12 Years of Forums. What have you learned?

I've been a member on sites for almost 20 years (next year, I think, will be 20 years on one) but only been an admin for 10.
 
I've been involved with the administration of our forums for almost 25 years, nearly from the beginning. We have a no RSP rule, which goes a long way to keeping the forums clean. Also, there is zero room for emotions when moderating. Man that's hard some times, but it's absolutely necessary.
 
I've been using forums for 20 years, been an admin for 15.

Moderating is without a doubt the hardest part of being an admin. I never expected that. Emotions are tricky and will distort your point of view. It's hard to make decisions that are fair to everyone.

I like Wheaton's Law. It's an inspiration for good online etiquette. I even included it at the top of my forum rules, as a TL;DR note. In doubt, follow Wheaton's Law: "Don't be a ****"

Also, it's impossible to please everyone. I remember implementing every tiny suggestion people would post, what a mistake. Don't do that!
 
What I've learned in doing this for 20+ years is that nothing much changes on the surface - the code gets tighter, the bells and whistles get smarter, but the people! Well, they have moved on from diverse, interesting and meaningful discussions and have been seduced into a universe of banal, superficial and meaningless trivia aimed at dumbing down an otherwise potentially active and interactive audience. Is that me being cynical, lol ;)
 
wwillson said:
No discussions of Religion, Sex, or Politics. It helps keep things cordial.
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What if I want to have sex religiously with a politician, and a glass of cordial??

Just kidding - it's actually an excellent rule. Beats Russia getting involved like has ALLEGEDLY happened in a few important democratic moments... 😬
 
What i've learned recently is that there are people that will complain about all the things that you do to the forum when all they want is the very thing you are doing.
For example I've had to revert back to the default style until @Russ the pixelexit webmaster updates his styles.
I got heaps of messages telling me that "the old style sheets suck".
Put the old ones back up "they aren't working"... "logo's not showing"...
 
19 years for me. One thing I guess I can say now is that I'm consistently inconsistent with this hobby (it has only ever been a hobby for me). I have long hiatus periods over the 19 years but here I still am in 2024.
 
alternadiv said:
19 years for me. One thing I guess I can say now is that I'm consistently inconsistent with this hobby (it has only ever been a hobby for me). I have long hiatus periods over the 19 years but here I still am in 2024.
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That's an awesome milestone for still being involved.

Have you noticed drops of activity while you were on break ?
 
I've been managing "forums" since 1998-ish, the first ones running wwwboard cgi code. I worked for a small startup company that had forums that I managed for a few years. I launched my first personal project back in 2001, using phpnuke, then quickly migrated it to vB2. I launched a few more, sold a couple, launched some more, closed some down, bought a couple, etc, etc.

I've learned that:

  • Even the most loyal forum members and moderators can get sucked into the FecesBook distraction machine, never to return to your forum.
  • There are billions being spent on the attention spans of the users you're trying to attract to your forum.
  • It is increasingly difficult to launch a forum and grow it to a large size each passing year.
  • Selling your forum to a large network is like accepting a private equity investment - it usually kills the forum.
  • There are countless other Q&A solutions online for people these days, many of which are easier to use than forums.
  • What works well in one forum doesn't always work well in others, the same recipe/blueprint rarely translates.
  • Each forum is a unique animal, no two forums are the same, even in the same niche.
  • Online ecosystems are fragile.
  • The more positive and friendly you make your community, the better shot it has at longevity.
  • Young people don't usually like forums, and think they're dead - you can't change their minds, even with proof.
  • People who used to use forums but only use social media now think all forums died a decade ago.
  • People on FecesBook who claim they want forums to make a comeback will likely always stay on FecesBook.
  • I hate how social media has changed user behavior, attention spans, and user expectations for online communities.
  • If I could do it all over again, I'd learn to code so I could build my own add-ons
  • I would have tried to buy more forums before the big networks started buying them all. Maybe I could have saved more of them.
 
I’m learning more and more not to run “forums”. Social media has been destroying peoples’ ability to read and construct coherent comments.
 
Started with BBSs in 1984 which grew so much that I had to move it into a commercial space. (phone company said no more lines!) That has since been retired, but my oldest forum has been online 27 years (since 1997), using many different products over the years. Xenforo is the best one :) I started as a member, moved up to staff, and then took over when the previous owner retired. (I had other forums that I managed at that time, too) Social media has taken a lot of our members in the past 10 years, but we still have a good following. I have a couple other forums, that are smaller.

Not much has changed! The goals are the same, but we have to work harder now to retain users and advertisers.

I miss the days when we had 500+ posts per day.

The same formula still works: Keeping it welcoming and surrounding yourself with staff who are friendly, laid back, and not on a power trip.
 
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Arantor said:
I’m learning more and more not to run “forums”. Social media has been destroying peoples’ ability to read and construct coherent comments.
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It might be because of other things. If you're learning stuff on social media and people are deliberately hounding you then get back into forums and try again.
Social media has always been hopeless because you get people sending you friend requests who wish to show you things that you don't want to see. There are also clowns on there that will follow you around and laugh at your comments. There are also plenty of karens on there who report your posts.
 

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