Forums being bought then merged?

[Scribbler397]

How would you feel as a member if a forum you belonged to was bought by a new owner and merged with another forum? I've always thought about acquiring forums in my niche that are dying and merging them with my own to revitalize both forums, but I'm never sure how the members would feel about that.

I think the members of my current forum would be totally cool with it, but I wonder about the members of the forum that would be merged into mine. If the forum was dying I would think they might see it as a relief that they have a new home without having to give up their profile on that site and all of the people they've gotten to know instead of having to find a new forum to join after that one is gone.

 

[SarahKik]

I think it depends on the circumstances (such as the example you provided of one forum being dead anyway and you merge to "revitalize" both), and how willing the other forum is to accommodate the new members to make them feel comfortable, otherwise it kind of just feels like it was done for the stat boost.

I was apart of something like this and it was terrible. The forum was not dead, in fact it was quite lively and a lot of fun (I had worked my way up from a member to an administrator). The owner/creator suddenly decided to sell it so it could be merged with another forum because he didn't "have the time", even when I offered to take over all the responsibilities/payments.

But what was done was done, and I was offered a moderator position at the other forum. I tried, however the administrator didn't listen to any of my suggestions and the members, myself included, felt completely alienated. I left and made my own forum (WATWD, which is still going strong) - that forum has since "died" and merged with another forum yet again.

So, it just depends on how it's done. If members from both forums are treated equally and everyone is comfortable, I think it could most definitely work and help the forums/members.

 

[Scribbler397]

I think it depends on the circumstances (such as the example you provided of one forum being dead anyway and you merge to "revitalize" both), and how willing the other forum is to accommodate the new members to make them feel comfortable, otherwise it kind of just feels like it was done for the stat boost.

I was apart of something like this and it was terrible. The forum was not dead, in fact it was quite lively and a lot of fun (I had worked my way up from a member to an administrator). The owner/creator suddenly decided to sell it so it could be merged with another forum because he didn't "have the time", even when I offered to take over all the responsibilities/payments.

But what was done was done, and I was offered a moderator position at the other forum. I tried, however the administrator didn't listen to any of my suggestions and the members, myself included, felt completely alienated. I left and made my own forum (WATWD, which is still going strong) - that forum has since "died" and merged with another forum yet again.

So, it just depends on how it's done. If members from both forums are treated equally and everyone is comfortable, I think it could most definitely work and help the forums/members.

Thanks for sharing your experience! Treating all members equally is a really good thing to keep in mind.