A new Discussion forum

[Giant]

Hello all,

I am looking at creating a new Discussion forum.. but I have two thoughts.. there is a lot of these forums about.
I've not owned a forum for around 6 years now and it was a Discussion forum it worked out well but I couldn't run it any longer.

Why do I like the Discussion forum niche? Simpe.. I love to chat to other forum users.
Any ideas on how to get a Discussion forum active when starting up?

Thank you.

 

[Cedric]

Hello Giant, you've come to the right place to ask for advice. Firstly, why don't you introduce yourself?

Secondly, a general chat forum is a very hard niche to succeed, because
1. There are already many competitors around;
2. You'll need to stand out;
3. You will need to create a lot of content at first when your member count is low;
4. You'll need to advertise a lot to get the word out;
5. A lot of luck.

It's no where near as simple as 6 years ago to create an established community. It takes a lot of work, dedication, time and patience. But it can be done. A prime example of that being is Offtopix - while that was a revived board and had plenty of content and members already, it's still an amazing achievement to have an active board after all these years this board was gone from the internet.

So yes, I can only encourage you to go with your plans and carry on your ambitions.

 

[oldbuddy]

It might be easier if you could remember what Topics were popular with your old Forum, since they were probably influenced by your mindset that is likely to be the same. That would provide some fuel to get it started on the right foot.

 

[Smokey]

General chat forums are a dime a dozen, you would really need to try to stand out or offer something absolutely unique to your site and only your site.

 

[Cory]

Maybe try to make your board about something you're interested in or passionate about and along with it many average discussion boards can be created. Discussions boards are indeed hard to master because in nearly every discussion board you go you see the exact same topics posted.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Hello all,

I am looking at creating a new Discussion forum.. but I have two thoughts.. there is a lot of these forums about.
I've not owned a forum for around 6 years now and it was a Discussion forum it worked out well but I couldn't run it any longer.

Why do I like the Discussion forum niche? Simpe.. I love to chat to other forum users.
Any ideas on how to get a Discussion forum active when starting up?

Thank you.

I think getting post-exchanges is a good way to attract new members. Sometimes, people like the forum enough to stick around.

Other than that, I'd focus the first 6-months to a year on keeping the forum active. Even if you're just posting and no one else is.

If you have a budget, you could purchase advising on other forums. I suggest other forums because a forum member who see an ad for another forum is more likely to click that someone who is not using forums.

Once you start getting legit members, develop a friendship with them. Get them to want to come back again and again!

Really focus on engaging content that is unique to your niche. Sometimes that's controversial content for that matter.

 

[Kale]

I personally love general discussion forums, gaming forums, and sometimes anime/manga forums. I, for one, welcome more general discussion forums. I think it's rough even for me to think up any neat and new ideas for a GD forum. I've not owned a forum for a while till recently, but then closed it down due to inactivity and no interest. I am hoping with my new forum people will be interested and join since it is on a modern day software (XenForo).

Secondly, a general chat forum is a very hard niche to succeed, because
1. There are already many competitors around;
2. You'll need to stand out;
3. You will need to create a lot of content at first when your member count is low;
4. You'll need to advertise a lot to get the word out;
5. A lot of luck.

Yeah, sadly. Still think it's rough to even be an original general discussion/general chat forum. Post exchanges could work and help get some content, same with posting packages even.

Maybe try to make your board about something you're interested in or passionate about and along with it many average discussion boards can be created. Discussions boards are indeed hard to master because in nearly every discussion board you go you see the exact same topics posted.

Yep, agreed. I wanted to do an idea but felt like there's already active discussions for it online such as subreddits and/or Discords. I just feel a forum dedicated to life sims/farm sim video games wasn't gonna work out well. Someone suggested I do that over a forum dedicated to Harvest Moon / Story of Seasons.

 

[Arantor]

Yeah, general forums were the biggest casaulty of the last decade - with traffic going partly to the socials and partly to the all-in-one places like Reddit - why would you go to a general discussion forum when you could find a different home that's bigger and more populous than a typical general discussion forum.

They're harder to get going than they've *ever* been unless you have a heap of people who will regularly supply content, and *keep* supplying content. Getting people to the place is harder than it's ever been, retaining people is harder than it's ever been.

I also think if you're going to, starting out with MyBB again is possibly... not the best route. I hate to say it but the free scripts have fallen behind: people simply expect a more polished user experience now than the free platforms provide - and if you're in the GD niche, every point you can score in your favour counts, far more than in other niches.

 

[Kale]

Yeah, general forums were the biggest casaulty of the last decade - with traffic going partly to the socials and partly to the all-in-one places like Reddit - why would you go to a general discussion forum when you could find a different home that's bigger and more populous than a typical general discussion forum.

They're harder to get going than they've *ever* been unless you have a heap of people who will regularly supply content, and *keep* supplying content. Getting people to the place is harder than it's ever been, retaining people is harder than it's ever been.

I also think if you're going to, starting out with MyBB again is possibly... not the best route. I hate to say it but the free scripts have fallen behind: people simply expect a more polished user experience now than the free platforms provide - and if you're in the GD niche, every point you can score in your favour counts, far more than in other niches.

I still say any forum regardless of niche will surely not do well nowadays. It could be the most original thing and it still be very low in activity. I also think doing a GD/GC forum with another focus could maybe work. I personally want a forum or space for content creators/streamers to be able to post and join knowing the forum is moderated, and them knowing posting hateful comments won't be tolerated on my forum/platform.