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Forums vs Facebook Groups

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Jason76, Nov 19, 2016.

  1. Jason76

    Jason76 Well-Known Member

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    Some have said people are migrating to Facebook. Is this false? In what ways might a forum be better than a FB group?
     
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  2. KenBrace

    KenBrace Well-Known Member Administrator

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    Forums give you much more control over the content. You can quote posts, have lots of space for comments, have karma systems, categories, etc. In general, the setup of a FB group tends to be someone limited and "squished". I've always found forums to be a much more pleasant experience.
     
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  3. jane marie

    jane marie Well-Known Member

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    I put posts on Facebook and nobody replies or clicks like. Sometimes it's like I'm invisible! lol. I much prefer to write on forums because I seem to get a lot more interaction.

    Facebook also has too many games which I am trying to stay away from. Writing on forums means I can discuss subjects that I like whereas Facebook posts are not really meant for conversations. I do belong to a couple of historical groups on FB, but they don't chat or converse about posts which is a shame. So forums are winning hands down with me! :p
     
  4. Jason76

    Jason76 Well-Known Member

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    It think it's mostly a popularity and in-group thing.
     
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2016
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  5. William

    William Member

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    Facebook has what forums try to establish. Your parents, family, friends, co-workers etc are already on Facebook, and without having to create another account ya just join a group - so there is convenience.

    On the other hand, for my niche (Christian genre) this means that groups are subject to secular moderation and even advertisement. This is a very desirable point to sell when promoting forums over Facebook groups. The groups moderators do not ultimately have control over the groups, but Facebook does.

    Not to mention there is a concern about future censorship, content filtering etc. There are many reasons to go to a forum, like for the rich media content etc, but you'll have to establish relationships etc, and that's where I began writing about the strengths of Facebook.

    Enjoy,
    William
     
  6. jane marie

    jane marie Well-Known Member

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    Since I have been posting on forums, I have found that I am getting to know more people online and getting more interaction. Some of the forums on FW are proving to be really informative and I have found that in a relatively short time I have learned a lot about myself.
     
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  7. Jason76

    Jason76 Well-Known Member

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    Facebook can be quite dangerous because you're using your real name as opposed to an anonymous screen name. It can cause a lot of problems if posting political opinions.
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2016
  8. Cheeaka

    Cheeaka Well-Known Member

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    A place for braggarts to go and pontificate o_O :rolleyes: :).
     
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  9. Jason76

    Jason76 Well-Known Member

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    Bragging every few months is cool, but not every other day. Of course, what's worse is the political memes.
     
  10. GearZ

    GearZ Well-Known Member Moderator

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    It has been bandied about for years about the impact of FB on forums. There is no question that it, and other social media, has had an effect on forums.

    Personally I couldn't be paid to use FB, but a good forum is a delight.
     
  11. Cheeaka

    Cheeaka Well-Known Member

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    Bragging every few months? Yeah I guess, if one really must:rolleyes: :).

    I'm not familiar with the political memes because I don't visit facebook enough to know what really goes on in that universe. It's a great place to snoop around though, and see what other people are doing;).
     
  12. Sweerie_banana

    Sweerie_banana Active Member

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    Hi @Jason76. Forums do no two ways about it, have better functionality than Facebook groups. You can split things into two separate categories or sub forums to make it clear where certain topics should be discussed, you can easily see the new posts as well as popular posts, such as functionality is a lot better and your members can complete a full profile, usually with the ability to add a signature to the bottom of their posts too - which is great for 'promoting yet not promoting' their wares to other members.

    It's also worth bearing in mind that forums can be complicated to set up. And here's ghetto truth a forum isn't an easy solution and will generally, take some work to get your members using it and engaging well. So if you are looking for quick engagements go for a Facebook group, if you are looking for better functionality and product focus go for forums. As with all the membership sites, the best option is the one that suits your needs and goals. But don't be afraid to just pick an option and see how it goes. Best of luck.
     
  13. DigitalGlobal

    DigitalGlobal Well-Known Member

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    Social media has made a negative impact on forums, however, you have to analyze the market and ask why people may be leaving your forum, and it could be various reasons, maybe your niche is not as strong as you thought, maybe repetitive topics have gotten old, maybe people are leaving to find something new, other reasons can include but not limited to bad forum members, bad leadership, etc. maybe forums are drying up because webmasters are not marketing their sites like they are supposed too :eek: You can give me that raised eyebrow all you want, keep in mind, google may give you so much traffic from your indexed content, but what happens if you are not actively promoting your site? Have you ever heard of the adapt or die theory? If you are not going to pay or adapt to market strategies, then how you reach new visitors, new blood; Your site no matter how strong it may look at the time will sooner or later fizzle out into nothing. I have run across forums with 500k posts never thinking it would be gone, but today, the site is still there, very little traffic, and almost no backlinks, in this case of this once popular forum, it was a series of fatal issues that killed the forum dead; did the owner think those 500k posts would stay ranked forever? maybe it was bad apples and leadership that killed the forum dead. If you do not market your forum regularly, then you may be living on what little traffic is coming to the forum through organic traffic, and organic traffic is not forever, and your traffic will sooner or later decrease if you are not actively promoting your site; This is why they call it marketing. o_O
     
  14. a_jerobon

    a_jerobon New Member

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    Forums are more concerned with serious issues that Facebook groups. Facebook does not have strict rules about what is to be posted while forums have strict rules. And the fact that you earn some extra cash from forums unlike Facebook.
     

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