New forum is it worth it ?

[2013]

I'm thinking of creating a local forum site a project for my spare time and build on it over time to do more but I have so worries.

1. Do people still bother with forums outside the big owns could I get members ?
2. Would I be just wasting my time and money ?
3. Would it need a lot of investment ?
4. Would it need a lot of seo and money unlike in the past?
5. would It be best to stay with a basic forum and not over do it ?
6. if you think its worth a go what would be a good software to start with I have a idea of a few but looking for suggestions.

I have built a few new sites it the past but did not outside my business sites.
so im a bit worries

 

[Hotwired]

I think you need a reason for people to become members before you worry about the rest.

There's no end of easily accessible places to just talk.

 

[2013]

I think you need a reason for people to become members before you worry about the rest.

There's no end of easily accessible places to just talk.

I have been thinking the same. too many sites you can easily access which my worry and people wont try a new site.

I would also have one downside of a large forum site focused on the same thing.

The other issue is are people even google or do they just go to facebook now or something they already know.

I think the biggest up to the forum would be its local and will focus on people and area and around the local community.

example
unlike here most people would be in one county more less so would have a better idea of the are, classifieds if i add one east collection, local news of whats going on, business or other support would be from locals ect

 

[daz]

Facebook groups has replaced most smaller forums from what I can tell. The annoying thing about Facebook though is that posts disappear and it can be hard to find anything within a group. :/

 

[Randomface74]

We use Facebook for our community group. Still works fine at over 5k people. It was quite a bit of work though, can go into more depth about how to run a succesful Facebook group if needed.

 

[2013]

Facebook groups has replaced most smaller forums from what I can tell. The annoying thing about Facebook though is that posts disappear and it can be hard to find anything within a group. :/

Yes and it does not really feel like a community, its just open and random.
I feel forums are more of a community.

We use Facebook for our community group. Still works fine at over 5k people. It was quite a bit of work though, can go into more depth about how to run a successful Facebook group if needed.

I would be happy to if you could share that information.

 

[Randomface74]

I would be happy to if you could share that information.

Creating a group
- Name it clearly so people can find it via search.
- Make it a private group so only members can view content.
- Configure questions for membership applicants to complete.
- Set membership to requiring moderator approval.

Now you have a group and only people you want in it will join, as best you can anyway. Group content is protected from the prying eyes of the whole world but still vulnerable to other members.

Without rules you'll get spam from businesses and individuals trying to sell stuff. The more they post the more others need to post for competition, so you've got to control it.

Create group rules
- Put rules in the "About" section of your group. It's the best place but still not ideal as mobile users don't see it.
- State the purpose of your group.
- Define code of conduct. Can be as simple as behave as you would irl.
- Define what is not allowed. E.g. buying, selling, swapping, renting, giveaways, charities, advertising.
- If there are advertising exceptions, state them. This is for if you want to support local businesses. E.g. Clubs can post monthly. Job ads monthly. Events weekly. Mobile food once per visit. Tradespeople reply only (so when someone asks for a plumber they get one).
- State what will happen if the rules are broken. E.g. post deleted, maybe member removed from group.

Select admins and moderators
- Admins have ultimate power. There is no way to recover if an admin goes rogue.
- Moderators can approve members, kick members, and delete posts.
- You don't want to be the only admin in case you lose your account, so pick a trusted friend to give that power to.
- You'll need to add moderators based on how busy your group is. Moderators leave the area or lose interest so need replacing regularly.
- I held monthly pub meets with my moderators which seemed to keep them happy.

The angry mob
- As admin/moderator you get attention. Attention can be dangerous. I've had people threaten to beat me up for deleting their post, so be careful and don't share any info about yourself.
- Try to have your moderator team represent the gender balance of your group. A typical residents group is mostly female membership. They'll get argumentative if a man is dictating rules to them.
- Ask for feedback occasionally so people feel the group is evolving the way they want it to.

Know when to leave
- All the stuff above allowed me to do the following:
- Once the group had grown to max size, basically all the houses built, every resident in the group, I decided to hand over the group to my moderators.
- I had achieved my objective of making sure the community had a good group and it didn't require my attention anymore. They have run it for a year and it's been fine.
- Consider what circumstances you would leave under, make sure someone can take over.

 

[2013]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Im assuming this is a selling group not a discussions ?

 

[2013]

Ill put it another way what would make you try out a new site, what features would you like to see ?
more like facebook or more like a forum ?

Facebook groups has replaced most smaller forums from what I can tell. The annoying thing about Facebook though is that posts disappear and it can be hard to find anything within a group. :/

Thats the problem, you cant really compare the two if you cant find anything, its not really organised, its what ever you see at the top.
I feel its people with short attention span, just looking to pass the time.

 

[Randomface74]

I'm assuming this is a selling group not a discussions ?

It's discussions between residents, e.g. atm they're planning an easter egg hunt for the kids. Selling is against the rules. There's another group dedicated to selling, because it's genuinely useful for a bunch of reasons, it just can't be allowed to pollute the main group.

I'll put it another way what would make you try out a new site, what features would you like to see ?
more like facebook or more like a forum?

The only other site I considered was Nextdoor because it mails a code to someone's house to verify they actually live here. At the time I was having a problem with non-residents joining the group just because it was a good group and they wanted to be in it, and that site had the solution. Ultimately facebook won because everyone has it already, and it did improve over time. It's a complete waste of time to consider anything else, people won't come.

That's the problem, you cant really compare the two if you cant find anything, its not really organised, its what ever you see at the top. I feel its people with short attention span, just looking to pass the time.

With proper moderation stuff doesn't disappear that fast. Typically people have their discussion over 2-3 days then everything's been said anyway. If it's still going on after that it's probably an argument and needs locking. For things that need to be found again we link to the local residents association's faq page which has stuff like bin days, public transport etc. Some questions do get repeated regularly, like people asking for a plumber, there was an idea of having a local business directory but nobody wanted to do the work so it didn't happen.

 

[2013]

It's discussions between residents, e.g. atm they're planning an easter egg hunt for the kids. Selling is against the rules. There's another group dedicated to selling, because it's genuinely useful for a bunch of reasons, it just can't be allowed to pollute the main group.

I agree with that but how have you got around the randomness ?
facebook is not like a forum, Is it focused on subject or do you have groups/treads ? if so how did you get it to work ?
its normally not easy finding things

The only other site I considered was Nextdoor because it mails a code to someone's house to verify they actually live here. At the time I was having a problem with non-residents joining the group just because it was a good group and they wanted to be in it, and that site had the solution. Ultimately facebook won because everyone has it already, and it did improve over time. It's a complete waste of time to consider anything else, people won't come.

Thanks that was my big worry putting in the work and not getting any results. also is your group focused on your area or your city?
I came across Nextdoor yesterday, I was going to join to see what its like but found it to be a little too personal, I dont really want all my person details shared or sold, so ended up not using it.

With proper moderation stuff doesn't disappear that fast. Typically people have their discussion over 2-3 days then everything's been said anyway. If it's still going on after that it's probably an argument and needs locking. For things that need to be found again we link to the local residents association's faq page which has stuff like bin days, public transport etc. Some questions do get repeated regularly, like people asking for a plumber, there was an idea of having a local business directory but nobody wanted to do the work so it didn't happen.

Well maybe a facebook group would be a good start if I can figure out the basics of which im worried about.
maybe if things go well I could always ask the members if they would like to see a site and if they would join.

 

[Randomface74]

@2013
Not sure what you mean by randomness tbh.
Facebook is like a forum when posts are viewed via the New Posts link (which is how I use forums). There aren't categories like if you use the forum via the main page. People create other groups as needed for specific things, e.g. pet owners, new mums, singles, selling, etc. Those are useful for reducing content in the main group.

My group is focussed on a new housing estate. It's a substantial area of a town.
Yes you've reminded me about Nextdoor privacy, it does leak members' addresses to each other by default, which is dangerous. Part of the admin's role is to consider the safety of the members, so I would have never put members in the situation of their addresses being leaked.

There's basically no downside to just trying a facebook group first. It's a good way of seeing if there's interest without spending a load of time/money building something.

 

[2013]

@2013
Not sure what you mean by randomness tbh.
Facebook is like a forum when posts are viewed via the New Posts link (which is how I use forums). There aren't categories like if you use the forum via the main page. People create other groups as needed for specific things, e.g. pet owners, new mums, singles, selling, etc. Those are useful for reducing content in the main group.

My group is focussed on a new housing estate. It's a substantial area of a town.
Yes you've reminded me about Nextdoor privacy, it does leak members' addresses to each other by default, which is dangerous. Part of the admin's role is to consider the safety of the members, so I would have never put members in the situation of their addresses being leaked.

There's basically no downside to just trying a facebook group first. It's a good way of seeing if there's interest without spending a load of time/money building something.

Thanks I was a little confused with how it worked

 

[HippoTank]

Discord seemed to have taken the place of traditional forums nowadays

 

[bonusssi]

I would like to read more forums and less facebook bull****...