Why a community?

Starting a forum is no easy task; it requires a great deal of effort and time, and is nothing like setting up and forgetting a small website.

So what is your motivation? Why do you strive to build, create and maintain such a great community?

 

The real question is this: why not?

I can firmly say that building and managing online discussion communities is an absolute joy. Sure - there are always those scenarios (i.e. problem members, horrible staff members, customization issues), but all of these are part of the job, so to speak. Experiencing all of these small quirks and then stressing over them is perfectly natural (and expected). There is no such thing as the "perfect forum" and, because of this, the chance of running into even the smallest of problems is quite likely. As an administrator, dealing with them is something that's expected - not necessarily required. However... ignoring these problems will, in turn, cause even more problems (tongue-twister).

When it comes to motivation, I'd say that the following factors (for me) come to mind:

• A friendly memberbase
• Active participation/discussion
• An outstanding staff team to work with
• The "fun" factor

Without these, my motivation levels would be low. However, motivation is not the only "characteristic" needed to successfully manage a forum - dedication and passion are both crucial, and they play a major role in the development of a discussion community. If your goal is to build a community and assist it in becoming something large and monstrous in the future, you need to have the drive to do so - or, in other words, the will to do it. If you randomly decide to create a forum just for the hell of it, chances of success are slim - success cannot be achieved on a whim (well, not always... it's possible). Providing your "living community" (meaning the members) with what they need/want is something that will benefit the forum in the long (and short) run.

At the end of the day, one of the only things that matters to me is the sole feeling of knowing that my members are thrilled with the community in which they participate in. It's a truly rewarding feeling.

 

I just sort of fell into the first one. Originally I was planning to just be the power behind the scenes and just let the mods handle the members, but I quickly learned that wouldn't work. It ended up being so much fun (despite the hassle) that I started seeing other opportunities.