I look around at the various communities that exist in forum format these days and part of me feels like the fun has been sucked right out of it. Everything looks so serious and there seems to be very few that create communities for the fun of the game...but why?
It isn't that serious
- Thread starter TechWiz18
- Start date
Krissycakes09
Madly Diligent
I agree and I think the reason why because some might think we are serious time in the world. I do wish we had more fun forums.
I have several observations:
1. If you identify "fun" as missing factor, then inject fun into your forum as a differentiator! It's always great to bring something refreshing and different to your own forum.
2. Forums, and the web, have grown up. Several of these forums, and forum admins, were started over a decade ago when we were much younger. Many forum admins were teenagers, college, or young adults - ten years later, most of us have settled down into "adult" years.
3. The conversations hosted in independent forums have dramatically changed. There are still humorous and fun conversations, but lifestyle conversations of pop culture, entertainment, and daily life have shifted dramatically to places like Reddit, Discord, Amino Apps, etc. Those platforms have vacuumed up the masses and the social conversations.
With all of that said, I think this is a great reminder that we can have quality and thoughtful conversations while also keeping things light hearted for our members, and I love seeing creative activities in other forums!
1. If you identify "fun" as missing factor, then inject fun into your forum as a differentiator! It's always great to bring something refreshing and different to your own forum.
2. Forums, and the web, have grown up. Several of these forums, and forum admins, were started over a decade ago when we were much younger. Many forum admins were teenagers, college, or young adults - ten years later, most of us have settled down into "adult" years.
3. The conversations hosted in independent forums have dramatically changed. There are still humorous and fun conversations, but lifestyle conversations of pop culture, entertainment, and daily life have shifted dramatically to places like Reddit, Discord, Amino Apps, etc. Those platforms have vacuumed up the masses and the social conversations.
With all of that said, I think this is a great reminder that we can have quality and thoughtful conversations while also keeping things light hearted for our members, and I love seeing creative activities in other forums!
I agree with you.
I have a few forums up. I don't care about getting hundreds and thousands of members. They're focused on my biggest passions in life and that's what I want to talk about - one being running forums.
If my forum is the smallest one in the niche but it still has a handful of active discussions, I'm fine with that.
I'm just in it for the community.
Honestly I believe this nails it well. Most of the goofy conversations tend to happen in real time chats now unfortunately. Sometimes I'll see some fun posts on forums though! We should definitely have meaningful conversations but also have fun and crack jokes at times.
I don't wander if it's because people are trying to monetize their communities more instead of just being in it for the community....?
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