What makes an internet forum popular? (171)

1 Name: 404 - Name Not Found 2005-04-29 00:55 ID:V3OJYA9m

Theoretically, 4-ch's simple post system should make it the biggest English-speaking forum in the world. (lol)

So, what makes a forum popular? Let's look at the most popular forums in the world for hints:

#1: 2channel. Popular because it stayed up while other anonymous forums went down; consolidated a bunch of different forums such as Ayashii World. The Live TV forums also probably contributed. There may be other factors which I don't know.
#2: Go-Gaia. Attracted little kids because of its avatar system. But that's not the userbase we want, is it?
#3: IGN+VaultNet. I don't know why this is popular, I don't know much about the history of this BBS.
#4,5: FaceTheJury and Nexopia. These are popular because you can just spam any damn message you want, it's like AIM. Maybe 4-ch should open a bunch of gimmick boards like 2ch has.
#6: Partyflock. Popular because it created a large number of forums to plan parties in different areas of the Netherlands.
#7: Off Topic. I don't know why this is popular, I don't know much about the history of this BBS.
#8: PaintBallNation. Popular because it created a large number of paintball forums and became the number one place to go for paintball.
#9: Something Awful. Popular because the $10 registration fee keeps out little kids, and because of its dedicated moderation team. Not popular because of some inherent superiority; go back to archive.org and see SA in 2002 if you don't beleive me on that.
#10: Fok.nl. I don't know why this is popular, I don't know much about the history of this BBS.

>>2 Now's your chance! Go for the kill!
>>3-1000 Discuss theories of attracting people!

2 Name: 404 - Name Not Found 2005-04-29 05:13 ID:SpBBWb65

2GET (hopefully)

I think most of the popular forums, 2ch a notable exception, have some draw (usually, only distantly related to the forums themselves) that sucks new people in, after which they stay for the community. Megatokyo Forums, for instance. Most of the regulars (outside of "Story Discussions") no longer care for the webcomic attached, and some openly hate it.

Go-Gaia's avatar system is sorta related to this. IGN has game previews and walkthroughs and stuff. Does PaintBallNation have equipment reviews or anything like that? SA has articles, Weekend Web, Photoshop Phriday and a lot of other content.

Even 4-ch and world4ch have a 'draw' in the attached imageboards. I don't know how popular they would have been without it. I was never on the old world2ch, but my impression is that it was a rather desolate place...

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