What gives a forum its soul?

[KenBrace]

It seems to me that there is one simple thing that really gives the forum a soul.

I'm member on dozens and dozens of forums but most of them seem somewhat empty. The content is decent, the members are nice, the theme is good, etc. but for some reason, I'm just not hooked.

On the other hand there are forums that hook me completely. Those are the ones added to my favorites bar; the ones I check every day and get emotionally involved with. I know the people there and we have long, interesting, and energetic discussions. There's nothing better than staying up late debating on a forum with a dozen or so people and filling up 20 pages worth of posts.

So what exact is it that gives a forum its soul and how can a webmaster offer this to its members?

I truly believe that this factor is what makes or breaks a forum. People are either anxious to check the forum each day or they are only there for a short time to get some info and then leave. These are the forums that just drag along and then eventually die and collect internet dust.

Thoughts?

 

[Christopher1]

It is all about people coming together that are passionate about the topics of your forum. A forum is nothing without common interests. Here, we love web design, web development, and/or blogging. So through common interests, relationships and friendships are formed; thus the soul.

 

[Tiffany]

I think the community is the soul part of any forum. You either have a great community or a really bad community. Imho, I feel this forum has a great community. *blush*

 

[chakorbakor]

Good amount of posting can take the forum in the next level.

 

[Hissae21]

I believe it's the community, and friendship between members that gives a forum its soul. That is what often keeps people coming back. If members don't get along well with each other, or if they don't make any friends on the forum, they're likely to eventually leave.

 

[RedPumpkin]

I feel like it is the community as a unit. Like when you take a group of people who speak on a sometimes daily basis, they feed from each other. It is kind of like an ant colony. Even the smallest of ants that rarely come in the hill make the community better.

 

[Gio]

It's the community that is imperative to have a successful community, but it's also the drive of the Staff as well, and especially the owner. The owner takes all faults ultimately and is normally the creator of the forum. At this point, the owner should never give up, lest that become noticeable to both staff and member and that could hurt the forum. If an owner is not motivated, why should I post when he won't do the work? But the staff must also post and pull the weight.

 

[njbitoy]

I agree with most of the above. I personally enjoy the being exposed to something new and different when I browse forums.

 

[Tiffany]

I agree with most of the above. I personally enjoy the being exposed to something new and different when I browse forums.

That's a good point. What do you consider new and different?

 

[Fel1x]

Like others have stated, it's about people coming together with shared interests.

 

[Baley64bit]

I think my current forum sold it's soul to the devil LOL!! I am trying to get it back. This forum has such good potential once I get it going again.

 

[Tiffany]

I think my current forum sold it's soul to the devil LOL!! I am trying to get it back. This forum has such good potential once I get it going again.

What happened? Why do you say that?

 

[mrester]

It's definitely the community that you build that gives a forum its soul. It would almost be like having a chatroom and getting really great people. Back in the day, there were chatroom websites that had some really awful people. Awful people attract other awful people but good people attract other good people.

 

[Zil]

The level of creativity it's on (how unique and much it stands apart from others) as well as the soul of the webmaster behind it.

Pun intended.

 

[MrPanos]

The power of a forum depends on the amount of quality conversations between its members. Active members who create new discussions daily about various subjects can be the soul of a forum.

 

[Gytix1]

The answer has to be community, surely?

That's what most forums are striving to create, right? Without a community, content just seems stale and forced.