What is the average life expectancy of a forum.

tommydamic68

tommydamic68

Well-known member
Just curious of what others thought are revolving around the average life expectancy of a forum. My forum has been around for 8 years and is still putting along but I've read other stories on this site and have see some new forum owners not even surviving or moving forward for over a year or more.
 
It depends on the dedication of the owner. You're right that many forums die within their first year. Unfortunately forums are not a matter of build it and they will come any longer. An owner needs to make sure that the forum has interesting content, an engaging community, and that they are actively promoting their forum. Many don't see quick success and so they give up. Others keep at it and have had forums are have been going for 5 years, 10 years, and even longer.
 
We're turning 13 this year. I think forums fare better if they have a lot of information and members who share their expertise about the niche. Forums that are simply a place to chat are in competition with other social media, so it's harder for a site like that to get off the ground.
 
It depends on many factors. Niche topic is one of them. If you have a forum based on a dead topic, then your forum may not last regardless of how hard you work it. For example. If you had a forum based solely on Windows 95, it probably isn't doing too well today.

How competitive the niche is can be a factor as well, especially if you have a couple of big competitors.

The reasons can go on and on. This is my 13th year for 2 of my big boards --- and one is doing great, and the other is slowing.
 
Started mine in 2001, jan 1st, and was going strong until 2011, jan 1st, when I decided it was time to focus on some offline things like my dads health and my own, etc. We recently re-opened the community again because it's just fun to read old content and talk to familiar faces. So we're still here, one way or the other.
 
For those of you who are 10+ years into this, are your forums still growing in activity, or are things winding down from their heyday?
 
Starting a forum was certainly a lot easier when it comes to getting members that are active, before the days of web 2.0 and social networks, live interaction on apps like instagram and snap, etc. It's a no effort participation and no knowledge is required to achieve instant feedback. Unlike forum software. A dedicated community with a niche topic and a strong group of friends on it, they seem to remain active and have loads to post about. What the influx is of new members I don't know. The ones I help out on seem to get new members, but it's nothing compared to 12 years ago.
 
Amin Sabet said:
For those of you who are 10+ years into this, are your forums still growing in activity, or are things winding down from their heyday?
Click to expand...
We declined steeply for a while but are now holding steady. I'd say it was maybe a 25% drop during the decline period.

Our site is three things: a community, a resource and a classifieds section. We're still the best resource in our niche and continue to grow in that area. However, our site will fail unless someone makes a good classifieds option for xf. So for now we're fine, but the future is uncertain.
 
Amin Sabet said:
For those of you who are 10+ years into this, are your forums still growing in activity, or are things winding down from their heyday?
Click to expand...
Well I'm about 8 years in, member growth is minimal- a few here and there, I still have most average days of 100-145 posts on the site. So that remains as good or better averages thru out the years. On that note, I have seen an increase of new or even older members stopping in for some useful information from senior members and taking off, not hanging around. I must admit, I do the same on a forum I frequent for information but really have no desire to become part of the normal group/ community, just visit there for info only.
 
In my opinion and from what I've experienced, not long if you're just starting out today. Unless you REALLY know what you're doing and have a lot of resources at your disposal, it's an uphill battle. I love forums but when you have social media and YouTube that can give you instant results and interaction almost immediately its a fun but daunting task. I still enjoy doing it for a hobby but it does seem most new forums never take off or people give up about the first year. But what do I know. :)
 
This forum has been around for 14 years.
You have to go with the time and the new ICT techniques.
 
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