[Replicant]

Forums aren't what they used to be. I have met a lot of people who wonder why nobody is signing up for their forums. I think most forums are enjoying a lack of new members. It's not so much the software as it is content. Less active members=less content. You said you did a massive campaign on social media. I did too. Here's what happened to me. I had a flood of guest users that came and checked out the site. Zero registrations despite having the one click Facebook register setup.

I've lost several members to Facebook and Pintrest, here's why:
1)Most people on social media sites have no desire to be in a conversation, they want to click a box type a sentence, maybe throw up a pic and hit send.
2)They have no interest in becoming part of a community.
3)They have really nothing to contribute, they just want to look and go on to the next trending story.
4)They just want to look at pictures.
5)There is so much info available on the internet now that asking a question is pretty much obsolete. Thanks Google for knowing everything.

My son uses forums all the time to solve issues with his cars, trucks, and audio problems. He is the member of exactly one forum. Mine. He posted once to introduce himself to the guys. They responded and welcomed him aboard. To this day, he still don't know that because he never logged in again to check the board. This is the age of millennials.

My opinion is, if a forum isn't highly specialized in one area and on a niche subject, it will eventually go stale and either fail or just be a source of reading for the guy who happen to get a hit on google.

Sorry for the rant.