Thanks for this link! I made one as soon as I saw it. http://apps.facebook.com/facebook_forums/the8thlegion/

I see that when I search facebook for '8th legion', a 8th legion app turns up in the results. From there if I click on 'Go to app', I am sent to your website. How did you do that?

Hmm that's pretty odd. I created an 8th Legion app when I thought I had to create one to get vbulletin's Facebook Connect to work. I'm such a noob. I even asked how to deactivate it https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=251789 I guess during the time I tried to get Facebook Connect to work I created an app. I'm not sure what to do with that app.

I think it will be easier to recruit for a facebook forums then get them over to the main site. So forum owners should consider making a Facebook forum.

Yes it is. But people need to realize the advantages that forums provide. They are much more entertaining because of anonymity. People on Facebook try so hard not to offend people and tend to value their self image too much. So what you end up with is Happy Birthday posts, posts about kids, and posts about how much it is to fix their car.

The only thing good about Facebook is finding old friends, and looking at/posting pictures to show family.

You might have discovered something there.

I'm thorn on the subject. Having a forum on facebook will give facebookforums control over it. If facebookforums decides that promotion of other forums is not allowed, then that brings us further from home.

Facebook forums was not created by Facebook. It's an outside developer. After you create an account, to get your banner up you have to pay them JUST to put up your own forum banner or advertisement. The prices are kind of ridiculous. I tried inserting my forum's link in my signature and it won't let me. Not as bbcode and not as html code. On top of that, the developer puts his own advertisements on your forum in your threads and posts. Kind of messed up. Today I invited a 1000 people, only 45 signed up so far, no posts. The developer joined my forum. I'm wondering if he's adding the people I invited to his own facebook forum. That would be a pretty slick move. Whoever he is, he's pretty smart. I will buy banner space later but only for a limited time. I made the facebook forum to build back links since Facebook is a PR1 site.

Facebook is trying to be the all in one solution to your life's problems. I would not be surprised if they come up with their own search engine or even their own one stop shop, though i am being sarcastic with the latter. They are giving everyone a run for their money. What started as a way to keep records of your friends is slowly getting to being an online marketplace and as we are talking about, forums.

There was a day when people thought AOL "was" the Internet... then the Internet grew bigger than any one service... but we are coming full circle again where 1 company is very much becoming the whole Internet.

I wouldn't say facebook is killing forums, It could make it harder and push you to bring more of a diversity instead of the simple "Forum". Facebook has major issues when it comes to spamming etc etc and turning away a lot of people...

If you can't get rid of the competition, join it...;) and you will have to go back to the drawing board.

Twitter is another one. Twitter and Facebook but I haven't lost that many users just that they do not remain on the forum as long.

I think forums needs to be a bit more light weight and twitter showed me that no matter how many features you add, people are still looking for the quick and faster issue.

Well considering the fact that you can never find the mods you need, nor any assistance with banners, icons, etc ala IPBFREE...Facebook will probably kill forums eventually. VB is a pain in the ass to be honest. If Facebook ever came up with a forum engine with all of the niks and naks vb has, except better user assistance and help...I'd bolt in a heartbeat.

I don't really have a problem with spamming on Facebook. But I don't think Facebook is killing forums or is in any way similar to forums. I treat Facebook as a way to keep up with friends and family. I don't 'friend' strangers and only 'like' a small number of businesses. I can see how the businesses can spam your feed but if they do that, I just unlike them. Twitter is different. I follow lots of businesses and strangers and people I admire in business or entertainment. It can get really spammy fast but it's somewhat easy to just stop following those people. I like blogs that have to do with my hobbies and stuff I'm interested in like internet marketing blogs. I usually read them for the reviews, how-tos and news. My favorites are forums and I have always loved forums. Forums are great for asking questions, offering advice, talking about gear and products, and meeting others who are interested in what you are interested in. There are some forums I join and interact with and others I read without joining.

That's a good point, and they also expected them to address any rumors and such there cutting the little man, us. However some of us are lazy there for, not completely killing forums

If you don't find them, you either learn to make them yourself, or you ask nicely someone who has more experience. Regarding the graphics, no one will do graphics for free - at least not real graphic designer, but you can always get help from those who are still learning.

You can't just expect full assistance regarding everything, you need to do some work yourself.

I remember thinking this same thing about a year or two ago.

I had noticed that the forum I was a member of was losing a lot of discussion and traffic, and I also had added the majority of the members of the forum as my facebook friends.

It proved my speculation; they all used Facebook more and used the discussion board less. I guess Facebook makes people feel more special, who knows. I never really cared for Facebook.

Me? Thus far my image gallery brings in the most traffic, I have a particular image that shows up on the first page of google when the keyword is typed in. Also, I try to write about things that larger websites aren't covering, so my site has a chance of being on the first page for something.

Thanks for compliment. :)

I disabled the facebook connection since it nothing to bring in members. You can have all that junk. I'll stick to my forum and continue to play around modding it and making themes.

i think facebook is a kill of time, not kill to forums

have not really seen niche topic info on fb ever, fb cant do wat forums can.

i seem to be losing mods to facebook. running a teen forum seems to be maybe the hardest? i see mods log in to the forum for like 2 minutes, check it and go, then you see them commenting on facebook for the next hour. most teens have limited time on their computer, so im guessing they are choosing facebook over the forum. teens also add every tom d ick and harry to make conversions. then they can make their own group and have a small discussion forum with in that group. haha and its all FREE!
altho you can really get teen help on facebook hmmm.

Our forums has had quite steady growth for last year and the year before, but i guess you could class us as a niche forums.

I Don't see facebook as a 'competitor' though, We use facebook, we have our own facebook page which we use to link to important new topics and news and run competitions through and we have seen growth on both sides, using vB4's integration tools our users are 'liking' forum posts and attracting more visitors back to us.

Facebook isnt an enemy of forums, its a important ally. But you need to know how to use it.

The social forum can lose users but the technicals forums no.

I have run a non-profit parenting forum for 5+ years now, and I can definitely confirm that Facebook has been responsible for the quiet state it is suffering from today.

This time 2 years ago we had 50+ members logging in on a daily basis, around 400-500 posts being made per day... today, we are lucky to have 20 members log in, and see up to 50 posts a day :( I've witnessed forum members posting up a storm on Facebook whilst not bothering to visit our forum anymore, or barely participate on it. They are well and truly addicted to this social networking site. I've also had moderators do the same, and admit to me that they just find Facebook to be easier and more convenient... some have even stepped down because they don't participate enough anymore.

I've tried competing with the Facebook monster but unfortunately I just can't compete with their billion dollar budget and high tech features, especially considering I don't make anything from our forum in the first place. There's little I can offer users that Facebook isn't already providing them, it even now has a new influx of parents groups on it - one time, one of our users even tried starting her own on there and inviting all of our forum members to it, much to my dismay!

Recently I have actually closed down my Facebook account and I'll tell you what, it has led to me posting on our forum a lot more again. Its a shame we can't get other members to do the same, it would definitely help our forum recover!

I think the other cause of forums becoming quiet nowadays is because of mobile phones. People are increasingly using their phones to access forums instead of their computers and laptops, and because it takes so long to type out proper responses on their phone, they just tend to peruse instead.

Technology in general is killing off discussion forums, in my opinion.... and its a real shame.

I am only still running our forum because I did a group vote and nobody wanted me to close it. Plus its something I have worked so hard on for many years, so I admit I'm attached to it. But I do admit that the thought still crosses my mind sometimes as to why I am still bothering, it just doesn't seem worth the effort anymore at times, especially when you deal with the frustration of seeing your members posting away on FB to each other, whilst the forum sits through another dead day of activity....

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Oh, and I forgot to add, it doesn't seem to be just our forum suffering. I've seen other rival and similar forums to ours struggling lately, including ones which are a lot more established than ours. Today they are seeing about the same results (daily posts made, visits etc) on their forum as we are on ours, even though they have more members than we do. A couple of them have even threw in the towel altogether and closed down completely over the past couple of years.

Its a major slump throughout most of online parenting forum land, with Facebook being the main culprit...

cant agree more!

Hi everybody! I believe that this topic is more than actual...! Is Facebook killing forums? (or is it killing the internet as we actually know it?)



Here you have it:
Facebook Radically Revamps Its Search Engine

Facebook has had a big impact on my forum. I've noticed hardly anyone comes on anymore but I see them on FB all the time. They post so much on FB and nothing on the forum.
I sometimes feel like giving up and closing the forum but some people want it open and I started it in 2006 and I don't really want to say goodbye. At one stage it was a very busy forum and hard to keep up but now it's so quiet.

It depends. General chit chat forums will suffer. Forums that cover a certain niche won't probably notice much difference. I also am pretty sure that facebook has reached it's peak. There's growing awareness and scepticism about company policy.

I agree with cellarius...
you need a niche - FB is mostly chit chat stuff.

Niche sites should...
continue focusing on their niche AND grow a Facebook following. (Not your personal page but a site page.)

Think of Facebook as a "daily newsletter" - you update it to alert your readers about something (article, news, etc) on the site.

Posting on your site FB page doesn't mean that you add threads from your site on a daily basis. This will only lead to a decrease in participation on your site. Keep your FB following entertained with images, polls, and links. The more interesting something is the more people will share (and Follow).

Keep in mind that only a small percentage of traffic will come from these updates - something along 1-14% (avg). So, the higher the number of followers you have the better off you will be.

In short...
Don't use FB strictly for traffic ... use it to promote your brand.

I dont think so , but the fact is that , people now getting bored from facebook, but the forums are evergreen.

No , facebook isn't killing forums…it's just that it’s different now..people have different activities they want ot be a part of…australian online casino

i for one have run a forums for the past 5 years, my current forum has grown in the past month, partly down to facebook and partly to new game releases, i thought i was slowly dying but all of a sudden i have picked up, nothing has changed on the site other than a few themes

.....

social forums got killed by facebook. tech forums, not affected.

imho Facebook is actually cannibalizing forum communities

Hello webmasters, i have a different opinion, i open a twitter account about 3 months ago and send a massive email to my users to follow the forums twitter account. Daily i post on twitter links to my forum where they can see videos or intresting pictures, i have found that every time i post i get over 200 new visits to the thread, and many people that where not aware of my forum are now because they follow the twitter account because someone did a retwitt or mark a post as a favorite.

My forums twitter account is @mexicoarmado its in spanish but you can have a good idea of what im talking about

^^Most likely a heap of Bots Visiting your site. Maybe a few real people from twitter.

twitter bots

yeah right

I would say Reddit has moreover killed forums... even more so than Facebook has.