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Are Online Forums & Bulletin Boards Dying?

Are Online Forums & Bulletin Boards Dying?

I've created many communities over the past decade using various software packages and still do work on huge ones for clients. I have seen some die out and others prosper by leaps and bounds. I've noticed that the more unique (Niche) a forum is the more participation and growth they get because their content is found no where else.

The ones that tend to do the same thing as other communities eventually closed. One of the reasons for this surrounds far larger social networks taking over (Already taken over) the net. An example of this, when you buy a mobile it comes with links and apps already directing a user to these social networks. Thus, a new internet user may conclude that social interaction is based on those social networks alone. Before this personal communities dominated the internet - they acted like the "Groups" and "Fan pages" of modern social networks and because there was not a centralized place to interact with others you could have setup a forum and within a month or two have a large following - this is no longer the case.

Someone asked how they could keep a niche community from losing their members due to real life causing them to move on or because they are no longer interested in that niche.

My reply: If your niche is unique you will always have a following however, you may need to make things 'exciting' within it to encourage participation from your membership. You may also have to change your niche to incorporate a wider subject matter than you originally had. For instance, if you have a horticultural forum that centers on "Pink lilies" and it is exclusive, then you may need to consider adding "Yellow lilies" or even other varieties of plants. You do not have to lose your prior focus on "Pink lilies" as there will be a following for that, but you do have to show you are open to wider subject matter.

Presentation is important. If you are installing the same mods / plugins and presenting it just like 'the other guy' then why should they come your way? If you can code, create something not available anywhere else. If you can't, maybe you can hire someone. Customization really helps you to not look the same as everyone else.

Those larger social networks are important to you, that might seem like a contradiction but they aren't going away so you may as well get them to send traffic to you. How that is done is a whole Topic of itself.

SEO principles are changing and ever important. Your site needs to be fast, mobile responsive and 'likable' by search engines. There is a lot more to this but these are the basics. Feel free to add your thoughts.

Dying Boards Bulletin and Forums Online Are

There will always be a place for forums as long as it meets the needs of the people who use it but they definitely aren't as popular as they used to be.

Are Online Forums & Bulletin Boards Dying? Gaming Video & Issues Computer

There are still many sites like this online and they have huge communities. The ones that last the longest and are the most active usually surround some game. People don't want to talk about serious issues when they get online they just want to have fun. Once you provide something fun they will be there even if its just for support about the fun they're having. .

Dying Boards Bulletin and Forums Online Are

I agree that you have to have some niche to get traffic to start coming to your site/thread/group, but beyond getting them there, I think a lot of people have a preconception about how these things should look and run based on the 'big guys'. If you shake things up too much, they are likely to get frustrated and leave. I also see that a lot of the 'little guys' are dying out, mostly because they are not SEO and so they don't get new traffic. It is great to have a small niche community, but you have to get big pretty quick in order to survive. There are similar principles in biology about a 'community' (Like a virus or even a new species) reaching a certain critical mass or else it dies out. Each group is competing for limited resources (Client time, money, attention, etc) and must have some way to maintaining their base while expanding to grow. It can be tough to come up with something new and it is almost even tougher to maintain it. I think these communities and groups provide a vital service. I hate the idea of a monopoly (Even just a virtual one), but people are lazy and follow the path of least resistance, which tends to lead to large established ideas/companies/websites dominating the 'landscape'.

Dying Boards Bulletin and Forums Online Are

I've been here awhile. What I've noticed is that more and more people just want to do whatever they want regardless of what a site is about. For instance on other social sites you can pretty much start your own group and run it the way you want but in the case of a site like this you are joining a 'group' with rules and stuff already in place. I think generation Y might be mixing up the differences between their social sites and a community like this that is geared for quality content.

Are Online Forums & Bulletin Boards Dying?

I do not think a good forum will ever die with a core of people what enjoy that forum or bulletin board. I know some have changed somewhat and they do draw in some younger people who help keep it going too. I think in the next few years we will continue to see ups and downs in the people who go to this or that forum but they will still be around in a decade I believe.