What makes you return to forums?

This is a bit of a continuation of my last thread ("What makes a site worth checking out"). After you've checked out a forum, registered, and perhaps created an introduction thread, what determines whether you'll be sticking around and coming back often?

For me, I'd say two things that I look for in an enjoyable community are light moderation (no excessive closing, deleting, censoring of posts/topics) and openness (no cliques or unwelcoming senior members).
Another key factor is the type of responses I get to my introduction thread. Regardless of the impression I make, the perfect community will welcome me with open arms and make me feel like I just made 1000 new friends. If I get some automated and robot-like reply, it's a huge turn off.

 

Over moderation is an important factor. Just as you said - too many closed threads, too many infractions for no real reason, editing post if things get a little heated,,,,,,,, those things will stop me from going back.

 

I'd say quick (or correct) answers to my first post, whether it's an introduction or a question.

 

The things that draw me back to a community are: the fact that the staff aren't jerks who find it enjoyable to abuse their power, a fun and enjoying community, and simply the fact that other members whether senior or new contact me to discuss something with them.

 

First, I have to not hate the visuals. I don't have to love them, but they can't have anything going on that bugs the hell out of me.

After that, it's all about the posts. Are people posting things that I want to reply to? Then I'm in. That element has to be there. And if it is there, not much else matters. My favorite board of all time had no graphics at all, no staff to speak of, and the software was hideous.

 

Good resources and the speed of the site, if it is slow I will leave immediately especially if the resources can be found elsewhere.

 

interesting threads, activity (if theres only one or two posts since your last visit, you wont want to check back as often), friendly members and staff that do their job, without over moderating,

 

Thanks for sharing this everyone. I think it very helpful to get an idea what makes my members come back too.

I have to admit, this forum is the only forum I come back to on a regular basis at the moment. I come back because it's a great way to share my experiences with everyone and also learn from others as well who are also forum admins like myself (I'm a forum admin/owner) so to better improve me and my forums. So thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and ideas!

 

I return to the forum if I am really interested in the discussion.

I don't have much time to waste, so I only take part in the quality discussions where I can learn something or share my experience with others.

 

Content and member interaction.

Quality content based on the forum. I don't want to see a post with 100 replies of 'thank you'. I do want to see post where people are answering or trying to answer or get a resolution. I also don't like seeing forums where a lot of my search results show where people have asked for something I'm looking for and no one has ever bothered to answer, even after a year. To me this shows a lack of respect for members questions and I won't hang around.

As to member interaction if I come across post where active members start in on members about posting in wrong forums or telling them that question has been asked before. I don't stay because it makes me not feel welcome. Most are adults and have searched, they usually just don't use the correct 'context' of keywords.

 

Content and community...pure and simple.
No nonsense forums are the ones that keep me coming back.

 

I love forums that appear warm and friendly, and offer discussions that I can take part in immediately. Content is important to me.
If I see that the staff vs member ratio is high, I feel a bit intimidated. I know of a forum where there are about 10 staff and 5 active members. Total turn off because to me that seems like a power trip.
If the topic of the forum interests me, I will come back.
Navigation is a factor too. Forums that confuse me are a no go. Same as forums that have no organisation is a turn off.
Another is I hate signing up to a forum, and all the posts are personal things, like, I sold my house today, check out the house i'm buying, i'm pregnant. I dont know these people and I dont make a habit of approaching strangers and talking to them about personal topics, why would I do so on a forum. I guess that comes under having topics that I can join in on. I always make sure there are topics my new members can reply to, and I always start new ones for fresh topics too.
Language (censorship) and grammar and spelling also appeal to me. I dont think much of forums that dont censor and the members seem to frequently be swearing and b*tching.

 

A mix of good content & good environment.

I also don't like forums which get too big and I can't keep up with whats going on, I loose interest.

 

Free beer.



ps. Still waiting....

 

This.


Seriously, strictly the people.

 

The activity and people I know there, content.

 

If the discussion fits me, I'll return.

 

Good community 'feeling', good content, constant updates and activity. I'm not active on many forums lately, since I do have to run my own web design business, but can't help myself from posting in some forums that keep on 'dragging' me back to them