Admin Well-being I give up

[Al]

How many times, as a forum admin or community manager has that phrase gone through your head? 'I give up'.

Running a forum is not for the faint of heart. It requires consistency, character, devotion, resilience and stamina. You have to be prepared for occasions where you feel like you're shouting into the void. Occasions where you feel like the only one reading and visiting your forum is you. Often, this is what you'll see:

It's natural in these situations to want to throw in the towel. No one would blame you. This business/hobby is not for everyone. There is a school of thought that being a forum owner is the definition of masochism, but we keep on doing it because we love it. Admin-Junkies recently welcomed its 400th member. In just over a year of operating, 400 people with either an interest in or ownership of internet communities joined this site. It shows that there are still devotees.

Places like this, like Admin-Junkies, show that there is still hope and a future in running forums. Yes, social media has taken a healthy bite out of forum traffic, but that does not mean that we should just give up. Be consistent. Have character. Be devoted and resilient. Show your stamina for the long game. There is a future.

So next time you feel weak. Next time you feel like throwing in the towel. Next time you hear the words at the back of your head, 'I give up', take a look around Admin-Junkies. This community is by far the best forum webmaster resource I have ever had the pleasure to log in to. The staff are hard working, the community is welcoming, the services on offer are excellent. Admin-Junkies is all you need to be successful. Well, Admin-Junkies and consistency, character, devotion, resilience and stamina!

So don't give up. Don't walk away. Show you're tough. Show your mettle. If you are prepared to put the work in, you will be successful.

This is Al, signing off.

 

[JoshB]

Oh so true. So many times would look at the forums and see nothing in the way of growth or generally speaking to yourself for quite a while. Just have to fight that voice in your head and continue on.

 

[Cedric]

“Only the strong and brave prevail.”

 

[Aragon Burner]

Oh man so true. Especially when trying to start a certain Niche community. It can take forever to start seeing results but you got to be in it to win it. So keep pushing on!

 

[Uncrowned]

I feel like this mentality spreads far and wide and hits the older admins very hard. Old school admins can recall starting a forum with little goals, a terrible niche, and a poor setup and watching it thrive after a few promotional posts. Now they spend weeks, months, or even years getting a project perfect and set up to thrive and now they watch them sit dead even after 100s of promotional topics and dumping money into marketing.

 

[AjayJunkies]

Admin-Junkies recently welcomed its 400th member.

What a coincidence, the 400th member stares at an image just like that quite often!

I haven't ever had the thought "I give up" go through my mind. There's always "we have such a potential of being bigger".

 

[Ravenfreak]

I always remind myself that things take time and hard work. That's what keeps me running the forums I currently have. It's easy to throw in the towel and give up, but it takes guts and hard work to keep pushing when you feel like you're not getting as much activity as you wish.

 

[Jane]

Yes I have felt like this…a bit like now tbh…

 

[Shortie]

I will admit, I have had the thought of "I Give Up" many times, especially when it feels as though you are not moving and no matter what you do, you can't seem to see things working.

I find taking a break and stepping away to clear my head helps somewhat when I start to think that way.

 

[Empire]

I had that moment many times over when running the forum/site, from the look of things most of you have seen my own darkness and sadness at times via topics I made months ago. It can also be stress around what you are doing at the time when you want to give up, based on realife and also just people can put you down and it's only the very good people that come together and put you on the right spot. Very hard also for me that I'm the one person doing it all myself.

Taking a break helps, but then again doing that with a site running is not a good idea but can tell via no activity Xd

I mean it's even worse when you building or working on something and it never works out for you, end up saying OMG PLEAseeeee Work. But you get pooped and then move on.

 

[Tracy]

How many times, as a forum admin or community manager has that phrase gone through your head? 'I give up'.

Sometimes.. until I see stuff like this

Which makes me realize that my site is doing exactly what I designed it to do.. getting information out to others.
I'm not "big" on the "you need to post on my site" aspect as I trend more towards the get data/information out to others so that they can use it.

 

[AjayJunkies]

Yes I have felt like this…a bit like now tbh…

Would you like me to review your forum?

 

[Arantor]

When it comes to communities, I did give up. It stopped being worth the hassle.

 

[Senkusha]

I've thought this thought many times throughout the years. These days, I see my forum mostly as only an opportunity for others to add to conversations/rantings that I have. My forum is more like a broadcast than a two-way conversation. All forums work like that if you have no other user engagement beyond the site admin. So for right now, I'm just sharing what I'm creating, and if people join and comment, then that's awesome, if now, oh well, it's only a hobby and my life doesn't depend upon it's success.

 

[an0nym0us]

Someone has said a few words that the Internet is very repetitive and for this reason not all sites dominate.

 

[kolakube]

I'm not "big" on the "you need to post on my site" aspect as I trend more towards the get data/information out to others so that they can use it.

Yep, most of the impact of your website cannot be tracked by analytics tools as there is no way to track what a user thinks, feels, or how their actions are influenced after visiting your site.

....YET.

 

[AjayJunkies]

Yep, most of the impact of your website cannot be tracked by analytics tools as there is no way to track what a user thinks, feels, or how their actions are influenced after visiting your site.

....YET.

Until musk brain link thought analyatical collection. You enter a website: "Do you give website permissions to gain analysis from your thoughts and feelings?"

 

[kolakube]

Until musk brain link thought analyatical collection. You enter a website: "Do you give website permissions to gain analysis from your thoughts and feelings?"

Sheesh, and I thought cookie notices were annoying...

 

[AjayJunkies]

I've thought this thought many times throughout the years. These days, I see my forum mostly as only an opportunity for others to add to conversations/rantings that I have. My forum is more like a broadcast than a two-way conversation. All forums work like that if you have no other user engagement beyond the site admin. So for right now, I'm just sharing what I'm creating, and if people join and comment, then that's awesome, if now, oh well, it's only a hobby and my life doesn't depend upon it's success.

I think your forum has little bugs here and there (regular users can't like posts or tag people) and could use a modern text editor but other than that I find it just lovely!

 

[Arantor]

regular users can't like posts or tag people

Both of these things in SMF first have to be enabled (neither is enabled by default) and then you have to give out permissions for them.

could use a modern text editor

SMF isn't likely to move on from bbcode any time soon if ever. Too many people frightened of considering change.