What is making certain forums powerful these days?

[Jason2022]

Some say forums are declining due to social media, but it's not a 100 percent thing. In fact, a lot of forums are still pumping and maybe not even from artificial stimulation (post exchanges or paid posters). Have you noticed this? What have you seen out there?

 

[PGen98]

Sometimes you just capture lightning in a bottle and it clicks with people. I had that happen with my newest forum, it caught on incredibly fast and hit 100,000 posts within 7 months. There is room for forums out there, but there's no specific formula to guarantee they're going to be successful. Hard work, innovation and plain old luck.

 

[Mike30]

I agree with @PGen98
Also, there are many called "Social Media" but the truth is, they are forums with a strong niche.
The niche is the principal key I think. Then, followed by innovation, creativity, persistence, etc...

 

[Jason2022]

Some niches for forums cannot be on traditional social media. For instance, gambling probably can't be and then there is also the adult niche. Does anyone know of other stuff? Well, my last mention is the banned politics niche.

 

[Demon_skeith]

By still giving users power, you can't do much on twitter/facebook but with a IPB/Xenforo, wordpress, ect site, you can do almost anything.

 

[Shortie]

I would say that the one thing that is keeping forums powerful these days if for sure the content, especially if the content is helpful and it is what people are looking for.

Someone is always looking for an answer to something or help with something and forums can always help with that with the right content.

 

[cpvr]

Sometimes you just capture lightning in a bottle and it clicks with people. I had that happen with my newest forum, it caught on incredibly fast and hit 100,000 posts within 7 months. There is room for forums out there, but there's no specific formula to guarantee they're going to be successful. Hard work, innovation and plain old luck.

I totally agree. I also think one major factor that helps a forum take off is the content and the industry that the forum is in. The “it” factor hits the nail the coffin as well.

 

[Soulwatcher74]

I honestly think forums are declining big time and there needs to be change to make them more user-friendly. Because let's be honest, forums are hard to use. The sign-up process sucks if you ask me, then you have to figure out what category to post in. Which is why Facebook thrives, simple signup, and you post in one area for everything. Having said all of that I still like forums and I have a forum myself.