Why Social Networking?

Vilandra

Active member
We started to get into this in another thread and instead of hijacking it further (lol) I thought I'd start something new.

I have trouble understanding the reasoning behind all these extra things that take away from your members posting.

So, for those of you who like social media features on your forum, why? How do they improve your forum?

(I'm not taking the piss, I really am interested to hear your points of view.)
 
I think it detracts from some types of forums but may be a benefit to others.

I think there may be a ton of reasons why but I think may be a ton of reason to not want them as well.
 
Its all about how long people spend on your website. This obviously translates to money. Those features turned the average time someone spent on my site from 15 minutes per day to 2 hours. And the user membership shot up from 10,000 to 46,000 in months.
 
Its all about how long people spend on your website. This obviously translates to money. Those features turned the average time someone spent on my site from 15 minutes per day to 2 hours. And the user membership shot up from 10,000 to 46,000 in months.

Indeed, there are a number of benefits to social networking tools too...

  • Facebook Connect - Makes sign up and login process really simple 2-3 clicks and they are done.
  • Facebook Like Buttons - It is free promotion, the user is telling all their friend about your site with one click.
  • Twitter integration - (not ant on XF yet) is again free promotion, and can also offer SSO (Single sign on)
  • The more integrated your site is with the other sites they love to spend hours on.
  • Generaly - the longer they will be on your site. It pulls traffic to your site from the Social sites, it is free advertising and users are generally happier when they can interact with their twitter account/facebook account etc from other sites.
This isn't the case for every site, but I would say 70%++ benefit from Social Media and Social Marketing...
 
It connect more people it make it easy to follow others. (That's an addition to what others have said)
 
These features can help build communities. But I agree...it will depend on the type of site. These features will be welcomed with open arms on my sites and will promote more activity.

Just to add (and this isn't in any way pointed at you, Vilandra), I really dislike all the naysayers in regards to adding social networking functionality. To me, it shows a very close-minded group of people. The web is constantly evolving and if we don't keep up, we will be left behind. That's why forum software developers (as well as other types of software developers) must keep being innovative to suit the needs of the web. It's just the way it is.
 
Just to add (and this isn't in any way pointed at you, Vilandra), I really dislike all the naysayers in regards to adding social networking functionality. To me, it shows a very close-minded group of people. The web is constantly evolving and if we don't keep up, we will be left behind. That's why forum software developers (as well as other types of software developers) must keep being innovative to suit the needs of the web. It's just the way it is.

No offense taken, Jason :) I don't like it on my site because I've seen the negative things when we've used things in the past, and because I never really saw what the benefit was, so I really am trying to understand it's lure lol

Plus I'm old lol, and we're slow to adapt ;)
 
Not every site wants to be found through social networking, or even through search engines. It is extremely difficult to make generalizations.

I do appreciate what everyone is saying and how incredibly important for some sites, but I really think there is a significant % that does not want anything to do with social networking for a number of reasons.
 
What if your forum was a manufacturing forum for your factory?

There are also many niches that are drawn so tight that members not involved in that activity are a disruption.
 
I'm going to presume all forms of XF social networking is on an on/off basis. I'm sure Kier and Mike would allow you to disable facebook/twitter integration.

It's considered 'Web 2.0' to be able to connect with social networking sites and it encourages people if they can register via facebook etc.

XF does this very well, when registering via facebook it auto-grabs an avatar (love it) and when registering with Gravatars it auto-grabs avatars. It's great.
 
No offense taken, Jason :) I don't like it on my site because I've seen the negative things when we've used things in the past, and because I never really saw what the benefit was, so I really am trying to understand it's lure lol

Plus I'm old lol, and we're slow to adapt ;)

Your a heck of a lot younger than me :)
 
This is slightly off my original topic but it applies to the same group of people, so I'll add it lol. With the Facebook especially integration, do you all have concerns about privacy and the safety of your members, having personally identifiable information out there on your forum?

:)

Your a heck of a lot younger than me :)
Well, I feel old lol
 
This is slightly off my original topic but it applies to the same group of people, so I'll add it lol. With the Facebook especially integration, do you all have concerns about privacy and the safety of your members, having personally identifiable information out there on your forum?

:)


Well, I feel old lol
Yes and no... if a user signs up via Facebook then they have exposed that information willingly. I would presume that Kier & Mike have adapted certain privacy settings with the Facebook integration to prevent this being visible from guests.
 
No offense taken, Jason :) I don't like it on my site because I've seen the negative things when we've used things in the past, and because I never really saw what the benefit was, so I really am trying to understand it's lure lol
I see :) I'd say it depends on how it's implemented and used on the site that determines if it will bring positive or negative results to the site.

Plus I'm old lol, and we're slow to adapt ;)
lol since when is 33 old? :p
 
Many forums try to control the members that get in or even aware of the forum. There are many national organizations that have forums that are for the membership only. I would also think they would not want these features. The members of the organization will be told if a forum exists.

In my forum a large part of my day is spent finding shill posters. I certainly don't want to open the doors to them with out pre-screening them.
You will find quite a few owners screen members one at a time.

I don't think there is a 100% solution as forums are all different.
 
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