Why It Doesn't Make Any Sense To Me... | And why I don't do forums anymore

[T.C.]

Hello everyone. It's been months since I have logged on here... and even a few moths prior I didn't join any communities. I wanted to share with you guys some views I have on this whole forum stuff know that I have been doing it for a few years. Yesterday I was just sitting and thinking about all the time I spent working on "forums" and realized I spent perhaps too much time doing it, and then I began to wonder what the point was? Why did I spend hours everyday contributing to forums, (not speaking of this one) that just died down a month or two later? Firstly I just want to say there was no doubt some fun in it occasionally, but enough fun to outweigh all that wasted and lost time? Unfortunately, and honestly... NO! I don't know how much time you spend on forums... but I would do a few hours everyday. Some days a little less, others a little more. I think active forums are fun, and communicating with others is fun. But I think we all fail to look at the broad aspect of things.

I started joining forums well before joining here, and a few months ago I stopped. I had enough! The more I think about it, the more I thank myself for doing so. Know during my time of forum exploration that went on a few years... I probably joined up on hundreds of forums. Some I contributed to more than others because I could tell which did and didn't have potential. I started a few myself, and they ended up in failure. However that isn't what made me quit. Among those hundreds of forums I joined, not even one percent was successful or made it past three months. This is a rough estimate, but I did my homework on that and it's about right. Why such a low success rate? Well, mainly because forums are dying, but also because people attempt to make several forums all on one topic or another. Take gaming for example, I think we all have seen how many forums there are for gaming! I mean, c'mon guys, really think about it. Why do we need so many, why can't we all just join one or two and have an actual active gaming community? This comes down to the simple fact, everyone wants to be the big cheese and be the owner. Some of you may not like that statement but it is the truth. But in all reality, there can't be that many forums when the amount of people using forums know has dropped so dramatically that there is only a small chunk of society that even still use forums.

I understand for some it is a hobby, or just something they do when they are on the internet. However I would advise someone to find something else unless joining an already active and mature community. This is 2018 and forums are EXTREMELY difficult to get going and grow. My biggest issue was in the end I had nothing to show for. I mean if I was doing youtube at least I would have all these videos to show, or if I was doing something that had actual rewards i would have felt better about the time spent. But no, I have nothing. I spent time helping others grow their forums, and their forums would eventually die. I would move onto the next, and in the end I had some posts spread all over the internet, and they where later deleted after the forums where taken down or the domain expired. I got better rewards out of video games I downloaded out of the play store for free. Firstly I thought of it as a way as passing the time as I'm sure many of you do. But if that was the case... Why? Why was I "just passing the time." I think I was hoping to get something out of it that simpy wasn't there. There is just so much better stuff to be doing. Know I'm not suggesting we should all abandon forums, but we should try not to make so many, and more so all focus on a few. I have seen some people here who have very nice forums, but there is already so many forums, that these fine forums are dead and quiet. Or worse, the only posts being made are ones that where paid for. Again not discouraging posting on forums, but make your time well spent and worth it. I regret the time I wasted. There is one forum that I am part of still, and have been posting on for years and will continue to.

But just remember, spend your time wisely.

 

[Page]

That's an big statement. Forums are dying! that's what I always keep hearing and it just won't stop there. Yes! forums are not as big as it used to be and becoming slow, but wouldn't say completely dying. Think about how many forums in 2018 (forum promotion one of them) and look at the traffic on each of the big forums, going strong still. Wasted time, wasted life, Sounds like an wasted time an affect? Yes it can be but regards you get paid for posting content or even doing content exchanges isn't what I call it wasted. Meaning that you get paid to make 50 or 100 content and once completed it doesn't fully matter as you did your part got the cash and bang! It is a shame to see an forum/website closed or gone, but it's not wasted since you got the crash! it's more wasted to the owner who requested the paid content. Exchanges can also be the same, meaning that I make five on www.text.com and then the other person returns. It can be wasted when you spent so much time posting and joining forums and both sites are closed.

I got into forums/websites back in 2010 when I was doing I.C.T and as I was learning I then started to open up my own forum in 2014 "in my sig" that run SMF for six months before I moved to IPB software. You mention that forums open and then in the next 3 or more months they are then closed or expired. Regards myself I always worried about running costs and able to get traffic flowing. Yet till this day the name is still going for 4 years coming. So never give up.

In the time that I been with FP, and joining other sites plus posting, I seen some much sites that are closed. Just can't believe when I think back to see that I join over 50 to 100 sites and just half are no longer in this wide. But doesn't stop me, NOPE! I always keep on going.

 

[TaylorCTU GM]

I am confused by a lot on here.

I see sites open for years and they barely have 10k posts or less. I see people running 10+ forums at one time and all of them are dead. I see people on here who's started 3-5 sites in a few months. I see forums where the only content is paid posts or exchanges. People doing the same thing over and over expecting it to work out differently the next time.

Obviously these are the forums to avoid. However there are a few good forums out there. I know of one that has 100k posts in less than 3 months.

The only forums that have any success are ones that already have a community before day 1. Luckily I was able to put that together so that my site had 100 posts on the first day it was open. There's plenty of big forums starting up out there (None of them are on here that I know of because they don't need to be). Not saying that there's not any good sites on here because there are. Maybe you just need to have a better eye so you don't join a forum that is sure to fail.

 

[Jason76]

I am confused by a lot on here.

I see sites open for years and they barely have 10k posts or less. I see people running 10+ forums at one time and all of them are dead. I see people on here who's started 3-5 sites in a few months. I see forums where the only content is paid posts or exchanges. People doing the same thing over and over expecting it to work out differently the next time.

Obviously these are the forums to avoid. However there are a few good forums out there. I know of one that has 100k posts in less than 3 months.

The only forums that have any success are ones that already have a community before day 1. Luckily I was able to put that together so that my site had 100 posts on the first day it was open. There's plenty of big forums starting up out there (None of them are on here that I know of because they don't need to be). Not saying that there's not any good sites on here because there are. Maybe you just need to have a better eye so you don't join a forum that is sure to fail.

• 5 to 10 regular posters
• Paid advertising - done wisely, but assuming the material warrants it.

Well, this is all about "no pain, no gain" as with everything else. But then again, I realize a lot of people are just doing it for a hobby, and other just don't have the income for investment.

 

[TaylorCTU GM]

I am confused by a lot on here.

I see sites open for years and they barely have 10k posts or less. I see people running 10+ forums at one time and all of them are dead. I see people on here who's started 3-5 sites in a few months. I see forums where the only content is paid posts or exchanges. People doing the same thing over and over expecting it to work out differently the next time.

Obviously these are the forums to avoid. However there are a few good forums out there. I know of one that has 100k posts in less than 3 months.

The only forums that have any success are ones that already have a community before day 1. Luckily I was able to put that together so that my site had 100 posts on the first day it was open. There's plenty of big forums starting up out there (None of them are on here that I know of because they don't need to be). Not saying that there's not any good sites on here because there are. Maybe you just need to have a better eye so you don't join a forum that is sure to fail.

• 5 to 10 regular posters
• Paid advertising - done wisely, but assuming the material warrants it.

Well, this is all about "no pain, no gain" as with everything else. But then again, I realize a lot of people are just doing it for a hobby, and other just don't have the income for investment.

What's 5-10 posters and paid advertising do with what I said?

 

[Jason76]

I am confused by a lot on here.

I see sites open for years and they barely have 10k posts or less. I see people running 10+ forums at one time and all of them are dead. I see people on here who's started 3-5 sites in a few months. I see forums where the only content is paid posts or exchanges. People doing the same thing over and over expecting it to work out differently the next time.

Obviously these are the forums to avoid. However there are a few good forums out there. I know of one that has 100k posts in less than 3 months.

The only forums that have any success are ones that already have a community before day 1. Luckily I was able to put that together so that my site had 100 posts on the first day it was open. There's plenty of big forums starting up out there (None of them are on here that I know of because they don't need to be). Not saying that there's not any good sites on here because there are. Maybe you just need to have a better eye so you don't join a forum that is sure to fail.

• 5 to 10 regular posters
• Paid advertising - done wisely, but assuming the material warrants it.

Well, this is all about "no pain, no gain" as with everything else. But then again, I realize a lot of people are just doing it for a hobby, and other just don't have the income for investment.

What's 5-10 posters and paid advertising?

What's needed at the least to make a successful forum.

 

[TaylorCTU GM]

• 5 to 10 regular posters
• Paid advertising - done wisely, but assuming the material warrants it.

Well, this is all about "no pain, no gain" as with everything else. But then again, I realize a lot of people are just doing it for a hobby, and other just don't have the income for investment.

What's 5-10 posters and paid advertising?

What's needed at the least to make a successful forum.

Oh yeah to start out anyway.

 

[Page]

Obviously these are the forums to avoid. However there are a few good forums out there. I know of one that has 100k posts in less than 3 months.

Avoid, If someone is reading your comment that has been trying so hard over the years to able to grow and reads regards to what site to stay away from or avoid sites with paid content then that will shell put the owner down badly. Most cases there is no choice but to get some paid or exchanges content going.

don't join a forum that is sure to fail.

Yet seen allot of sites that failed as members are not joining. I mean if people think it will fail then don't think otherwise. Join anyway post and it might not fail.

Yet again fail is the most used word now then ever before

 

[Jason76]

Comically, I think a lot of forums might have paid members that seem free. Not saying cause I'm jealous, lol. For instance, HarmonyCentral.com, FreeMathHelp.com - the regulars might be free, but we don't really know!

 

[TaylorCTU GM]

Obviously these are the forums to avoid. However there are a few good forums out there. I know of one that has 100k posts in less than 3 months.

Avoid, If someone is reading your comment that has been trying so hard over the years to able to grow and reads regards to what site to stay away from or avoid sites with paid content then that will shell put the owner down badly. Most cases there is no choice but to get some paid or exchanges content going.

don't join a forum that is sure to fail.

Yet seen allot of sites that failed as members are not joining. I mean if people think it will fail then don't think otherwise. Join anyway post and it might not fail.

Yet again fail is the most used word now then ever before

I appreciate the effort of someone trying for years I really do, but it rarely works out when the owner can't get the forum going in a short amount of time. That's a fact.

As far as the second statement there's just no logic behind that. People don't think "Hey this forum is failing let me join and post so it doesn't". Like would anyone say "That business is failing let me invest some money into it."

 

[Azareal]

I know MyBB is tanking, really hard, I might add, but I'm not sure if it's because it's of the older generation of software or due to the market as a whole.

If I recall, 20% of their forums just shut down in a year and the numbers didn't go back up, it kinda just sinks down, it terrified them so much that they cancelled 2.0 and started work on 1.9 to quickly get a modernised version out asap.

They were also nervously watching as people converted to Discourse here and there and people kept complaining about the software being behind.
There are honestly, probably a lot of reasons why you're seeing sites being shut-down.

For one, forums are actually a fairly expensive hobby, and dividing your attention is a recipe for disaster. I'm usually a bit of a gourmet about what sites I poke around and one thing they have in common is that they all have custom components, perhaps the entire site isn't custom, but there's definitely a mark of cash there.

This is usually a sign that they're less likely to just shutdown abruptly. Also, FP isn't actually the only site of it's kind, although the others have different specialities. Sitepoint is powered by Discourse and is actually bigger than FP, but it's more general and less forum based.

Discourse, if I recall, has about half the market-share of MyBB. While Sitepoint is gargantuan, it's a huge site, although the community is smaller by comparison, but it's still far bigger than FP.