Lessons of Forum Management

[MJ DeMarco]

I've been running forums for 10+ years.

As a paying position, I still admin my old forum from my old company except now instead of me being the sole ADMIN, I have 3 others who are new owners.

Lesson #1 of running a successful forum: Censorship will kill a forum.

For a decade, my forum was the #1 in the industry and always took a position of leadership on critical issues. The new owners appear to have a different approach where censorship is a strategy ... someone critical of your business? Delete it. Someone critical of an advertiser? Delete it. Someone ripping off someone in the industry and you're threatened with a lawsuit? Don't take a stand, delete it.

When people recognize that free speech is gagged by corporate censorship in any forum, they will leave and find an alternative.

I see a decade old reputation deflating before my eyes. Another sad day in the tiny world of my "old company".

~ MJ

PS: PLEASE do not link to the forum here.

[andviv]

I am sure you know what you are talking about... and I want to also mention the other side of that coin...

what happens when the users are toxic? how to handle those?

At what point the rules are censorship?

For example, say I have a service company, and I have a forum where I allow people to talk about the service we provide. If a few users keep coming to whine and complain and troll around, how to handle it? I guess the line is not too well defined...

Another hypothetical situation... I own apartment buildings, 1,000 units, and a few users will do nothing else than attack me and the properties I own, discrediting everything and just scaring people and they decide not to rent anymore.

-- P.S. Very interesting topic, and I am sorry you have to see that happening with your creation.

[JScott]

In a really good forum, the users should be monitoring and "censoring" each other and themselves. Perhaps not formal censorship, where posts are deleted and members are kicked out, but instead "social censoring," where the ideals of the broader user-base overshadow the words of the "idiots."

I'm not familiar with your other forum(s), but you've certainly done a great job of building that type of community here. While I don't always agree with everyone on the forum, there is a very clear set of ideals that are espoused, and if I (or anyone else) chooses not to conform to some reasonable degree, the forum will ultimately win out over the individual, which is a good thing.

[Kung Fu Steve]

MJ - or somebody -

Maybe this isn't the proper place to discuss this, but can we discuss what are the ways/tips/steps to creating a successful forum?

For those of us who would like to start a forum, are there any keys you have found to be successful in creating a solid community fairly quickly?

[Knowledge Kick]

MJ - or somebody -

Maybe this isn't the proper place to discuss this, but can we discuss what are the ways/tips/steps to creating a successful forum?

For those of us who would like to start a forum, are there any keys you have found to be successful in creating a solid community fairly quickly?

I'm interested in this as well...

[MJ DeMarco]

MJ - or somebody -

Maybe this isn't the proper place to discuss this, but can we discuss what are the ways/tips/steps to creating a successful forum?

For those of us who would like to start a forum, are there any keys you have found to be successful in creating a solid community fairly quickly?

For starters, as a forum owner, you must make the initiative to make a forum active. If a forum is ACTIVE, people participate. If it is perceived as DEAD, people look around and leave.

The early stages are most crucial. When I started this board, I made sure to comment on almost every single thread until a critical mass was created where I didn't need to comment.

Even today, I find myself bumping and answering threads to maintain the "activity" level of the forum. Perceptions are everything. If it looks dead, no one bothers. If it looks engaging, people will engage.

All too often, people create forums and sit back and wait. No. As the forum owner, you must engage all threads and be the initiator of conversation. Even this forum hasn't completely reached a stage where I can step back and watch. I still have to initiate topics and ensure that activity doesn't move to a level of stagnation.

In a forum's early life, you really have to create topics that force engagement and make people want to post.

[Oski]

Co-sign on the censorship.

Blurring out certain words seems logical, but to completely ban things like politics or other controversial issues are basically like limiting our constitutional rights.

[G_Alexander]

I've been running forums for 10+ years.

As a paying position, I still admin my old forum from my old company except now instead of me being the sole ADMIN, I have 3 others who are new owners.

Lesson #1 of running a successful forum: Censorship will kill a forum.

For a decade, my forum was the #1 in the industry and always took a position of leadership on critical issues. The new owners appear to have a different approach where censorship is a strategy ... someone critical of your business? Delete it. Someone critical of an advertiser? Delete it. Someone ripping off someone in the industry and you're threatened with a lawsuit? Don't take a stand, delete it.

When people recognize that free speech is gagged by corporate censorship in any forum, they will leave and find an alternative.

I see a decade old reputation deflating before my eyes. Another sad day in the tiny world of my "old company".

~ MJ

PS: PLEASE do not link to the forum here.

Sounds like FerrariChat to me. They take down anything against any of their sponsors (bad reviews, bad mouthing, etc.) and delete posts without warning. I had heard many people complain about it before I joined, but only once I joined did I fully understand the amount of censorship that goes on there.

Really a big turnoff for me as a forum user.

-Alex

[JScott]

Blurring out certain words seems logical, but to completely ban things like politics or other controversial issues are basically like limiting our constitutional rights.

Consider an Internet forum to be PRIVATE property, not public property. Therefore, the owner of the "property" has every right to limit your freedoms while there, and even to deny you your "constitutional rights."

Just like you can't walk into my house (and I can't walk into yours) and expect that your (or my) constitutional rights prevail over my (or your) decision to allow me to stay.

You can argue that limiting discussion (and promoting censorship) in an Internet forum may be beneficial or may be detrimental, but there's no arguing that it's perfectly within the rights of the forum owner to do so.

Now, as for whether it's beneficial or detrimental, I think the quality of this forum speaks for itself, and likely has a LOT to do with the rules and regulations set forth by the owner; so, in this case, I'd say it's beneficial.

[Kung Fu Steve]

For starters, as a forum owner, you must make the initiative to make a forum active. If a forum is ACTIVE, people participate. If it is perceived as DEAD, people look around and leave.

The early stages are most crucial. When I started this board, I made sure to comment on almost every single thread until a critical mass was created where I didn't need to comment.

Even today, I find myself bumping and answering threads to maintain the "activity" level of the forum. Perceptions are everything. If it looks dead, no one bothers. If it looks engaging, people will engage.

All too often, people create forums and sit back and wait. No. As the forum owner, you must engage all threads and be the initiator of conversation. Even this forum hasn't completely reached a stage where I can step back and watch. I still have to initiate topics and ensure that activity doesn't move to a level of stagnation.

In a forum's early life, you really have to create topics that force engagement and make people want to post.

Can you expand a little more from idea to conception? Designing and getting those first few people involved?

[SaraK]

For starters, as a forum owner, you must make the initiative to make a forum active. If a forum is ACTIVE, people participate. If it is perceived as DEAD, people look around and leave.

I completely agree; there was another forum I used to participate on until there were so few people posting and rarely any new posts that I finally gave up and didn't bother with it again for months.

[Kung Fu Steve]

Bueller?

[MJ DeMarco]

As for designing, I learned. I can't really go into how I learn, you just do it. As for getting people involved, you have to put a lot of time into it and ask questions/make threads that invite participation. In the beginning, you might have to break rules and be polarizing ... heated arguments and debates are always good for forum traffic.

Controversy causes visits and participation and in the beginning, sometimes that is what it takes.

[Kung Fu Steve]

Hate to keep bothering you MJ, but could you answer one more question?

Last one I (sorta) promise!

More along the idea conception and creation. What is the process you went through when creating this site? I know it started real basic, just a place to communicate with others in the same mind frame. Did you have a vision for this board as it is now? Or did you just kind of go with the flow? Was there a definite plan set into motion like so many of us wish we could put into play or was it a just work hard at it and see what comes of it?

[^eagle^]

I helped a friend of mine start a niche forum. He invited me to take a look at it and just to be helpful I posted a topic in every section. I then became an expert in the niche and it grew massively. We grew to over a thousand members in a couple of months. He made me a moderator on two of his forums and I am learning how to grow one for future reference. Quite an experience.

The forum was a fad type of thing and is slowly shrinking as new fads take over and people graduate to the other forum. But it has given me several ideas I can implement later. Nothing like hands on experience.

[MJ DeMarco]

Hate to keep bothering you MJ, but could you answer one more question?

Last one I (sorta) promise!

More along the idea conception and creation. What is the process you went through when creating this site? I know it started real basic, just a place to communicate with others in the same mind frame. Did you have a vision for this board as it is now? Or did you just kind of go with the flow? Was there a definite plan set into motion like so many of us wish we could put into play or was it a just work hard at it and see what comes of it?

Process? Hmm ... this forum was the result of a plan (actually before it's time) just thought of the ideas of concept and how it would relate to Fastlane. So I had the ideas and set it in motion -- the "just going with the flow" usually happens later as a response to user demands and usage.

Here's a thread about how this forum was born.

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com...ur-timing.html