Discussion

Some community owners are more laid back and will participate here and there, but otherwise let the community talk about what it wants. Other community owners are more proactive in directing the types of discussions. What are you?

What are your thoughts on reviving old topics? I have been on a few online communities where admin and staff were not very happy when users replied to old topics, topics that had not been replied for over over a year. Likewise, I have also been on communities where the admin and staff did not mind replying to old topics but they had this notification "you are attempting to reply to a topic that has not been replied for over a year" placed on the bottom of the page.

What kind of policy do you have in your community regarding the use of Generative AI for post creation? Do you allow users to use Generative AI to create posts, or are you strictly against the use of Generative AI in your community? Well, I do not allow users to use AI for content creation. If a user repeatedly uses AI, I might even ban him form my community.

Have you tried selling merch through your online communities? I have seen some online communities selling merch, I have seen staff these communities posting photo with the merch item, however, I do not know whether these communities are making profits or not. I am yet to try this method.

Looking to get into YouTube Shorts and build a Shorts presence for yourself or your brand? You should probably consider it. Shorts is the fastest-growing content type on YouTube, and is now driving over 50 billion daily views in the app. Built in the mold of TikTok, Shorts leans into the growing trend towards more succinct, attention-grabbing clips, and it could be a valuable pathway towards increased brand awareness and perception. If you can create good Shorts content. This will help. Today, YouTube has published a new interview with Shorts Product Lead Todd Sherman, in which Sherman answers some of the most common questions about Shorts, including how th…

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into online forums and communities has not yet swept across our digital landscape. It's transforming the way we interact, manage, and evolve in many other spaces. But, as with any revolution, it brings its mix of excitement and apprehension. How has AI impacted your experience in online communities? Are you noticing more efficient moderation, personalized content, or perhaps something else? AI can automate and enhance, but it also raises concerns about authenticity and privacy. What are your thoughts on striking the right balance between AI's efficiency and maintaining the human touch in our interactions? …

Gamification features are popular in today's online world when it comes to online communities. They are often used to encourage community members to engage and participate in the community in return for rewards and other gamification options that may be available. Have you implemented gamification features in your community? How are they working out for you?

Does music have the power to change your mood? How does music affect you?

You have a member who contributes a significant amount of activity to the site, but he soon starts to lash out against you and the other moderators, pretends he knows how to run the community better than you, and starts to criticize how you run the community. He is also a superuser and a huge poster of content, so a lot of other members trust what he says. But he hasn't actually broken any clear terms (nothing illegal, just inflammatory). What do you do?

Are you driven by numbers and charts? Do views, impressions and clicks mean everything to you? I have seen webmasters too much into analytics data. They always think of ways to improve it and work on the same. Are you one of them? Does it actually give results?

I was once very active on a paid to post forum. The Forum allowed you to make as much as $1 per day through forum posting. However, to make that amount you had to make a lot of posts. Since I had not other jobs, I was very active and was creating a lot of posts every day. Then one day, the forum awarded me a badge "spammer". Do you think someone who posts a lot is a spammer even when the person does quality posting? How do you define spam in a community.

When you think the online group that you're building, is it ... My Community Your Community Our Community

On one of my forums, I approve accounts manually. I am doing this to control spammers. I have also been on a couple of forums where the admin approved accounts manually. However, I do not think this method can be effective to control spam because the registration details do not give any information on the intention of new user. Do you also manually approve accounts?

I am not racist but I am sorry to say that most spammers on my communities come from Russia (based on IP and email account using yandex domain or dot ru extension). What about you, where do most spammers in your community come from?

Dealing with conflicts within an online community shouldn't always be difficult but in most cases they are. Depending on the kind of conflict that arises, there will be different ways in which you can approach these conflicts to ensure a smooth resolution with no further escalation. How do you deal with conflicts within your community? Is there anything specific you do that you find helps?

If you were given $5000 to spend on anything you wanted, what would you buy?

Something I like to do when I am not at home on my laptop is browse communities through my mobile device. I enjoy being able to keep in contact and keep tabs on things even when I am out and about. Do you browse communities through your mobile device?

Most of us enjoy being part of numerous communities, maybe some more than others but there will always a times when you are part of a community and there is something there that happens that is an instant turn-off for you. This could be something such as the owner not being as friendly as you would think, spam taking over the forum or just not enough content that you are interested in. I tolerate most communities and love being part of numerous communities but if spam is seen to be taking over the forum or the owner or staff do not seem to be taking action, are not very professional or the forum seems to be left to run itself that is a turn-off for me. What wou…

Do you think the Internet should be a human right? Why or why not?

What do you think about baldness? What causes baldness? Do you think there’ll ever be a cure for baldness? Do you think bald men and women are attractive? Do you think it’s a good idea for a bald person to wear a wig?

Do you use open source forum software? Have you used Open Source platforms? Do you think Open Source platforms are as good as the premium ones? Which Open Source Forum software do you think can be compared to the premium software such as Invision Community or even XenForo? I have tried multiple Open Source Platforms and I believe they can be good as long as your communities are not very big. Finding appropriate add-ons is a big problem with Open Source.

Collaboration within a community can produce positive results for those not only leading the community but also for those who are part of the community. There are many ways in which you can collaborate within your community but it seems that not many take advantage of this. How do you encourage collaboration within your community?

You don’t have to spend money to join any affiliate program, yet you have an opportunity to make even a full time income. And the best part, you can earn without any ongoing work. However, what no one tells you is how difficult it is to generate sales. You try affiliate marketing for months, even years yet there might be no sales. Some people even go further and suggest you to run ads to generate sales. Well, you might be able to generate some sales through advertising, however, when you run ads, you spend money, and your ad spending might be higher than the commission you get from affiliate programs.

There are multiple options to build communities, you can build communities through software like Invision or Wordpress, or even social media sites. You can create Facebook Groups, Discord Servers, Whatsapp Group, etc.and build communities through social media platforms. One major drawbacks of social media communities is you do not own it, you are under the mercy of social media companies. Having said that it is easier to build communities on social media platforms compared to other community software.

There's a growing push for Community Everywhere, which means interacting with your audience where they already hang out whether that is Reddit, Facebook, Slack, YouTube, a superusers newsletter, or other third party platforms. This is in contrast to Owned Communities, that you own and control and can offer a curated experience. As a user, do you actually care that your question is answered on a brand-owned platform, or that your question is answered? As a user into fandom, do you restrict your enthusiasm to only official channels or do you talk about your interests across multiple platforms? Community Everywhere presents a broader shift in how organiza…