If you love a forum and have posted there for awhile but noticed that many other members are leaving, is it worthwhile to stick around and post there anyway in hopes the forum will revive? Or, should you just move on? This question might also be for forum owners whose own forums are dying out fast. Is it worth rebuilding or should you just start over?
Is it worth supporting a dying forum?
- Thread starter Beverly
- Start date
Yeah it is. If I like a forum, of course it's logical to support it regardless of its current activity. I mean, otherwise there's no chance the forum might come back from the brink and be active again. By not posting because other people aren't, you're just speeding up the death of a site you enjoyed using to begin with.
CM30 said:
Lovely summary. It did happen to me once with my first online forum ever. I was still there with few staff members when everyone else almost gone. We were still there until the admins decided to take it down. I think it's natural to keep fighting for it until we really see there's no more possible way to keep it alive.
At what point are you at that point though?phio_chan said:
Any dormant forum has the chance to recover from a bit of inactivity, get old members active again and/or gain new members. The admin just has to figure out how to make that happen and not give up.
theezy said:
Some I can think about are like the administrators can no longer pay for the technical expanses and can't find a way to get someone else to pay for it, or the administrators lost interest in the forum and are not planning to hand it over or no one is interested to continue it, they get too busy, or the staff members can't find time to update the forum with new content. Hiring new staff members may work but when there's no one to reply to them it may be rather demotivational.
It's true that all forum has potential, it depends on those who run it, I guess.
Dying? No.
Now, dead forums are OK to abandon, but they shouldn't be abandoned. I personally only closed my forums when I created too many due to having free forum hosting on ZB and thinking I could manage like ten of them. I ended up consolidating them around my second one (since the first was never used much) and I still run that forum today.
Now, dead forums are OK to abandon, but they shouldn't be abandoned. I personally only closed my forums when I created too many due to having free forum hosting on ZB and thinking I could manage like ten of them. I ended up consolidating them around my second one (since the first was never used much) and I still run that forum today.
I think it depends. If all the posts on the site were getting to be old, like if members were just lurking when they left and the only ones signing up are spam bots, then I don't feel as though it would be worth it. If it was a forum I truly enjoyed staying on, though, it'd be kind of hard to make up my mind and decide if I should just leave it and let it die or keep trying to post in the hopes that all will go as they once did.
I think that if the staff are legitimately trying to support the site still (they're posting, advertising and etc... but it just doesn't seem to be working for whatever reason) then yes, support it. They can't do everything by themselves. And having other members show interest can very much encourage them to keep going, to keep fighting for their site.
(Conversely, seeing many formerly active people leave has the opposite effect and often makes admins question whether they should continue or just give up.)
Also, hiring more staff is easy to say but very often difficult to do. There are many times when getting staff is incredibly difficult. (Let alone getting staff that will actually help out and improve the site... since there are people who will want to be staff but quite honestly have no place being staff.)
But if the staff aren't even signing on anymore and most members have left? Then it very likely isn't worth it. (Especially not if you're an admin and have your own site to worry about. Why bother putting the effort to rebuild someone else's site when they can't be bothered when you have your own site to improve?)
(Conversely, seeing many formerly active people leave has the opposite effect and often makes admins question whether they should continue or just give up.)
Also, hiring more staff is easy to say but very often difficult to do. There are many times when getting staff is incredibly difficult. (Let alone getting staff that will actually help out and improve the site... since there are people who will want to be staff but quite honestly have no place being staff.)
But if the staff aren't even signing on anymore and most members have left? Then it very likely isn't worth it. (Especially not if you're an admin and have your own site to worry about. Why bother putting the effort to rebuild someone else's site when they can't be bothered when you have your own site to improve?)
I've been on sites where posts have been 2 years old or more, and the place was practically spambot city. I was pretty upset at the thought because these were forums I enjoyed posting on but nobody was giving a crap about them anymore. It's sad when stuff like this happens, especially if the site has so much going on and had so much potential in the first place.
If I care about the forum, I usually stick around and post here and there. I don't like to see things I care about be ended or fade away. I also try to get more people to the forum as well.
I would hope that is what others would do for me and my forum 🙂
I would hope that is what others would do for me and my forum 🙂
Well I don't like to call my forums that way but they are but I promised to keep them up and I will, doesn't matter what will happen.
I had a certain goal and I don't want to let my friends down on these forums,they became family to me.
I had a certain goal and I don't want to let my friends down on these forums,they became family to me.
It is important to suport the forum if you really like it . Important is to like you , not to like others , if you do a good job , write interesting content , help members ( which still are there ) will come more and forum will grow again. Important is to be dedicated.
Forces of Steel
Resident
It depends, really, if the inactive forum has a lot more going for it than just being another typical site to join and post on.
McConnaughay
Reputable
Supporting the forum is the only way to know whether or not it can be resuscitated. Whether or not you believe it should be is up to you.
It depends how far gone it is. If it looks like no matter the activity that the owners/staff don't care or are neglecting things, then I lose some hope in the board going forward as there's no leader to actually keep driving the forum forward.
Otherwise if the staff care for it, then I'll stick around. It's all well and good saying "Meh, this board isn't active enough for me" but if everyone but those who stick around say that, you're part of the reason it's like that. There's only so much people can do, and if people were to realise that if they become or stay part of a community who's staff care to keep it going, then it will entice more people to join or come back. You can't expect a slow or dying website to pick up if you and everyone else abandons ship. If you're not willing to stick around, why should you expect anyone else to do the same?
Otherwise if the staff care for it, then I'll stick around. It's all well and good saying "Meh, this board isn't active enough for me" but if everyone but those who stick around say that, you're part of the reason it's like that. There's only so much people can do, and if people were to realise that if they become or stay part of a community who's staff care to keep it going, then it will entice more people to join or come back. You can't expect a slow or dying website to pick up if you and everyone else abandons ship. If you're not willing to stick around, why should you expect anyone else to do the same?
Alexander7
Acquaintance
Beverly,
I think that if a forum is "dying", it means that there fundamentally something wrong with the forum, and will not be able to survice long term, as it proves unable to keep active members in the long run.
I think that instead of trying hopelessly to "support" that forum, you should find the courage to leave, and find one which has much better future prospects.
I think that if a forum is "dying", it means that there fundamentally something wrong with the forum, and will not be able to survice long term, as it proves unable to keep active members in the long run.
I think that instead of trying hopelessly to "support" that forum, you should find the courage to leave, and find one which has much better future prospects.
The main thing is, do you really enjoy it & do you want to maintain the relationships you've built? I would not stick around JUST because of a feeling of responsibility. Forums are supposed to be for fun, at least in large part. And a small forum can be lots of fun. You don't need 1000s of members to have a great community.
Affiliates
