Planet Skaro - Forum
The baffling question is - how to attract more users to a forum?
The reason that everyone is on Facebook is because everyone is on Facebook. The same is true of some of the larger Doctor Who forums, where the fans tend to congregate and discuss various bits and pieces. But how do you attract new people, say two or three a month, to a forum like Planet Skaro?
There are various things that we've tried. We have lots of new (new!) banners, regular things going on such as the 'Planet Skaro goes back' sub-forums, where we look back at an old series, lots of polls and bits and pieces. We even have the gob-smackingly brilliant Planet Skaro Audio Productions, the absolute best fan-made audios available (including your regular, official, expensive CD companies). Yet the population tends to remain stable.
A forum IS its members, obviously. It shouldn't be about one or two people blowing their own trumpets or creating the environment. I like Planet Skaro because there's a diverse range of ages and opinions, without there being too much trolling - or any at all!
We've got the forum promoted on social mejjjuh too, with Twitter and Facebook accounts, which are updated from time-to-time. Perhaps this needs to be a more regular thing, but this is where we come across the big problem.
Doing all this work can feel like a thankless chore. There are so many professional companies out there making web-sites and the like, it's easy to forget about the effort that goes into putting together a not-for-profit fan site. I'm not saying that people should heap their praises at our feet, but the reward we're looking for is a sense that forum is still lively and that people are at least interested. Or that new people join. It's easy to feel these days that people are slowly drifting away and that's sad, because it means losing touch with good friends.
I still have a few ideas of how to attract members. But all these things require time and effort!
The reason that everyone is on Facebook is because everyone is on Facebook. The same is true of some of the larger Doctor Who forums, where the fans tend to congregate and discuss various bits and pieces. But how do you attract new people, say two or three a month, to a forum like Planet Skaro?
There are various things that we've tried. We have lots of new (new!) banners, regular things going on such as the 'Planet Skaro goes back' sub-forums, where we look back at an old series, lots of polls and bits and pieces. We even have the gob-smackingly brilliant Planet Skaro Audio Productions, the absolute best fan-made audios available (including your regular, official, expensive CD companies). Yet the population tends to remain stable.
A forum IS its members, obviously. It shouldn't be about one or two people blowing their own trumpets or creating the environment. I like Planet Skaro because there's a diverse range of ages and opinions, without there being too much trolling - or any at all!
We've got the forum promoted on social mejjjuh too, with Twitter and Facebook accounts, which are updated from time-to-time. Perhaps this needs to be a more regular thing, but this is where we come across the big problem.
Doing all this work can feel like a thankless chore. There are so many professional companies out there making web-sites and the like, it's easy to forget about the effort that goes into putting together a not-for-profit fan site. I'm not saying that people should heap their praises at our feet, but the reward we're looking for is a sense that forum is still lively and that people are at least interested. Or that new people join. It's easy to feel these days that people are slowly drifting away and that's sad, because it means losing touch with good friends.
I still have a few ideas of how to attract members. But all these things require time and effort!