Why social always beats forums

[Shawn Gossman]

Viral content and a larger audience are obtained more quickly.

Those are two reasons why social media communities overread traditional forum communities.

1. It's easier to go viral on a social media platform because of the amount of social media consumers.

2. It's easier to get more attention and an audience on social media because of the amount of social media consumers.

The keywords here are "the amount of social media consumers."

At least the popular social media platforms have mass consumption and membership. When trying to get something in front of an audience or something viral, doing on social media can be an overnight process, while a forum could take days, weeks, years, and sometimes even decades.

This is why social media is big and active, and forums are generally smaller and not as active.

Is there a solution? What do you think? I think developing a tight-knit community is the solution, but you also have to change your culture, step away from traditional forum management means, ease up on moderation, and not give a shit about the number of members and posts. That's how you build a tight-knit community on a forum in 2023 and beyond.

What are your thoughts on this post?

 

[Uncrowned]

Overall social media and forums can at times achieve similar goals but they are very different platforms and should be chosen by the needs of the project.

Social media will also be easier to grow on as the user base is already there and a lot of the marketing and promotion is built in for you. This obviously makes life for an admin much easier and I can safely say that most site admins would love to have their website presented to millions of already-registered users who may be interested in your website for free.

However, social media has numerous problems and very often is lacking for many of the goals that a forum is made for. They also present with huge concerns of ownership as you are now running a platform that you have no control over its own existence. One day it can be banned or otherwise missing and there is not much you can do about it.

I'd stay the best advice for most is to do both. Focus on your major project and use the other as a secondary platform. For forums, having social media presence and interaction offers free marketing and the potential to still go viral. And for social media, having a website/forum allows for a backup platform where users can get information and leaves the owner in more control if something were to happen.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Overall social media and forums can at times achieve similar goals but they are very different platforms and should be chosen by the needs of the project.

Social media will also be easier to grow on as the user base is already there and a lot of the marketing and promotion is built in for you. This obviously makes life for an admin much easier and I can safely say that most site admins would love to have their website presented to millions of already-registered users who may be interested in your website for free.

However, social media has numerous problems and very often is lacking for many of the goals that a forum is made for. They also present with huge concerns of ownership as you are now running a platform that you have no control over its own existence. One day it can be banned or otherwise missing and there is not much you can do about it.

I'd stay the best advice for most is to do both. Focus on your major project and use the other as a secondary platform. For forums, having social media presence and interaction offers free marketing and the potential to still go viral. And for social media, having a website/forum allows for a backup platform where users can get information and leaves the owner in more control if something were to happen.

I think using both platforms to your advantage is a good idea.

I mean social media can effectively help bring a few people to your forum, even if not a lot because people don’t wanna leave social media.

But the one good thing about a forum, is that you own the database and the membership whereas on a social media platform you don’t get access to the database or membership and you can lose it at any time.

 

[ClicketyKat]

What I've found with my friends/family on Facebook is that they kind of like having one platform where they can do it all. They can post pics, message friends, do video calls, sell their stuff, post in groups, and the list goes on and on. With forums, hey have to log into other sites to do different things and people have gotten too lazy to want to do that.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

What I've found with my friends/family on Facebook is that they kind of like having one platform where they can do it all. They can post pics, message friends, do video calls, sell their stuff, post in groups, and the list goes on and on. With forums, hey have to log into other sites to do different things and people have gotten too lazy to want to do that.

That's why I feel like personal branding is important for the forum owner.

If you can make a group of people want to talk to you because of YOU, they'll follow you to the forum if you're being active there rather than on social media.

Personal branding can go a long way.