Comments on: Forget Facebook! 5 Reasons Why Bloggers Need A Forum Or Social Network

By: Quinclyn Birris

Quinclyn Birris — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:55:51 +0000

I think with social networking it’s a home where you can meet new people and become friends. As where with blogging it’s always personal whether its about you or someone else. I personally like blogging even though I have my own social community. And I love when all my members create there own content.

By: www.hookus.com

www.hookus.com — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:41:47 +0000

this is a great one i must say this is a good one

By: Jamie Northrup

Jamie Northrup — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:27:28 +0000

Great post Darnell, I featured it in thhis week’s Deuce Group Weekly Ten Important Posts.

I definitely agree that it’s better to have your visitors stay on your site and get more ad and page views, then give them to Facebook, but like others have mentioned, a lot of people don’t want an extra place to check or login, I think what’s important is not give your best content away on FB and whenever possible when chatting or answering questions on your Facebook page, refer them to your website.

That being said there are quite a few cases where starting your own social network or forum can be preferable, specially for niche websites.

Anyways again great article!!

Jamie

By: Darnell Clayton

Darnell Clayton — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:45:44 +0000

Maybe. He said he found another solution so I’m not exactly sure.

By: Cyndi L

Cyndi L — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:20:57 +0000

I totally understand your point and theoretically I agree with you! But as a full-time artist who tries to keep techno stuff as simple as possible, I’m always looking for the work around I’m not a techno-phobe, but I do know my limitations!

By: Darnell Clayton

Darnell Clayton — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:11:42 +0000

That is a great find Cyndi L! While I prefer to own my data, the example you linked to is an excellent work around for those who don’t want to muck with the MySQL servers.

By: Cyndi L

Cyndi L — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:50:51 +0000

Busy replying to myself today…LOL! Here’s what I found for blogger:
http://bloggerstop.net/2010/02/add-forum-to-your-bloggerblogspot-blog.html

By: Cyndi L

Cyndi L — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:44:45 +0000

phpBB is looking fairly promising! open source…gotta love that

By: Cyndi L

Cyndi L — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:40:52 +0000

I’m wondering what you might suggest for those who use BlogSpot as a platform. Please don’t just suggest that we move to WP I’ve used both and am comfortable with both, but Blogger just suits me better, most of the time. Do you know if bbPress and the rest work with platforms other than WP? Thanks!

By: Darnell Clayton

Darnell Clayton — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:36:45 +0000

It might depend on the type of forum I guess.

One if my friends (who has a small trafficked gaming blog) is starting a forum out of the demands of his readers.

Despite using WordPress bbPress wasn’t “up to par” so he is going with another option instead.

By: Franky Branckaute

Franky Branckaute — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 06:34:04 +0000

Forums are lots of work though and you already need a solid readerbase before even considering launching a forum. Look at our forum we used to run on ForeverGeek, after trying two months (even with having some personal friends who contributed to) we had a whopping 8 new members and 2 who contributed.

By: Darice de Cuba

Darice de Cuba — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:44:17 +0000

You are right on that. Look at mommy blogger Dooce, she started her own community and until now it is a success. The login system they have also keeps trolls away from the entry comments on the weblog.

I suppose if you have a huge following creating your own community is much more profitable then using Facebook. It all depends on how much you want to invest in it.

By: Darnell Clayton

Darnell Clayton — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:04:17 +0000

I’m in the same boat my friend!

Introducing my non-geek friends is something that I semi-regret (semi because MySpace was the alternative).

That said, I think building your own social network might work depending upon your type of blog (like gamers, tech, mommy blogs, etc.).

By: Darice de Cuba

Darice de Cuba — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:24:25 +0000

I agree that trusting Facebook with your weblog page is a risky business and off course bringing them money instead of your own. But the pro of a social network like Facebook is that you have it all in one place. I doubt users would like one more website/social network to visit.

While login is now easier with api’s like OAuth, I for one cannot keep up anymore with sites I frequent daily. So I think a lot of weblog visitors won’t feel inclined to join yet another community, especially if all weblogger decide to start their own.

A good solution would be a less “evil” social network then Facebook that allows you to design your own page. But again I would be the first to leave Facebook if it wasn’t that all my friends and family are on it.