How to KILL a forum

[Deleted member 1013995]

Forum software can't compete against reddit. Every forum will eventually die

 

[OccultKingdoms]

Forum software can't compete against reddit. Every forum will eventually die

They offer low value.

Hard to verify one's competences on reddit, basically everyone is anonymous there.

A lot of politics.

I see no future for Reddit. BHW isn't mainstream social media like Reddit, so it's not really a competition.

 

[blackbeans]

They offer low value.

Hard to verify one's competences on reddit, basically everyone is anonymous there.

A lot of politics.

I see no future for Reddit. BHW isn't mainstream social media like Reddit, so it's not really a competition.

You raise very interesting points

1) I wouldn't say Reddit offers low value ACROSS THE BOARD

Reddit is actually quite good for PRODUCT REVIEWS/FEEDBACK that are NOT biased or suffer from a conflict of interest unlike typical product reviews you find off a Google search

No wonder one of the best ways to get legit info on a product is to use a query like "[PRODUCT NAME] review reddit"

Savvy search engine users know enough to use the query above

2) Politics. I have to agree with you there. Most of the BIG subreddits have a definite POLITICAL SLANT. If you deviate from the accepted orthodoxy or suffer from, God forbid, WRONGTHINK, you'll get crushed by downvotes.

Knowing the above, many KARMA FARMERS adopt extreme views to get most of their posts UPVOTED which then enables them to post links in NON-POLITICAL subreddits

3) Niche coverage. Reddit is NOT an affiliate or marketing forum. It's way BIGGER than that. It is NOT competition to BHW. Instead, Reddit is a community builder platform that yields tons of value similar to but exceeding forums
- crowdsourcing
- data seeding
- data collection
- metadata harvesting
- persona testing (on a large scale)

 

[Balat]

One of the points I wanted to raise concerns new members.

New member can mean new customer for sellers.

1. You must especially be careful of scammers, a single dude can disgust a lot of members after a bad experience.
2. Supervise new members (I don't know how) about the danger of scammers and/or scams. They are easy targets.

 

[Kenneth Chiu]

Too much advertising content is allowed, and I think that's a big reason why I choose not to read most forums.

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

Forum software can't compete against reddit. Every forum will eventually die

2 entirely different platforms with different visions.

 

[awesomewebsites]

Actually, when someone buys a forum, there is high chance that he will not be able to do justice with the purpose the forum was started. This forum is an exception though. May be the new owner was also passionate about IM.

There is one more example of a forum acquired by housing ( in India). It was a very good forum when started by the admin and members contributed good posts. After it was acquired, most members felt that it would not be as independent. And last year, the forum was closed. It was bought for such high amount and they let it die.

Because of my activity on BHW, I am actually in love with forums. When you are growing a forum, you should always think of long term like where you want to see the forum in 5-10 years and plan accordingly.

 

[DevMask]

I started this thread because I recently visited former TOP AFFILIATE MARKETING FORUM on the Internet

To say it has fallen on hard times would be an understatement:

- less than 3 newly replied threads in the MAIN FORUM
- most threads started by users with 1 post to their name
- most threads LOCKED after inactivity of MONTHS

This is MINDBLOWING because many affiliate marketers I know used to make TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars PER MONTH in the marketplace of the forum I described

How did the forum die and how can other forums AVOID their fate?

Here are the answers that come to mind - based on that forum and a COUPLE OF OTHER PREVIOUSLY LARGE forums

- Create too many subforums
- Be too aggressive in locking threads instead of just letting them die due to inactivity
- Focus on "make money" scammy "quick solutions" instead of actual solutions
- Allow accounts to post a link even though they are brand new


What other reasons / practices can you think off that would KILL even the most successful forum?

I am assuming a lot of these would also apply to forums that are in OTHER NICHES

Along with the reasons you've mentioned, here are some straightforward points that I believe contribute to the death of forums:

- Bad Moderation: When a forum doesn't control spam or rude behaviour, good users leave.
- Not Keeping Up with Trends: If a forum doesn't talk about the latest stuff, it becomes less interesting.
- Hard to Use: If the forum is difficult to navigate or looks outdated, people won't like using it.
- Same People Talking: If only a few people do all the talking, the forum gets boring.
- Not Welcoming Newbies: New members might feel left out if they're not encouraged to join in.
- Ignoring User Suggestions: If a forum doesn't listen to what its users want, it can't improve.

 

[DevMask]

Additionally, the concept of forums has become somewhat dated, particularly with the emergence of various other mediums. Nowadays, people have access to social media, Reddit, short videos, video tutorials, and podcasts for knowledge and assistance. These platforms offer more dynamic, engaging, and real-time interactions, which makes traditional forums less appealing.

This makes it increasingly important for forums to innovate and evolve to remain relevant in today's environment.

 

[pocketttt]

I see no future for Reddit.

For a few years now, when I have doubts about any subject I usually prefer to use reddit than google or youtube, on reddit you can find practically any topic and unlike google answers which are generally very long and not always reliable, on reddit I have plenty answers straight to the point and you can get an idea if the answer is reliable by the upvotes

reddit has been very helpful to me over the last few years

reddit>>>>youtube>>>>google

 

[OccultKingdoms]

For a few years now, when I have doubts about any subject I usually prefer to use reddit than google or youtube, on reddit you can find practically any topic and unlike google answers which are generally very long and not always reliable, on reddit I have plenty answers straight to the point and you can get an idea if the answer is reliable by the upvotes

reddit has been very helpful to me over the last few years

reddit>>>>youtube>>>>google

Yes. It's useful. Withal 1 in 100 answers are actually needed. The rest is gobbledygok.

Reddit ain't future. They can't deliver straight to the point answers. Instead their data should be mined to create Ai.

 

[blackbeans]

For a few years now, when I have doubts about any subject I usually prefer to use reddit than google or youtube, on reddit you can find practically any topic and unlike google answers which are generally very long and not always reliable, on reddit I have plenty answers straight to the point and you can get an idea if the answer is reliable by the upvotes

True but a lot of Reddit's credibility also comes from the fact that most redditors are ANTI-SELF-PROMOTION

Of course, some subreddits are stricter than others

Still, when poster get the sense that they better post OBJECTIVE INFO or else they will get downvoted/blocked or their content is taken down, this produces a CLOSED FEEDBACK LOOP that ensures "objective" info gets posted

This is especially true when it comes to PRODUCT / SERVICE reviews with a high degree of ACCURACY

Someone said above that that REDDIT'S DATA should be crawled for AI - this is a great idea.

Use the data to TRAIN a custom GPT focused on certain NICHE TOPIC CATEGORIES

Still, this STRICT CONTENT POLICY / TIGHT MODERATION (in some subreddits - not all!) doesn't get in the way of clever marketing done on Reddit.

I agree with you for the most part though.

Reddit isn't competition for forums per se - it serves as more of a self-correcting/self-policing info dump in many cases while forums can offer deeper communities and networking opportunities

 

[alonelywriter]

Lacked Good mods. I guess

 

[flprocess]

A few months back I visited a forum I use to be on 15+ years ago. I signed up and posted hello thread, and was instantly banned because I said i was a member many years ago, god knows with which email or username. it turned out they do not allow "multi registration". That's how forums die, with shit moderation.

BHW's team is top quality and that is why this forum is still kicking strong. If anyone wants to run a forum these days, he should come here to have a course.