Why I still post on forums
I get asked this a lot, whether forums are still useful in a Twitter/Facebook world. After all there are many many fewer members on most forums than are on Twitter or Facebook and often forums have a culture and vibe all of their own.
I think forums have a number of massive benefits though:
Audience - I use business forums (alright, mainly one) and I provide services to business owners. So even though the audience might be smaller than Twitter or Facebook, it’s the ‘right’ audience.
Engagement - Forum members are often really engaged with, and quite affectionate about, their choice of forum. Members often take time to read most posts, and comment on them. Again, the audience may be hypothetically smaller than other social media platforms, but the engagement from them is significant.
Search engines - I don’t make enough use of this myself, but search engines seem to love forums. If part of your business involves getting search engine traffic to your site, then well worded thread titles and links within threads are a benefit that is often overlooked.
‘Soft’ launches - Forums are really useful for getting feedback on an idea before launching it out to the ‘real world’. For sure, people are often robust in their opinions, but far better to hear that from a small engaged crowd and modify/improve/perfect the idea before launching it out in the big wide world.
Expanding my network / joining it up - Using forums keeps me in touch with people I have met in real life, it introduces me to people before I meet them in real life and it helps me to get a picture of who someone is.
But most of all, I enjoy forums, I enjoy the banter and engagement and the opportunities to sometimes distract myself!
How about you?
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mikemimo reblogged this from noredbraces
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mikemimo answered:
My first steps into the online world were with forums/bulletin boards, and personally I think they’re still highly relevant tools
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noredbraces posted this
