maybe around 5 or so members/ users due to it, I also know some forums who have picked up maybe 1 member through FB/Twitter but most I know haven't picked up even a single member via fb or Twitter , the masses definitely much prefer FB/Twitter

The drop in traffic is astounding as I mention, even this place was way busier than this earlier on last year, there were often between 100 & 200 guests/members on at any one time, today, I've noticed around 20+ at best! 🙁

Yet the vote on this poll indicates there is no decrease in forum traffic in general , lol , but then this is a forum where folk inc me are trying to promote their forum so I guess we don't like to think of the negatives.

Thanks for your input Jazz 🙂

Maybe admin here can come up with new ways in which to better promote our forums?, I made a suggestion earlier in my first post after the OP...maybe admin can consider this or any other ideas anyone has?..

How about anyone leaving their own suggestions/innovations here to better/further promote our forums?..

 

[D]

Forums that actually have a purpose are fine. Too many people open up a forum randomly thinking it will succeed, they don't.

 

[Joy Division]

That's true, but there are also too many forums with the same content/games etc 🙁

 

[Joy Division]

A few contributing factors I think, but definitely social media like Feb have done big damage, plus I think some people's reactions distrusting of forum admins when they know their content is as good as safe as houses with fb...and they don't have to obey certain OTT rules on some forums.

Not that all forums have OTT rules , they don't , but some that do are off putting.

 

[Page]

Those five users that joined aren't even active and not even any posts from them, maybe one that made one good post and that's about it. promote is not easy at all, what i'm seem to be doing and same for others is exchanges, We post as an exchange deal and once one that's it we don't logged in till next requests.

At the moment I have 15 users online that are guests, and I see that allot and out of that no one joins, Even have the website restricted for guests that they must login to view it as an member won't work

 

[Joy Division]

Thanks for your honesty Empire, that's how forums seem to be now, hard to get active , regular posters...even harder to keep active , regular posters 🙁 boo-hoo

 

[Joy Division]

Where is everyone?? 4 members & 4 guests online and this is a promotion forum! I hope it picks up as our forums within this one don't look like they will fair to well!

 

[Page]

Where is everyone?? 4 members & 4 guests online and this is a promotion forum! I hope it picks up as our forums within this one don't look like they will fair to well!

It's that time of day really, |You do get that rush when it's like 20 members, Last night before I went to bed there was like over ten. Also members have an option to post here or not.

 

[Setonori]

Sure... they are, in a way, dying a slow death. However, forums aren't completely out of the picture just yet; sometimes you don't get the kind of depth you want from a particular topic outside them. Just look at the comment section in most groups and you just can't get the right feel as you would in a proper forum thread. I don't ever want to involve myself in a proper discussion on social networks like Facebook - it simply does not work; it doesn't feel to be the proper platform for them especially when you don't get much control to defend your post from turning into a fire.

Majority of new forums today will die and that's a fact we cannot refute. It's difficult to reach your targeted audience nowadays especially when they are used more than ever to the ease of social networks. If I asked plenty of my friends to visit my forum 5 years ago, most of them would and they did but pose them the same question today and they will refuse (if not join for a little bit out of kindness) but eventually become inactive like the rest. The convenience provided by Facebook and Twitter: two major platforms used by many from your grandmother to your neighbour is difficult—if not impossible—to beat. You just have to be content with whatever discussion you may have in a small-knit community you end up nurturing lest you end up disappointing yourself; this especially applies if the community you have going has a larger, popular variant somewhere in the web. The members you will have are pretty much those that chose to stay away from the big boards. For example: you chose to put up a new anime forum, but there are a ton of popular alternatives out there.

From 2006 to 2013 I have been able to run successful forums, but ask me to start one today and I can't be confident it can be successful. Or at least it's better to say it's not in me to start a new board that will attract the right members. I need to start one based off fresh ideas and even then there are better chances of succeeding if you begin on Facebook. I started a group for Pokemon GO that grew to over 500,000 members and that's not something I can dream of had it been a forum. The reason I decided on starting a group on Facebook instead of a forum? Because in spite of the popularity of Pokemon GO, it's still a gamble with the plethora of Pokemon forums out there that will compete directly with mine. I primarily gambled on the idea that this game will introduce a ton of users that never even heard of the franchise before.

I am active in both social networks and forums that allow people of similar minds to have in-depth discussions about particular niches. In the interest of full disclosure, these forums have been going for a decade and therefore have a solid userbase. They did lose a few members, but the ones that are really in it for the discussion stayed and echo the same sentiments as mine: social networks just can't provide the same level of intellectual discussions that forums do.

edit: bla please pardon my mistakes in the construction of this post, in a hurry right now.

 

[Joy Division]

Sure... they are, in a way, dying a slow death. However, forums aren't completely out of the picture just yet; sometimes you don't get the kind of depth you want from a particular topic outside them. Just look at the comment section in most groups and you just can't get the right feel as you would in a proper forum thread. I don't ever want to involve myself in a proper discussion on social networks like Facebook - it simply does not work; it doesn't feel to be the proper platform for them especially when you don't get much control to defend your post from turning into a fire.

Majority of new forums today will die and that's a fact we cannot refute. It's difficult to reach your targeted audience nowadays especially when they are used more than ever to the ease of social networks. If I asked plenty of my friends to visit my forum 5 years ago, most of them would and they did but pose them the same question today and they will refuse (if not join for a little bit out of kindness) but eventually become inactive like the rest. The convenience provided by Facebook and Twitter: two major platforms used by many from your grandmother to your neighbour is difficult—if not impossible—to beat. You just have to be content with whatever discussion you may have in a small-knit community you end up nurturing lest you end up disappointing yourself; this especially applies if the community you have going has a larger, popular variant somewhere in the web. The members you will have are pretty much those that chose to stay away from the big boards. For example: you chose to put up a new anime forum, but there are a ton of popular alternatives out there.

From 2006 to 2013 I have been able to run successful forums, but ask me to start one today and I can't be confident it can be successful. Or at least it's better to say it's not in me to start a new board that will attract the right members. I need to start one based off fresh ideas and even then there are better chances of succeeding if you begin on Facebook. I started a group for Pokemon GO that grew to over 500,000 members and that's not something I can dream of had it been a forum. The reason I decided on starting a group on Facebook instead of a forum? Because in spite of the popularity of Pokemon GO, it's still a gamble with the plethora of Pokemon forums out there that will compete directly with mine. I primarily gambled on the idea that this game will introduce a ton of users that never even heard of the franchise before.

I am active in both social networks and forums that allow people of similar minds to have in-depth discussions about particular niches. In the interest of full disclosure, these forums have been going for a decade and therefore have a solid userbase. They did lose a few members, but the ones that are really in it for the discussion stayed and echo the same sentiments as mine: social networks just can't provide the same level of intellectual discussions that forums do.

edit: bla please pardon my mistakes in the construction of this post, in a hurry right now.

Cracking post 🙂

.. and I agree with it, your dead right also in that facebook(even though I don't use it) doesn't provide the same platform for discussion as forums do and that when I had my last forums , a few members who joined only made a few posts and never came back again , in saying that I have done that myself , I need to see something that grabs my attention and is interesting to me, I'm sure we have all had members who have not returned.

 

[Joy Division]

Where is everyone?? 4 members & 4 guests online and this is a promotion forum! I hope it picks up as our forums within this one don't look like they will fair to well!

It's that time of day really, |You do get that rush when it's like 20 members, Last night before I went to bed there was like over ten. Also members have an option to post here or not.

Early last year the rush here was far more than 20 online at once though!

 

[Setonori]

Forum software developers tried to ride the wave by enabling signups using Facebook and Twitter because some of the reasons people stay put in social networks 1.) they are already registered 2.) there are already million others in it that are active 3.) it's easy to invite people on Facebook to join groups or like pages.

They at least have number one taken care of. But again... it's difficult because Facebook is one site it's the entire package for the majority who have no needs for the advantages a forum typically provides, and it becomes even more troublesome when the average user has to visit multiple forums when one platform can take care of everything. It's a hard-fought battle.

One can say to take advantage of this situation and advertise on Facebook, and in some ways it does work. It just largely depends on your followers whether or not they're the kind to want to visit a separate site to continue whatever chit-chat they've been having this entire time.

.. and I agree with it, your dead right also in that facebook(even though I don't use it) doesn't provide the same platform for discussion as forums do and that when I had my last forums , a few members who joined only made a few posts and never came back again , in saying that I have done that myself , I need to see something that grabs my attention and is interesting to me, I'm sure we have all had members who have not returned.

Yeah, if people are starting new forums in dreams of it being popular then that's simply not the way to go especially today. At most people should be happy to have least have 5, 10, 15, 20 members returning regularly to partake in discussions. If they get more than that, then great they're doing something right and therefore should be proud of such achievement. It's only deserving for getting that far as it will involve a ton of hard work to get that much activity going on with the way forums are now.

I think that's the point of starting a small forum nowadays; you create one because you are not content with any of the alternatives and you want to nurture the kind of atmosphere you desire and in order to be successful in it you need to at least find others that thinks even partly the same as you do and so in turn the gears of your forum can start turning and things can get going.

If there are 5 forums duking it out in the same category, I will stay in the one that makes me feel the most comfortable. For me that's the point of joining forums advertised in this forum; to find the proper home. No one forum will have the same personality so it's a matter of choosing which ones has the right discussion or topics that are right up your alley, and most importantly the right members. Some forums I've been to only had snark, which put me off entirely so off I go to the next forum that at least enforce their members to treat everyone with respect.

 

[Cierra]

In my opinion social media does play a part in the decreased usage on forums due to it's convenience, format, and design, but no where near how much people hype it up. I don't think forums are dead or dying- decreased/decreasing in usage? Yes. Who knows, they could make a turnaround in a few years if advancements in are made in the forum software industry and how people administrate their forums.