Who's Forum Are You In?

[spidermonkey]

I have back-edited this posting as I believe I may have been too harsh previously.

It's my concerted belief - for what that is worth - that if anybody truly "owns" a forum - it is the people who post that can rightly claim that ownership (with the ever-helpful assistance of moderators/administrators).

During my recent excursions through the forums - I keep coming across apparently good forum sites and later-on begin to realise that there is a single mastermind behind the whole shebang - and "sometimes" the moderators do as they are told.

You need to look at forums with eyes wide open - just like everything else on the web.

It's just another bend on the learning curve, but please, do take the time to examine the possible motives of the people who very regularly post in the mainstream threads on your pet forum. If you take a step back and really look you might notice that they have a motive to sell you something - that is not necessarily a bad thing - they might be selling something useful - but please do look.

Mike

[cbp]

My motivation is that I get something out of helping people (likewise, I volunteer at DMOZ) --- not once have I posted my URL's for self promotion in any forum (though I have no problem with those that do unless the point of their message they post is self promotion) - this is just my choice. Funny how I have been criticized for that choice .... funny how people make that the point of a debate rather than debate the issue...

CBP

[spidermonkey]

I'm not criticising you cbp - please note that I included the paragraph regarding moderators who do as they are told in a separate paragraph.

You have given me useful advice on more than one occasion.

I have gained some very useful leverage from the open directory project in the past.

I'm just telling people they need to keep their eyes open - "All that glisters is not gold."

Kind regards

Mike

[cbp]

I'm not criticising you cbp

I never took it as that.

I do know what you are talking about - two prominent forum are owned by SEO's, as a 'sideline' to their business interests --- and the biggest of them all (WMW) is owned by one person/company -- I do not necessarily have problem with that as I know that to be the case.

I guess then it comes down to a matter of ethics - should the owner(s) of a froum be made more explicit. At the end of the day someone here has to own WPW ... someone has to make the money to pay the bills (eg host costs; luxury holidays for the moderators, etc :-)

CBP

[spidermonkey]

I know...

I just wish it was clearer.

I genuinely believe in the power of forums.

I just want to be sure the members of those forums know EXACTLY what they are members of...and if they don't know - what questions they should ask.

Mike

[Brittany]

spidermonkey,

Thanks for starting this thread! I've moved it to this forum since it wasn't really a "Search Engine Insider Report" ;)
You made a lot of great points in your post. I agree that the success of any forum is directly related to the participation of its members. The moderators and admins are here basically to keep things rolling along as smoothly as possible. It is the members, however, that determine the success of the forum. If the members do not participate and maintain consistent activity, then the forum will die.

Regarding ownership: As cbp said, several popular forums are owned by single people or companies.

WebProWorld itself is part of the larger iEntry network, along with its sister site WebProNews. The forum was originally created for the members of this network and has grown (and continues to grow) to become something much larger.

We are working to more firmly establish this sense of identity, to make it clear to our members that we're part of a network with many resources to be discovered and explored. Additionally, we are developing outreach tactics to grow the forums, to get more active regular members, and to maintain the interests of new members.

Every member of the forums can help make WebProWorld a better place simply by offering your help. Take the time to greet a new member, offer your opinion on a discussion, ask for help or answer someone's question. You'd be surprised and the level of gratitude in some responses - and who knows, you might even get a case of the "warm fuzzies." ;)

If you have any suggestions or comments regarding any aspect of the forums, feel free to share them here.

Brittany

[EJRS.COM]

Did this come from a different discussion? I just read the first spidermonkey post here and it makes no sense. It's like it was detached from an original post / split off midway. Where's the start of this discussion?

[simonm]

Well said 'spidermonkey' about those that post being the ones that effectively own the forum, the 'practical' owners and moderators run it.

As to Brittany's comments about how the forum could develop. One thing that I do see are the same questions asked over and over again, almost using the same words, not sure how one deals with this.

Also I believe that some of the experts among us might come down from their high horses occaissionally and admit that they don't know, they only conjecture. The exception being those who have a direct link to Google, MSN, Yahoo etc.!

I've seen some of my comments - conjecture - shot down, I've ignored the comments from the 'experts' who of course know best, and continue to see my sites hit 1st page and often number one - for fairly standard search words and terms - based on my own research. Again, I'm not sure how one deals with this, I don't really mind for my sake, but it must be confusing to newcomers.

A spell check could also be useful

[Blackicicle]

I have back-edited this posting as I believe I may have been too harsh previously.

Well he did say that he edited it so that might be the reason why it starts so abruptly...