Blogs vs. forums

Blogs can be a good way to generate content and promote things, as well as write about things that interest you. Forums could be great communities for people to post on and talk to each other. Which do you prefer?

 

I'd rather guest-write for a blogger or two than create my own. Because I sometimes have writer's block where I can't come up with anything to write about. I know blogs are good money makers if you manage to get a huge following. Forums are great because you can exchange knowledge with other posters and get to know one another better.

I prefer forums.
I wonder what the other members here prefer @Carlos @Brandon @Big Dan @karoshio

 

For the longest time I enjoyed forums much more than blogs. I had tried blogging and it didn’t work out, while with forums, I did very well. Like cpvr pointed out, forums are a great place to exchange knowledge with other posters and it doesn’t matter if you get writer’s block/run out of things to say or not because there are other people who will more than likely keep the conversation going.

Lately, however, I’ve really gotten into writing posts for my blog. Something suddenly clicked with it and I’ve had no trouble coming out with ideas to write about. As a matter of fact I have a list started of things I want to write about. I’ve also found that you can get a good bit of input from those who read your blog via comments (if you allow them). I’ve got a couple of readers who always post their own thoughts and there is some great back and forth conversation.

I like both forums and blogs, but at this point in time (if I had to pick) I would probably go with preferring blogs. Not for the money because I don’t earn any nor do I try to, but because I love getting my thoughts and ideas out there. What I really love about the blog though is that I know I’ve made connections with people and I’ve had people tell me that I’ve helped them, which means the world to me. It’s become very satisfying to me.

 

As an owner or as a visitor?

• If I have information which I wish to share, then obviously I'll create a website/blog.
• If I want people to discuss topics with others then it's obviously going to be a forum.

 

Blogs are okay if you want to get your thoughts out however, if they are not active (as much as forums are), they can get a bit lonely and boring if you get what I mean. I prefer a forum simply for the entertainment of interacting with other people. I run 2 blogs, a personal one and a blog for my storm chasing... its been quite a few months since I have updated any of them with new blog posts

 

I have been going back and forth for awhile now. Although I am leaning more towards a for than a blog, mostly due to the face that I wouldn't have to do all the content writing myself in a form. I am also thinking of making a blog to get started and then convert that domain into a forum for more viewer participation. What pros and cons do you see in Forums versus a Blog?

 

oops I didn't see that other thread. Sorry about that. I am still getting used to the forum....

 

I merged your post with the other one.

 

Forums you can actually see when things get active. Blogs are more of a personal thing in my honest opinion. I created a blog for my mother a while back, and it's hit a huge success. But only because she got traffic from restaurants that she visited. (food critic)

 

Forums because its easier to communicate with the community when compared to blogs, unless your into artcile writing

 

In response to one of the other questions above, I meant as an owner. This is a managing your site section after all.

 

It's hard to say. Even though I have a bunch of blogs I prefer forums more often then not. The trouble for me is other people's forums; Unless I'm friendly with the owner I always feel like I'm wasting time writing tutorials on someone else's board because there is very little return for me. I could spend the half hour I spent putting together a tutorial at someone else's forum writing an article for one of my sites.

As I'm starting up more and more sites I feel my time could be better spent writing for me vs. someone else.

 

I would say that a blog is best if you want to talk about day to day things going on and just want to let everyone else know and maybe have a comments but if you want to have a debate on certain subjects and want to discuss with loads of people and get other people's opinions then a forum is defently best as you can have the big discussions and find out what people's views are more easier

 

That's always nice to find huge success. One thing though, if people like blogs as much as they say they do - why not implement a blogs feature on your community - that way you can express things with words and your members can to. I know I have the vBulletin CMS system because of this. I don't want to create a new site[just to blog], I'd rather just blog on my community and add more unique content. And plus, the members love having the blog feature because sometimes they want to express something[outside of the forums], and the blogs are a great way for users to do that.

 

I prefer forums. With forums, you have the opportunity to create a community of people, who discuss and share ideas. With a forum, it's mainly just the admin (or possibly a few staff posting) and people making comments. Blogs are little limited.

 

I'd prefer blogs myself because its not themed, so yeah.

 

I prefer blogs compared to forums; the reason why is because I like the ability to post what I want and not have to follow anyone else's rules
This is actually why I don't use blogger.com or wordpress.com anymore; they could delete your blog at any time that they felt they wanted to.

Now it is a pain in the but to always come up with content for blogs
But then its your blog and your content you really don't have to worry about it that much.

 

Definitely on spot. Bloggers and writers have this problem. Any website has this problem. However, with forums, you can go with the thread's flow. Like, if someone responds with an idea that you might want to expand on, it has an effect on you in how you respond to that thread. Sometimes you're likely going to have a few sentences, and a paragraph. Other times you're going to have a long winded post where you speak intelligently about the subject while exchanging your ideas with the rest of the world.

Forums also have it's own set of stigma, as well. It's not perceived by companies as a reliable place to get information. The only time that a company uses a forum is when they want to hear customers and consumers in what they thought about a product.

For example, in the gaming world, the only place to get reliable information is from market leaders in writing: www.gamespot.com or www.ign.com

Those two examples aren't blogs, they're professional platforms. Blogs aren't respected by companies as much as those types of sites. Forums is worse in this aspect.

 

Can I choose both? Some popular blogs also have its own forums where the followers mingle with the blog owner and other people. Its a great idea because you get the best of both worlds. After you post, your forum members are already there to look at it and maybe advertise it on their own. While you are still having writer's block, then maybe you can get some ideas for your new article from your forum. You also have an audience that can provide you with new content for you up-and-coming articles.

 

I hate this question. Really, I do. They're two completely different things, in my opinion, so it frustrates me when I see people compare/contrast them as though you need to choose one or the other. Yes, there's a choice sometimes when you're trying to decide what kind of site you want to create, but the purposes and audiences are completely different setups in my view.