Are forums dead

by 40 replies
40
Are forums dead? Yes, they are!

Search Google for "SEO forums" and you'll get:

1. SEO Chat Forums = DEAD
forums.seochat.com/

2. High Rankings SEO Forum = DEAD
High Rankings SEO Forum

3. Search Engine Optimization - Warrior Forum = VERY MUCH ALIVE
Search Engine Optimization

So why is the Warrior forum alive and kicking? Because they reinvented their forum around social media, that's why. And that deserves a big congrats. Kudos!
#off topic forum #seo forums
  • FYI the internet covers a wide range of topics, not just SEO. So do forums.

    Just because SEO forums are dead (and why wouldn't they be - Google has been conducting a war against SEO techniques for years, and has now won it), you state that ALL forums are dead. Sheesh.

    BTW, have you read the crap that is posted in the WF SEO section? It's populated by people living in denial that somehow you can fool Google into ranking your site by spamming the web with your links. Sheesh again.
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    • Agreed, up to 2010 at a certain date, I could rank any site on Google for it's principle keyword following a few simple rules in the url name site structure and a few backlinks. Now you either can't do it or have to jump through hoops to get there, and you won't be guaranteed a residency.

      Now it's about getting traffic via social media, videos etc or paying people to send it your way. forget Seo and Search engines. It's only about ROI now.
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    • Yeah I agree a lot of spammy marketers wanting everything for free! This is why Google has decided to start war! I still am doing very well in the SEO world.
  • Reinvent what ? They traded in the majority of longtime posters and a drop in quality took place. Now their is influx of a bunch of new posters that spend more time spamming the forum thru sig links. The other half asking the same how do I make xyz in a week with doing anything. Only recently have things seemed to improve in the main forum.
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  • Before they "reinvented" their forum, there were a lot more members posting who knew what they were talking about, and so, much of what was posted was a lot higher quality. If this site only had the SEO forum, it would likely be a graveyard as well.
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    • I disagree,

      A lot of the older members thought they were the smartest people alive, and took it out on newer people.

      I'm thinking, "CopyWriting" forums.
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  • I like your enthusiasm. And I agree it is still a decent forum ( maybe not the SEO section).

    I guess some could say I'd be in denial or just maybe the perpetual optimist
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    • I don't agree that all forum are dead, but they are definitely taking a back seat on the internet when it comes to discussions.

      I used to be a moderator on a political forum, World Affairs Board. We never ranked page 1 of Google, but it was a large community with about 15,000 users. It was also fairly active, with hundreds of posts a day.

      What changed? Facebook. Once Facebook began acting more like a forum, allowing individual replies to posts and replies to replies, turning each reply into a thread of its own, Facebook basically became the mother of all forums, on a platform every knows and uses already.

      Why travel to a crappy vBulletin platform forum when you can do everything on Facebook?
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  • De Nile is a river in Egypt. I agree with some of what has been said. I know some of the more experienced former members got banned for speaking out. That was very sad indeed but that will happen from time to time.

    There are still loads of older, more experienced members here to offer support IF newer people are sensible enough to take and appreciate it.
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  • I don't think Forums are dead. I don't bother what Google is showing. But for me forums are still alive.
  • Banned

    I'm voting for this guy as a write-in candidate for 2016.
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    • LOL

      Anytime you need my vote for anything at all (except illegal) you've got it!
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  • every forum I know is in drastic decline. The OP is new and has nothing to compare WF to. I see WSOs staying on the front page for days and forums where no one posts for 30 minutes and more

    you were lucky if a WSO stayed on page one for 4 hours a few years back and when you refreshed a page in most subforums - giving it about five minutes - if there were not new posts you thought the site was having issues.

    As if to demonstrate the awfulness of the SEO sub forum these days there is this sweet thread

    http://www.warriorforum.com/search-e...-help-seo.html

    People have no idea what the niche is or what is targeted or even what is on the page but are trying to tell the OP how to correct issues with his site's ranking - all the time most are totally unable to read a thing on his site.
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    • I don't know what the SEO sub forum was like back in the day, I'm new here. I don't do much SEO myself, either. I do know one thing when it comes to SEO, and it's never let me down: consistently create good content, and Google will eventually notice, recognize and boost your website in the search rankings.

      Problem with that is that's the long game, and nowadays everyone wants things done NOW if not five minutes ago.
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    • A weekday in March, 2014:
      Currently Active Users: 23058 (2729 members and 20329 guests)

      A weekday in March, 2015:
      Currently Active Users: 12751 (1715 members and 11036 guests)

      Right now:
      Currently Active Users: 8557 (525 members and 8032 guests)


      It's easy to blame the owners but there are many factors leading to decline of the "forum" style online. The WF has held its position much better than many similar forum sites have in the past 2-3 years.
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  • Depends on the niche, I see many forums very active outside the internet marketing area.

    The one thing they have in common is that they don't have too many active FB groups to compete with. I prefer the format of forums myself .

    But in general no doubt times have changed.
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    • Same here. I'm a member of some other forums outside the webmaster seo niche etc and they're very much active.

      Who knows. Social media may be dead one day and forums come back.

      I'm sure forums won't totally die for a very long time yet.

      I guess forums are not in fashion for some people right now.

      I'm sure that fashion will come back and forums will be in style once again.
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    • I believe you get your very own "thanks" button after 5 posts - or maybe that's 10. It will appear like magic before long...
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  • Banned
    There are still hundreds of forums on various topics which are running as hot as this wonderful forum. If you ask about internet related forums which are still doing great then digitalpoint and v7n are two of the many which I can mention here. Few years ago a large number of people were doing forum posting just to get backlinks to their website, now when most of the top forums don't allow to add links like they use to do few years ago, these kind of people disappear which is why the number of people on forums declined because now you only see those people on forums who have something to discuss rather than to have backlinks to their website.
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    • Digitalpoint, LOL, their Off Topic is a joke, it is full of "Hi, l am New" posts.

  • Banned
    No, not all are dead, far from it.

    I suggest you take a look at the Warrior Forum data that I posted yesterday...

    http://www.warriorforum.com/off-topi...##post10702214

    The numbers are declining so fast it's as if the forum has missed a curve and went off a cliff in Colorado at 112 MPH...and FWIW, supposedly only about 1% of WF traffic is from social media.

    That said....let's delve into your "forums are dead" inference.

    We do not see a corpse below...








    DPReview was my favorite forum back in the late 90's and early 00's, and I learned far more studying there than on any other website on the net. If not one more speck of information is posted on there starting tomorrow, that forum will still be a valuable resource for a decade or longer, and a ton of the posted information is timeless.

    I have no idea how many total posts have been posted to DPReview over the years, but it's a lot more than those numbers above show due to purges, crashes, glitches, DB issues and cleanups. Warrior Forum has always a been a relatively puny forum (numbers wise) compared to DPReview...



    Many forums have went by the wayside, but I know a lot of the good ones will live on...





    Cheers

    -don
  • Thing about forums is, they are only as good as the people forumnicatin' in 'em.

    Problem with WF right now is twofold.

    First, Facebook has delivered a leaner, more private meansa conductin' discussion.

    Second, the noob influx — allied to an exodus of regular, quality posters — has spawned a menagerial nightmare.

    But nuthin' is static, an' we gotta trust the exchangea ideas to create an' facilitate its own medium.
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    • From someone with a join date of last year, who was banned for trying to cyber.
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    • I was a member of a very popular forum back in the 00's they lasted a good ten years but finally gave up the ghost back in 11. I suspect because most of its members flocked to FB to have their discussions. IMO WF is still doing great. Heck we are here talking about how other forums went out of business due to the rise in popularity of social media sites

  • Glad to see you here again Princess, the cell door is open and you are basking in the sunlight.

    And it is true, that members like me are being tentative, probably because of the newbies, although the grass isn't always greener elsewhere.

    Here, most of the negatives have left, or seem to have, so a new agish type post may not be as bullied and trashed as much as usual?

    Other forums out there can be as foul mouthed as they wish, and tend to reward troll's instead of banning them.

    I am a member of several forums like that and they do have some merits, but you wouldn't want to p*** someone off.


    No, she got banned for pushing sexually explicit grammer, a bit too much.

  • Couldn't agree more. Freelancer buyout made this forum even better (not saying it was bad before)

    The addition of login screen via social is what other forums lack and a feature I love the most about Warrior forum.
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