Honesty thread - do you chat to yourself on a new forum?

[Aussie]

So don't be shy, I was just wondering if anyone here has chatted to themselves to generate content on a new forum? Registering multiple Users and potentially even multiple Admin/Mods to generate content...
And then the discussion part: is using AI to post content any better then just posting using multiple accounts yourself?

(votes not displayed publicly)

 

[Cedric]

Ah yes, the ancient trick to trick your members in activity. It can work, I won't deny that it's a bad method and shouldn't be done. But I would prefer paid content in that matter. There are a few people I know that use multiple accounts when posting articles and stuff to make it seem like they have more writers when in reality it's the same content writer.

 

[Aussie]

Is using AI paid content?

 

[Tracy]

Don't do it myself... I post my thoughts/ideas... and that's what I set my site up for (me). If others want to play, great... if not, I have a place to continue posting what I want to.

 

[Cedric]

Is using AI paid content?

What I refer to with paid content is services like our Content Bundles: https://admin-junkies.com/forums/content-bundle-service.104/
Or exchanges with members: https://admin-junkies.com/forums/posting-and-affiliate-exchanges.96/
Or buying posts from members: https://admin-junkies.com/forums/content-writing.117/

 

[Reverie]

I’ve done it once and made about 100 posts with the account. The forum really didn’t need it, but I wanted to post new thread ideas that weren’t all by my username since I was frequently creating threads.

Like Cedric said services like content bundles/packages help so much with this. You can frequently request packages or even exchanges to get people to participate on the forum and it appear like organic activity.

 

[Al]

I wanted to post new thread ideas that weren’t all by my username since I was frequently creating threads.

This is an interesting dimension to the discussion.

I have in the past used alternate accounts - sock puppets to use my preferred vernacular. And this has been for exactly, this reason; "I didn't want all content to come from 'me'."

But then I considered, why not just use my sole account. That way I can appear to be both a subject matter expert and also invested in the development of the community. If I used a different account does that not suggest that I am not as interested in my community as I should be? And if so, will that put people off joining?

 

[Cedric]

This is an interesting dimension to the discussion.

I have in the past used alternate accounts - sock puppets to use my preferred vernacular. And this has been for exactly, this reason; "I didn't want all content to come from 'me'."

But then I considered, why not just use my sole account. That way I can appear to be both a subject matter expert and also invested in the development of the community. If I used a different account does that not suggest that I am not as interested in my community as I should be? And if so, will that put people off joining?

That is exactly how I feel as well. There is no shame in having majority of the topics coming from the admin. It shows you are invested, involved, and know what you’re talking about. And above all, it shows you care about content. Which is as we all (should) know, more importantly than anything else. Content is key and will remain king for the existence of time.

 

[Aussie]

My normal set up is the Admin account, which is used for site updates and to deal with mods etc but generally hands of in the day to day threads in the site. Then I will have a super mod account that is used to moderate the forum and do other things, lastly I will have just a general user account where I can basically post anonymously and not feel that I have to carry the burden of being right and correct with every opinion like an Admin account can at times. Most times the Mod account will be the most used though.
Have also used several accounts for BOT posting, (know to be bots though) like news links and stuff.

 

[Aussie]

That is exactly how I feel as well. There is no shame in having majority of the topics coming from the admin. It shows you are invested, involved, and know what you’re talking about. And above all, it shows you care about content. Which is as we all (should) know, more importantly than anything else. Content is key and will remain king for the existence of time.

Thats actually a really good point that literally never occurred to me!!

 

[Al]

Thats actually a really good point that literally never occurred to me!!

You're welcome! Don't give @Cedric all the credit!

On https://esgr.io we have an admin account (user.1) which will be used for official announcements and such, but Cedders and I each have our own personal admin accounts also. We also - without conferring - chose to use our own real names. This way users know who we are, know we are posting out personal opinions but also that we are invested in building a community.

 

[ClicketyKat]

You're welcome! Don't give @Cedric all the credit!

On https://esgr.io we have an admin account (user.1) which will be used for official announcements and such, but Cedders and I each have our own personal admin accounts also. We also - without conferring - chose to use our own real names. This way users know who we are, know we are posting out personal opinions but also that we are invested in building a community.

I did that on Crafter Craze, having the Admin account with no name except Admin and then my name for my real account that I post around the site with. I didn't give myself Admin perms though, but might consider changing my mind in the future.

 

[Dismal_Bliss]

I have an Admin account who is the author of all posts related to the site guidelines, privacy policy, terms, etc. In other words, this account is only used to post site-wide official announcement type content. Then I have my personal account which is the one I use the most to post and reply and be a social butterfly. But I don't fake any dialogue between the two accounts as if they were different people.

 

[joelr]

If you're asking yourself this question, you should be challenging yourself to ask a better question.

What do I mean? If you're creating dummy accounts to post, it's because you don't have enough (real) members to begin with. You don't have enough real members because you haven't done a good enough job of attracting your audience or tapping into your audience or activating your audience. These are the better questions you should be asking yourself.

The question of fake members is mildly interesting on its own (the ethics of faking members, oh no!!). But similar to paid posting or posting exchanges, it's all ultimately not sustainable. Asking this question about fake members won't get you anywhere in the long run, and will actually only frustrate you by doing a lot of noise. Empty, low value noise. You're diverting yourself, and your precious time and mental energy, from focusing on offering and building value.

Instead of:
- How do I fake myself or other members?
- What topics should I talk to myself about?

Ask yourself:
- Where is my audience? What is my audience?What can I do to attract and bring in that audience?
- What topics or value can I offer that is unique and compelling?

 

[Al]

Hmm, @joelr - could sock puppets not be a method of attracting an audience in the first place?

What can I do to attract and bring in that audience?

Create content via whatever means you feel are most appropriate.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I have made secondary accounts, though it was mainly to just test permissions out rather than having conversations between myself. I don't think you should make a secondary account just to get conversations going, you should look into possibly getting people to post on your forum before it's fully ready to launch, or simply engage in posting exchanges. You can also purchase posting packages from here, and other places too.

 

[Cory]

I probably used to do this, but I haven't done so on my current forum of 5+ years. I would rather post all content from my primary account or do post exchanges/posting packages to gain new content rather than make multiple accounts to try and generate content.

 

[Aussie]

I would assume you are only going to have multiple accounts at the initial stages of a forum and once it has grown you would tend to stop posting on those accounts and just use one or two main ones for admin, mod etc. Obviously the main goal of having multiple accounts is to make the forum look busier then it actually is - "fake it until you make it" because its virtually impossible to get anyone to join a forum if their isn't already a certain level of activity.

 

[Empire]

Yes and no, I have made double accounts not based on posting but using them as bots to send PMS and welcome messages. After awhile I stop half of that information as it was just to much spam to a point, then I was using one of the accounts to use as posting a couple of posts and threads to keep going as YES - I have done it but one you stopped that account just becomes inactive

 

[Kyng]

I did it once when I was new to forum administration, but I've long since grown out of that phase!