What 3 things automatically kill a forum?
- Thread starter Katrina
- Start date
Demon_skeith
Paragon
First two nail it without a doubt. I would change the third one of a site having too strict rules and or staff.
What's your three list then
Demon_skeith
Paragon
I did list them, your first two and then what I would change for the third.
Lack of activity is the biggest killer of a forum. If there's no one around to communicate with other members, then it's going to die quickly. The niche could possibly kill a forum too, if it's a fan forum dedicated to a show that has ended it's most likely going to eventually decrease in activity. At least with forums based around game franchises, there's always a potential for someone to try a game out for the first time in the franchise and want to discuss with other people online. I would say Reddit is also taking some activity from forums. Whenever lots of sub reddits went black to protest against the cost of the Reddity API for third party Reddit apps, many people were upset and I mentioned that I preferred forums over Reddit anyways and a few people mentioned they liked Reddit more since you didn't have to join a bunch of different forums. (I think that's quite lazy myself. 
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I agree. Personally, I find forums much better than Reddit for the community side of it. Forums are more personal, you can make online friends easier and discuss topics more in-depth. I hate the Reddit comments layout, it’s too confusing to follow sometimes.Lack of activity is the biggest killer of a forum. If there's no one around to communicate with other members, then it's going to die quickly. The niche could possibly kill a forum too, if it's a fan forum dedicated to a show that has ended it's most likely going to eventually decrease in activity. At least with forums based around game franchises, there's always a potential for someone to try a game out for the first time in the franchise and want to discuss with other people online. I would say Reddit is also taking some activity from forums. Whenever lots of sub reddits went black to protest against the cost of the Reddity API for third party Reddit apps, many people were upset and I mentioned that I preferred forums over Reddit anyways and a few people mentioned they liked Reddit more since you didn't have to join a bunch of different forums. (I think that's quite lazy myself.
I think, as Ravenfreak said, inactivity is the biggest killer. I don’t want to join a forum that has had only one or two posts in the last week and feels like a ghost town. That’s why I’ve been focusing on building activity for Storyturner, which is starting to die down from the launch hype and post exchanges etc so I’m going to be trying new marketing tactics to boost it back up before I need to hold a funeral
I think slow loading times are also a massive killer nowadays, back in the day it would be more acceptable but with internet speeds vastly improving, nobody wants to be waiting for a page to load.
A toxic environment is also a huge forum killer in the long run, once they get bored and leave you have nobody left.
Uncrowned Guard
Resident
Automatically? I don't quite agree that lack of activity and content are automatic, sure they will start a decline, but they can take time and can be corrected.
My list would be:
Death of the core niche of the forum.
Server/software problems that are large enough to require refreshes and stop posting.
Loss of leadership, mostly admins going missing.
My list would be:
Death of the core niche of the forum.
Server/software problems that are large enough to require refreshes and stop posting.
Loss of leadership, mostly admins going missing.
Why would loss of admins kill a forum if there are others to take over and fulfill the vision of the owner?
Uncrowned Guard
Resident
More so when there are no others to take over, but I do feel safe adding that new admins taking over is far from a safe process for a community. Granted, there are plenty of success stories.
For me a lack of activity from staff/members, barely any forum posts/interaction, and the downtime of the website. Obviously this all depends on the vision that the site owner has and if they are activity trying to grow their website. At that point, I’m more than fine with staying and supporting their growth.
1. If there's no activity in a forum, it's dead.
2. If the forum owner goes AWOL without any good update to his staff members, it will likely kill the community.
3. Chaos and lack of order in a forum sets it backwards and also kills it because most members will quit the forum.
2. If the forum owner goes AWOL without any good update to his staff members, it will likely kill the community.
3. Chaos and lack of order in a forum sets it backwards and also kills it because most members will quit the forum.
The Raven92
Up-and-Coming Sensation
1. Inability to gather members and attract them to be active.
2. Bad staff - not being active.
3. Conflicts.
2. Bad staff - not being active.
3. Conflicts.
When it comes to what kills a forum, I would have to say the following seems to cause it from my experience
1. Lack of activity or staff activity
2. Rules that are too strict
3. Trolls that are not dealt with on the forum or spam.
1. Lack of activity or staff activity
2. Rules that are too strict
3. Trolls that are not dealt with on the forum or spam.
Server crashes will definitely kill a forum no doubt because how would anyone access a forum when access is being denied as a result of the server being crashed? That is what to look at solving as soon as possible whenever that it occurs.
Well, I had not had that yet lol
1. Mistrust of the Community Leadership
2. The community allowing the environment to turn toxic
3. An absent community manager
2. The community allowing the environment to turn toxic
3. An absent community manager
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