How Merging Forums Can Either Save Your Forum Or Kill It

Hello,

Merging forums can either save your forum or kill it, I will tell you why in this article. So if your considering merging forums please do read these topic as it could save your forum.

How it will kill your forum
If your forum is active and has a lot of dedicated members merging with bigger forums can make those users leave as they knew everyone in the community and suddenly all these new people they will feel like they have been pushed away.

Another reason is if your a perfectly active forum then merging with forums in a similar genre can create battles like which community was better and ends up ripping the forum in two.

How it will save a forum
You have a small forum, your members are getting sick of it not growing, you then merge with another community so those members got what they wished, a more active community.

Your a large forum but you are now very inactive due to the competition forums been way bigger and to many of them, pretty much any new advertising forum or even old ones will have this trouble. Staff are starting to leave and so are veteran members, you merge with other smaller forums in the same or similar genre, this makes your forum bigger meaning you can now rival the competition and get more new members.

So now this should help make your decision of to merge or not to merge(bit of Shakespeare there, to be or not to be, to merge or not to merge ) I hope this article has helped you.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for the share steven

 

Nice article Steven, thanks for sharing it. When merging forums to begin with, you should always alert both communities and ask them what they think about it, that way, no problems arise when its done.

 

Indeed, its always best to talk it over with the community first.

 

Great Stuff Steven

and good point Cpvr

 

Yup, and if they reject it because they feel that their community is home, do it anyways. They'll go the community that's more active anyways, ya know?

 

Well for me it depends on the amount of the members against it, if only a few than I would go ahead with it, but if alot of members didnt like the idea I wouldnt do it.

 

Very informational article, Steven. Great work!

That's good advice. However, some may be against the merge.

Yes, majority rules.

 

If they're against the merge, then ask them why. It should depend on how many users hate the merge, and are willing to do it. A poll being opened up, with discussion, usually counters this.

 

Yea thats the best thing to do.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. Polling with users isn't such a good idea as if you do even if yes gets a majority, you merge, you get a load of people saying: But I voted no or but it was only a bit of a majority etc. You as an admin should decide yourself using some of the points I mentioned.

 

If that's the case, I think the communities deserve to vote about the mergers and then the people who voted no need to accept that they've been outvoted and need to respect others and your own decisions, etc.

 

Well I disagree with that, a poll is one of the fairest ways to agree/disagree on a particular thing.