Pros And Cons Of Having Dummy Accounts

[Deleted member 44219]

Forum dummy accounts have existed for years. In fact, the people who created Reddit even used them. But of course like everything else, making dummy accounts comes with a few ups and downs.

The Good:

1. They make your forum seem like it's growing. Giving off the illusion of a growing forum can actually trigger someones brain to join your forum.
2. It's a faster way to make a forum grow. Similar to giving off the illusion of a growing forum, if you're that desperate for users, dummies can be a great way to boost growth.
3. Desperate for users, are you? A lot of people who start forums in the webs mass of 1.8 billion sites can quickly make someone wanting to grow.

The Ugly:

1. You're just talking to yourself or buddies. When you're in control of dummy accounts, it's either you who's controlling them or you and a couple of friends.
2. You're filling up the site with accounts that will probably not be used again. It's best to delete these once the forum starts gaining actual users.

The Bad:

1. The internet has evolved over the years. And so has the intelligence of a human on the internet; A lot of people don't fall for the dummy trick now but younger internet users will most likely fall for it.
2. If people find out that they were dummy accounts, be prepared. If your forum were to find out that they were dummies, be prepared. You might lose some of your users which might start a downfall in your forum.
3. If you break character in those accounts then people won't be fooled anymore. If you ever break character in these accounts then it's best just to pay people to sign up now seeing as you've broken character.

This is all of the advice I could give about using dummy accounts on forums. If you have anymore then reply them. I hope this helped anyone who used dummy accounts in the past or is planning on doing so.

 

[Bryn]

Dummy accounts should only be for testing certain things out, not for you to go under different VPNs and make "new" members out of them. That's just silly.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

Dummy accounts should only be for testing certain things out, not for you to go under different VPNs and make "new" members out of them. That's just silly.

Yes, that is their sole purpose but it can be used to grow a forum. A few dummies should only be needed around 5 - 14 is enough. I am surprised that Reddit grew by using dummies.

 

[Bryn]

A few dummies should only be needed around 5 - 14 is enough.

That ain't a few I'm thinking like about two or three at least.

 

[Deleted member 44219]

A few dummies should only be needed around 5 - 14 is enough.

That ain't a few I'm thinking like about two or three at least.

I meant in my opinion. It depends on what you’re testing and how big the new thing you’re testing is.

 

[lucycarter]

You have provided helpful information on usage of dummy accounts. It was really surprising for me to know that Reddit grew by using dummy accounts.