Post by Miss Lacy on Jul 20, 2013 11:13:04 GMT -5
Nearly 15 years ago, I joined a Jamaican-expatriate BB that had maybe 20 members and was still in the old discussion thread format. Over the years, the BB grew into a full blown website and the BB became just one component. The traffic grew exponentially. When the old BB was replaced with a forum-type format, membership exploded because of the diverse areas for discussion it offered.
Although ironically, all these years later the core membership (under 100) hasn't changed. I've cut/paste the current stats as of this morning--
Members--27,816
Active Members--97
112 users online. 4 members and 108 guests
Threads--72,555
Posts--710,057
MOST of the people visiting this open forum do so to get information and once their questions are answered, they leave. They have little interest in becoming part of a "community," and the communal vibe of the forum inevitably got watered down. Active members bemoaned the loss of that "personal" space and visited/posted less often. The quality of discussions took a nose dive, too. Now, only those 100 die-hards are left--and they have self-segregated. They rarely interact with the "masses." This progression kind of reminds me of the GY over at nfl.com.
Sooooo--- in answer to your question about expanding the forum, Panther. It all depends upon how YOU envision its future.
Are you looking to increase traffic and garner advertisers to offset costs? If so, what "content" would you offer them?
Do you intend to expand into a more traditional sports-related website (ala news articles, blogs, etc)? Do you see this becoming a NFL.com (or espn, etc)-lite? How do you envision handling the inevitable "problem" visitors?
I guess, these are questions you have to ask yourself--because once you open the doors, you effectively lose "complete control" and this site takes on a life of its own.
Although ironically, all these years later the core membership (under 100) hasn't changed. I've cut/paste the current stats as of this morning--
Members--27,816
Active Members--97
112 users online. 4 members and 108 guests
Threads--72,555
Posts--710,057
MOST of the people visiting this open forum do so to get information and once their questions are answered, they leave. They have little interest in becoming part of a "community," and the communal vibe of the forum inevitably got watered down. Active members bemoaned the loss of that "personal" space and visited/posted less often. The quality of discussions took a nose dive, too. Now, only those 100 die-hards are left--and they have self-segregated. They rarely interact with the "masses." This progression kind of reminds me of the GY over at nfl.com.
Sooooo--- in answer to your question about expanding the forum, Panther. It all depends upon how YOU envision its future.
Are you looking to increase traffic and garner advertisers to offset costs? If so, what "content" would you offer them?
Do you intend to expand into a more traditional sports-related website (ala news articles, blogs, etc)? Do you see this becoming a NFL.com (or espn, etc)-lite? How do you envision handling the inevitable "problem" visitors?
I guess, these are questions you have to ask yourself--because once you open the doors, you effectively lose "complete control" and this site takes on a life of its own.