Comments on: Why do some forums thrive and others just seem to wilt?

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:28:16 +0000

I know what you mean, Martin.

I wish I understood the dynamics involved. It’s been two years since I posted this article and I don’t know any more about it now than I did then.

In the meantime, I’ve closed all of my forums except for the two communities that are powered by Ning. Both of them continue to grow.

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 03:21:21 +0000

Never owned a forum, but i know what you mean. I’m addicted to these two forums on the same niche, they both saw the light of day at about the same time, around 7 years ago. One of them was packed two years ago, the other one not so much. Now the second blog is packed and the first one is dead. I have no idea why. They both have the same content, i can’t find a reason why the traffic would shift so drastically.

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:14:57 +0000

Good afternoon, Barbara.

Thanks for the invitation. I just now registered at your forum and I’m looking around. I’ll post info on my Squidoo Marketing site in a few minutes.

Act on your dream!

By: Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach

Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:52:13 +0000

You have a squidoo marketing forum? Do feel free to post that information over at my Income Fitness forums at http://www.virtual-coach.com/forums/forums.php – I have a category for Squidoo marketing and would happy to alert my community members to your site as well.

The more the merrier!
.-= Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..Give BACK to Your Affiliates – Covert Angel Time =-.

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:49:58 +0000

Good morning, Sire.

You’re right. I have a hard time dealing with so few characters when tweeting.

I tend to think in 140 words (or even paragraphs!) when I write, not characters.

Act on your dream!

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:42:23 +0000

Good evening, Mitch.

That’s a good example. Maybe they are the same group of people, after all.

I know that I sometimes sign up for something and then it falls off my “top of mind” consciousness and I just forget to go back.

For example, I love Lynn Terry’s forum, but I haven’t been there in several weeks. There were just too many other things that took precedence.

Perhaps I’m barking up the wrong tree and there really is no need for that forum.

One thing I don’t like about it is that the links are now nofollow, but I have no control over that. I’d change it if I could. Other than that, I’m very happy with the company that hosts it.

I’m not going to give up on it yet. I’ll probably give it the rest of the year to see if it starts growing, again.

Act on your dream!

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:36:21 +0000

Good evening, Jane.

Welcome to our discussions and thanks for your comment.

I think you’re right in your observation of the low number of posts and (seeming) lack of any conversations.

I think when I reply to a topic it leaves the forum looking like I’m the only one posting and who wants to join in when I’m just talking to myself?

The forum is getting several hundred unique visitors per month and the numbers tell me that some posts are being read hundreds of times.

Maybe I need to invite some people who may be interested to post a few comments there and not reply to them myself so that it won’t look like I’m the only one doing anything.

Do you have any suggestions for making it look more inviting and worth joining when someone drops by for that first minute or so?

Act on your dream!

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:35:15 +0000

Actually, I think we're talking the same thing. For instance, when Sire first put up his forum, there were probably enough people who signed up to get things started. However, after a month, it was probably only him and I who were writing anything there. That's how Twitter works also; tons of people sign up, but then they don't participate. Same with forums, it seems. .-= Mitch´s last blog ..Dropped Guru =-.

By: Sire

Sire — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:34:06 +0000

Hey John, I never thought of it that way. Man it must really cheese you off having to say what you have on your mind in under 160 characters
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Blog Me This You Blogging Fools =-.

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:28:50 +0000

Good evening, everyone.

Sire, I too enjoy interacting on forums and much prefer it to Twitter and Facebook. As you can tell from the length of many of my posts and comments, I like to go into some detail, not just skim the surface.

Joan, Setting and achieving goals has changed my life for the better in many ways. I enjoy talking about it and have plans for goalsetting to be a major part of both the AYearFromNow.com site and forum. There just isn’t enough hours in the day to get it all done, but I’m working on it. I would appreciate any discussions you’d care to start and/or reply to. I really like your Goalsetting with Pictures ebook and hope more people will find it and put it to use.

Mitch, I’m not sure if that statistic about Twitter is really applicable. I’m sure there are many more people who sign up for Twitter than there are those who sign up for forums, although I don’t have any proof of that assumption. I think we’re talking about two different groups of people. What do you think?

Act on your dream!

By: Trivia Girl

Trivia Girl — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:48:39 +0000

I think that part of the reason for lack of activity on your “A year from Now” forum is that it lacks very many posts and therefore does not seem like an active thriving community. My first thought when arriving (if I had not read this post) and seeing such low post numbers would be should I bother contributing. Will my post even be read?

Now, yes I know upon closer examination, all posts seem to be replied to in a timely fashion by you, but this is not apparent upon the first minute when someone visits the forum. Sometimes a minute is all you have.

~Jane

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:05:59 +0000

I don't think so, John. Since one supposed stat say that around 94% of people who join Twitter end up with fewer than 10 posts, those folks aren't sticking around there, so they have to be doing elsewhere. .-= Mitch´s last blog ..Demand Studios =-.

By: Joan Adams

Joan Adams — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:46:47 +0000

I love goalsetting and that forum, John. I just wonder if the target audience has not found it yet? .-= Joan Adams´s last blog ..Updated with Music =-.

By: Sire

Sire — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:21:22 +0000

If it was up to me John, I much prefer the interaction in forums as I find the information much more useful and I regard much of the stuff on Twitter useless babble. .-= Sire´s last blog ..Have The Gremlins Invaded Twitter? =-.

By: John Dilbeck

John Dilbeck — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Good morning,

After posting my last two comments, I was checking my email and found an interesting post by Danny Brown on his blog: Is Twitter killing blog comments?

Are we seeing the evolution of online conversations going from newsgroups to forums to blogs to Twitter?

I don’t know, but it’s interesting to consider.

Act on your dream!