thisisabraham
New member
Everyone knows how easy it is create and run a Facebook group. With the popularity of Facebook growing, a large chunk of the audience on community forums have shifted to Facebook groups. Now, the biggest question that arises is whether Facebook groups is as good as a community forums? Could Facebook groups replace community forums? Is the Facebook community suited to different kind of users as compared to full-fledged community forums?
Let’s try to answer these questions by comparing both the platforms and see what we find:
1> User Experience
All users are not the same. Different users need to treated differently. On forums, there is a VIP zone for paying users where they can get a more immersive experience, while the regular users can access limited information. On Facebook, everyone has equal access/rights, which means a new comer cannot be distinguished from a regularly active user. There is no customization of the user experience. The members of the Facebook group therefore don’t stay active for a long time as they leave as soon as they have got the information they needed. The sense of community is not established as members come and go without contributing much.
2> Monetization
Running a forum is expensive, but it allows for numerous ways to generate revenue. With paid subscriptions, Google Adsense and affiliate marketing; a forum owner can earn enough to sustain the website and also pay for the investment of their time/effort over the years. With Facebook, there is little or no ways to monetize the community and also there is no investment to maintain it. This gives the forum owner no incentive to build the forum in the long run. In forums, where owners work passionately with serious business motives, on Facebook it is confined to being a hobby or an indirect business activity.
3> Access
When it comes to Facebook groups, accessing it is extremely straightforward. Users are logged into Facebook at home and at work. When it comes to forums, members have to login to all the different forums on a daily basis. All the forums don’t have native mobile apps, which makes it difficult for users to access forums on the go. On Facebook, there is often a barrage of good information mixed with mediocre information, while forums are moderated and users can follow the threads they like. With dedicated sections for each type of information, forums are extremely well-organized and suited for both contributing and consuming content.
4> Loyalty
It is easy to grow a Facebook group in terms of numbers. Being a social network, the word goes out quickly and attracts an audience. But the problem is that this is an audience that is mostly interested in consuming information. Only select few stay active and contribute new information. On the other hand, building an audience on a forum is quite a task. But most of the members stay active over the course of months and years. They contribute and consume in equal measure. This is what makes it close-knitted community that is then able to engage in meaningful discussions and share expert-level information in their niche. On Facebook, a user is part of umpteen number of groups with little attachment to it. But forums are branded uniquely with a different culture and bonding, that makes them so attractive to hardcore users.
If you want to read more, reply to this thread to get the link to the full article..
