Strategies Same or Different: Are you breaking the mold?

[CharlesK]

It seems like every forum out there follows a similar blueprint—general chats, VIP sections, badges, and the usual rewards systems like Dragonbyte credits. While these elements are tried and true, they can sometimes make all communities feel a bit... samey. So, how can we inject some creativity into our forum to stand out from the crowd?

1. What unique forum features have you seen or wish existed that could differentiate us from the standard formats?
2. How can we enhance the typical badges and credits system to make them more engaging or meaningful to our community's specific interests?
3. Are there any activities, themes, or discussion formats that you think could enliven our community and attract more engagement?

I'm excited to hear your thoughts and suggestions. Let's think outside the box and discuss ways we can innovate our community's experience to make it not only different but also more captivating and aligned with our passions.

 

[Shortie]

Every forum you tend to go to now indeed tends to have the same features and use them for the same purposes but they call them different things. I often feel that many community owners feel if they have a unique name for the features, it makes them different but the truth is, that is not the case and it can as you say, feel the same if you go to several different forums that have the same features.

I have on many different occasions tried to come up with other ways to use features that would make them different and unique but always find that someone has used it for that purpose in the past meaning it's not as unique as I first thought.

With forums being around for so many years now though, it's not always easy to find something unique to offer that has never been done before.

 

[Ravenfreak]

It's hard to think out of the box, but man you really need to offer something unique and different from your competition otherwise you'll end up with the same content among different communities. It's best to keep an eye on your competition and see how they run things, then change things up. This could help you come up with unique content!

 

[Cory]

My forum mainly stands out because it offers many resources that no other forum offers. Coding is a big part of my life and I do it mostly as a hobby, so I've been able to create many resources since 2018 when I first started my forum. As for the discussion forums, they're about the same discussion forums you can find on any typical message board. But, my forum is a resource board for a purpose and discussions aren't the focal point.

 

[Nomad]

I am trying to build niche forum where I do not have general discussion categories and I do not have badges except for post count. I am trying to build a forum where people come to see advice or share advice on topics. I want to build community that is more like Quora. I am not breaking the mold but I am trying to do something that will build my community as a resource site.

 

[joelr]

So much of the structure of forums have stayed the same - discussions, conversations, questions and answers - because of how timeless and classic the format is. You don't need to change what isn't broken!