http://forumpromotion.net-pyramid ... s-success/
This is an idea which I've been thinking through lately. It's kind of like the food pyramid, but closer to the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, which is an idea in sociology.
Anyway, here's the image I threw together in paint.
Basically, when you first create a forum, you're on step one of the pyramid (which you can also think of as a ladder). As your forum improves, it works its way up the pyramid until it reaches the top, but the important aspect is that it has to move one step at a time. You can't just magically go from #1 to #6 (which is the top of the pyramid).
Here is a rough description of each step on the pyramid:
#1: Emptiness: This happens to any forum when it's started, or it's ignored long enough.
#2: Filler: This is the crap admins have to post to make their forum not look empty. Not real discussion, but it's 100% necessary.
#3: Discussion: These are the discussions which take place on most of our forums, including mine. Pretty interested, but no real disagreements. Generally everyone is happy, but also not too excited about the forum as a whole, at this stage.
#4: Debate: This is where it gets interesting. Members start disagreeing with each other, because they know each other well enough, and the forum is active enough, to support things other than merely "interesting" discussion.
#5: Drama: Once a forum moves beyond debate, it moves into "Drama." That's when a forum begins to have its own internal politics. Some people begin to dislike each other because of the debates from step #4, and people take sides. But also, people begin to show interest in the actual community itself, not just what's discussed on it. At this stage, the forum is truly going somewhere. If people care enough about a forum to get all worked up about it, then the forum must really matter.
#6: Community: This is what happens when the community finds balance, and has a healthy level of activity. It's possible to skip straight from #4 to #6, but it doesn't always happen. Also, if a forum looses balance, it falls back to #5 and everyone hates each other again. In #6, the forum is very active and people know each other pretty well. The staff team knows what they are doing, and everything is going pretty well. There's a little bit of controversy, but the community, as a whole, is pretty stable.
Note: In a large forum, different sections of the forum can be at different levels. Not really on a small forum, though.
What do you think? These are my observations from a limited number of forums I've been on. I may be completely wrong here, but I think there are some nuggets of truth here. What do you think?
This is an idea which I've been thinking through lately. It's kind of like the food pyramid, but closer to the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, which is an idea in sociology.
Anyway, here's the image I threw together in paint.
Basically, when you first create a forum, you're on step one of the pyramid (which you can also think of as a ladder). As your forum improves, it works its way up the pyramid until it reaches the top, but the important aspect is that it has to move one step at a time. You can't just magically go from #1 to #6 (which is the top of the pyramid).
Here is a rough description of each step on the pyramid:
#1: Emptiness: This happens to any forum when it's started, or it's ignored long enough.
#2: Filler: This is the crap admins have to post to make their forum not look empty. Not real discussion, but it's 100% necessary.
#3: Discussion: These are the discussions which take place on most of our forums, including mine. Pretty interested, but no real disagreements. Generally everyone is happy, but also not too excited about the forum as a whole, at this stage.
#4: Debate: This is where it gets interesting. Members start disagreeing with each other, because they know each other well enough, and the forum is active enough, to support things other than merely "interesting" discussion.
#5: Drama: Once a forum moves beyond debate, it moves into "Drama." That's when a forum begins to have its own internal politics. Some people begin to dislike each other because of the debates from step #4, and people take sides. But also, people begin to show interest in the actual community itself, not just what's discussed on it. At this stage, the forum is truly going somewhere. If people care enough about a forum to get all worked up about it, then the forum must really matter.
#6: Community: This is what happens when the community finds balance, and has a healthy level of activity. It's possible to skip straight from #4 to #6, but it doesn't always happen. Also, if a forum looses balance, it falls back to #5 and everyone hates each other again. In #6, the forum is very active and people know each other pretty well. The staff team knows what they are doing, and everything is going pretty well. There's a little bit of controversy, but the community, as a whole, is pretty stable.
Note: In a large forum, different sections of the forum can be at different levels. Not really on a small forum, though.
What do you think? These are my observations from a limited number of forums I've been on. I may be completely wrong here, but I think there are some nuggets of truth here. What do you think?
