Do You Believe a New Forum Software Will Attract More Users to Bitcointalk?

[Pmalek]

Online forums aren’t as popular today as they were 10 or 20 years ago. Social networks are now leading the race when it comes to online discussions.

Bitcointalk is just one community that has fewer users and less activity than it had in the past. It’s a pity because this forum offers something better and something that social media can’t. It’s a place where all the legendary bitcoiners, from Hal to Satoshi, used to write. Those threads are still here. They can easily be found and hold historical importance.

On social media, discussions are forgotten rather quickly. It’s sporadic that a topic stays active and trends for more than a few days. The quality of conversations is not comparable because little effort is put in due to the speed at which they are being held. On Bitointalk, some topics have been maintained and are active even after several years of being created.

One thing that isn’t discussed that often are ad blockers. Bitcointalk generates profit from the ad spaces it sells. But because of the greater use of ad blockers among the userbase, the brands are no longer getting the exposure they had in the past. As a result, the cost of advertising drops, as does the forum profits.


The new forum software has been in development for years. Considering the current trend of online forums losing ground to social media, there might be less incentive to hurry up and release it. The development is costly, time-consuming, but will it be worth it, and how big will the community be that uses it?

If the new forum is mobile-friendly, I think that will be the most significant feature to give it a slight push.

With all this in mind, do you believe that once the new forum is released, Bitcointalk will increase its userbase?
Do you think that in 5 or 10 years, the new generations will appreciate the significance of Bitcointalk and be happy to be part of it?
Or are we a dying breed of forum users taking their last breaths. At the same time, bigger (but not necessarily better) communities are being established elsewhere?     

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[BlackHatCoiner]

Do you think that in 5 or 10 years, the new generations will appreciate the significance of Bitcointalk and be happy to be part of it?
Or are we a dying breed of forum users taking their last breaths.  

People will use forums only when they understand their importance. As you said, the quality of a forum can't even be compared with social media's. There are other rules you have to follow which aren't bringing quality. Tons of posts getting lost; part of the social media's deep hole.

I don't believe that we should upgrade to a new forum software, this one satisfies me enough, but even if we will, I'm certain that we won't attract young users, if that's your point. Whether we use a 2006 SMF script or an upgraded forum version with Epochtalk, the rules will remain the same and websites such as Twitter with fancy colors and like buttons will always be more preferable by the youth. The exceptions won't examine the forum version, they'll just be here to discuss.

[Charles-Tim]

To perfectly comment about this issue, the evil fee paid should be the first line of discussion. I am not sure this forum is not growing bigger, but it is not grow as much as it should, simply because of the evil fee. The stale members that want to open another account knows how to bypass the evil fee, but the new members that just want to register do not know how to bypass the evil fee. Many people do not make use of this forum just because ransom is demanded for to pay evil fee. About this community growing, I do it not think it has anything to do with forum software if evil fee is still being paid.

With all this in mind, do you believe that once the new forum is released, Bitcointalk will increase its userbase?

I do not think so.

Do you think that in 5 or 10 years, the new generations will appreciate the significance of Bitcointalk and be happy to be part of it?

I believe the admin will try their best to keep this forum going. I also noticed that their is increase in the number of people that registered and also that visit this forum during the previous bull run. So, if Bitcoin keeps growing, this forum should also still continue growing.

Or are we a dying breed of forum users taking their last breaths. At the same time, bigger (but not necessarily better) communities are being established elsewhere?

People like to follow recent trends not quality, they will like to follow sites with shit posts like Trustwallet is a very good wallet because I have been using it for a long time and I face no problem.
I too will like the new forum software, especially if we have apps and mobile site, but that should not mean we shouldn't able again to access this beautiful one we are using now.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

It’s not just the software that matters, but the strategy behind. A brand new forum software is not likely to be a honeypot for new users per se, but rather more how the site is positioned on the search engines (quite difficult to encounter in Spanish searches for example), what retention strategy it follows, and how new tendencies and channels are integrated as features. It could simply be viewed as a forum with a nicer interface, or it could be seen as a brand and product, with all that it entails in order to monitor and nourish them.

Edit:

<…> But I also tried with a free account at sitechecker.pro and here is the result:
https://sitechecker.pro/app/main/project/2142795/audit/summary

Bear in mind that the audit you’ve linked is the free version, and has apparently only crawled 116 pages. Regardless of the content of the report, you can’t extrapolate from it.

[Pmalek]

@Charles-Tim
You are right about the evil-fee system. I didn't think too much about it when I was writing this topic, but it certainly is a big slap in the face for new users. Imagine hearing about a great bitcoin community. You get excited, you sign up, only to see a notification telling you to pay a penalty fee because of the actions some other users close to you did in the past. Instant turn off. As you rightly pointed out, we see members getting banned for various rule infringements in the marketplace sub, for example, and they keep coming back with new accounts posting the same threads. It shows that the evil-fee system isn't keeping the bad guys away from Bitcointalk, but it hinders some newbies from maybe becoming useful members. 

[ImThour]

I mean, this forum has played a part in maintaining the legacy of Satoshi and Bitcoin.
I would never visit any other forum except BitcoinTalk.

And No, I don't think a new forum software will attract more users to this community.
We are doing good with almost 700+ Users registering everyday.

[kxwhalexk]

It’s a place where all the legendary bitcoiners, from Hal to Satoshi, used to write. Those threads are still here. They can easily be found and hold historical importance.

For a novice like me, what attracts me most about bitcointalk is the knowledge in the forum and a group of friendly and smart people.

I admit that I didn’t even understand how to set various fonts when I posted on the forum the previous few times, but as the number of replies increased, I mastered these rules.

In the first few days I was obsessed with reading old posts in the forum, including Satoshi, Gavin Andresen, and Hal (Hal is the predecessor that shocked and respected me the most)etc.

If the new forum is mobile-friendly, I think that will be the most significant feature to give it a slight push.

I have tried to reply and view posts on my mobile phone. That’s really a torture, but I have to say that watching the posts on a computer makes me more focused.

[Upgrade00]

The new forum software has been in development for years. Considering the current trend of online forums losing ground to social media, there might be less incentive to hurry up and release it. The development is costly, time-consuming, but will it be worth it, and how big will the community be that uses it?

CMIIW, but majority of the development for the new forum software has already been done and the cost has already been invested in, at this point it's just a case of when does it officially get released, not a question of whether or not to release it, as the forum (admins and the community) have already invested a lot into it.

Also, the forum isn't particularly profit-based and the primary purpose of the new software is not to attract more users; That's the job of the Bitcoin network which will attract individuals to itself and by extension this forum, the new software is meant to address some of the issues users have discussed over for years such a 2FA, a mobile friendly website etc. I have no issue with the way the forum is, but some others want those features and it should be available to them and I can choose not to use them.

<snip>

You make an important point about the evil fee, it's a system that does not work adequately and should be reviewed. I've once been on a forum where users from a whole country were tagged to a single or very close IPs and registration was made difficult for everyone, it created a bad situation, discouraging many from joining.

[SFR10]

If the new forum is mobile-friendly, I think that will be the most significant feature to give it a slight push.

This... I literally had to buy a laptop ^{[I always preferred desktops more]} last week due to experiencing multiple power outages on a daily basis ^{[although there are a few workarounds while using mobile devices, it's still a big mess (even for just reading stuff)]}.

With all this in mind, do you believe that once the new forum is released, Bitcointalk will increase its userbase?

Yes, but I'm "only" referring to retaining most of its current users ^{[better retention rate]}, as opposed to attracting "more" new users.

[Rikafip]

But IMO bitcointalk have more rules (compared with other forum) with more strict moderation, which is turn off for users who want to have casual discussion/question.

Dunno, my experience so far across dozens of forums in the last ~20 years has been pretty much opposite, with bitcointalk being far less strict than any other forum I ever visited.

The only thing that maybe gives impression of bitcointalk being strict is plagiarism rule, but even with that you are far less likely to get banned here than anywhere else.


To answer OP, I do think that new forum software might attract more users (or at least keep then longer), but numbers won't be significantly higher no matter what you implement.

[NeuroticFish]

With all this in mind, do you believe that once the new forum is released, Bitcointalk will increase its userbase?

I think that the best part will be, as DdmrDdmr also pointed out, that major search engines should not punish bitcointalk any longer. This will bring (hopefully a constant flux of) new users with genuine interest in crypto.
The mobile-friendly part will be... a bonus  

All in all, yes, I do believe that new forum software will help increase the user base.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

There are still a lot of discussion boards as far as I can see, but I think they're much less popular (and active) than they used to be.  That's unfortunate, because I think a lot of social media sites are just straight-up toxic to mental health--especially in young folks.  And one of the reasons that bitcointalk is as active as it is is because of bounties and signature campaigns, with the other main reason being the popularity of bitcoin.

I don't think an upgraded forum would change any of that.  I've heard a lot of comments as to how outdated the bitcointalk website is, but I'm just not sure how much aesthetics has to do with its appeal.  If that were the case, you'd think we'd see a huge number of members leaving the forum, but that isn't the case as far as I can see.  There are thousands of new members joining every year, and while some of them could be bots and/or alt accounts, that's still a lot of new people coming in.  So I don't think it's the forum's look that draws them in, and I don't think an upgrade would increase the number of new members (though I could be way off base).

[Lafu]

In my opinion i guess that the release of the new forum software and page will be not attract much new Users.
For sure maybe a few but mostly i guess the Users will be coming if they searching for something about Crypto related or if they have problems.
We have seen that in the last few month in the german board , new Users coming and asking about a problem and if that is solved you hear nothing
or much more from them , sometimes they just open a Thread and dont write anything more again.
Most new Users are joining the Forum when the Bitcoin price is growing up and gets higher , we have seen that in the last years .

[dkbit98]

Simple redesign won't bring much change or new quality members and we talked about this subject so many times that it sounds a bit like broken record repeating.
 

[michellee]

The forum or website will depend on the keyword so that can compete with the other site. No matter what the engine software used, if the site does not have a specific keyword that have the most search in the search engine, it will not appear in the number one of the search engine page.

I am not sure if by using a new forum software will attract more users to bitcointalk because I think many people come to here because of the keyword that they search with Google, Yahoo, Bing. But some of them come here because invitations that they see on the other website.

If the forum wants to attract more users, maybe using more keyword or fixing a problem on the title or other thing can give a good result for bitcointalk.org in the search engine and can increase the rank for some keyword.

This page https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4948780.0 explain something to us but that is quite old and maybe is not up to date. In that thread, we can see what it need to fix or add something.

But I also tried with a free account at sitechecker.pro and here is the result:

https://sitechecker.pro/app/main/project/2142795/audit/summary

[RainbowKun]

I don't think a new forum software can bring more users to bitcointalk.

Online forums aren’t as popular today as they were 10 or 20 years ago. Social networks are now leading the race when it comes to online discussions.

Although social networks are in a leading position in certain respects, online forums still have their unique value. Online forums can accumulate more knowledge and content, while the information is less fragmented. At the same time, online forums can discuss various questions and collisions in the form of questions and answers, and can conduct in-depth communication on related issues. Social media cannot achieve this, and the information on social media cannot be deposited as knowledge.

Bitcointalk is just one community that has fewer users and less activity than it had in the past. It’s a pity because this forum offers something better and something that social media can’t.

Although Bitcointalk has fewer users than before, I believe that the users who have remained on this forum so far are the most loyal users. This is also the greatest wealth of the entire Bitcoin community. Users are always the biggest asset of the community.

It’s a place where all the legendary bitcoiners, from Hal to Satoshi, used to write. Those threads are still here. They can easily be found and hold historical importance.

This is also the reason why I value bitcointalk the most. It has great historical significance. First of all, it was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, where the Bitcoin community was born. Secondly, many outstanding projects and legends have emerged from here. They spread the encrypted world step by step throughout the world. This is why I am writing here recently. I am now going to devote two months to write down all my in-depth thoughts on Bitcoin over the past four years and stay here. Let these words also become part of the history of Bitcoin development. After a while, I will start my new business, and I won’t have the time and energy to invest in this area. Therefore, I am now racing against time to write and summarize. In my opinion, bitcointalk belongs to the museum of bitcoin. Every article and every ID in it has the function of cultural relics and has traces of history. If you change to a brand-new website, it may look good in style, but it loses its historical heritage, instead it loses the soul of Bitcoin.

On social media, discussions are forgotten rather quickly. It’s sporadic that a topic stays active and trends for more than a few days. The quality of conversations is not comparable because little effort is put in due to the speed at which they are being held. On Bitointalk, some topics have been maintained and are active even after several years of being created.

Yes, this is the role of online forums, which can really precipitate good content. Even after five or ten years, it can still be helpful to people in the future. This is far from being done by social media.

The new forum software has been in development for years. Considering the current trend of online forums losing ground to social media, there might be less incentive to hurry up and release it. The development is costly, time-consuming, but will it be worth it, and how big will the community be that uses it?

Yes, the new software has been developed for many years and has paid a huge cost for it. Is it necessary for us to replace the current forum for these already paid costs? I don't think it is necessary at all. Because we change the forum for the costs we have already paid, we may pay a higher price. In economics, there is a term called "sunk cost". "Sunk costs" refer to costs that have occurred but cannot be recovered, such as time, money, energy, etc., which can all be called "sunk costs". We have already paid a lot of time, money and energy for the development of new forum software. These are the costs we have already invested. But when we make a decision, we must consider not only the cost principle, but also the benefit maximization principle. It is a pity that these costs have already occurred, but we cannot make wrong decisions because of the pity of these costs and pay a higher price. The forum retains the status quo and can continue to accumulate history. But if the new version is updated and the expected effect is not obtained, then this forum may go to extinction.

With all this in mind, do you believe that once the new forum is released, Bitcointalk will increase its userbase?

I think it will definitely not increase, but it will decrease. Why do many old users continue to stay on bitcointalk? I believe that many people are used to it. Everyone is used to coming here every day to read posts, answer questions, and witness the growth of the Bitcoin community bit by bit. Here are the historical traces of Bitcoin's 12-year development. If it changes completely, it may break the original habit. The old users have no sense of familiarity with the new forum, and the new users have no feelings for the forum, the result can be imagined.

Do you think that in 5 or 10 years, the new generations will appreciate the significance of Bitcointalk and be happy to be part of it?

I believe that in 5 or 10 years, there will still be generations of Bitcoin believers coming here to look for the traces of Bitcoin. Just like me today. It wasn't until this July that I officially started posting in this forum. Because I also want to leave some traces of my own in the history of Bitcoin. Maybe 10 years later, there will be my own fans who come here to find my legend.

[suzanne5223]

Do I Believe new forum software will bring more users to Bitcointalk? No, we need to ask ourselves, how many people around the world now use Bitcoin or support it.
How many people are into making research about things going on within the system and not just into profit making. Mind you, this forum was created for the discussion of bitcoin, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency 
 I dont think good to compare crypto forum with social media network here alot of people can diverse of things.
 

[mersal]

I love the forum design a lot because I don't see any kind of irritative ads on the sides of my screen, no pop-up, easy to read and discuss anything that we wanted. At first, it may look like an old design but once we are familiar with these things then no one is going to say that it is boring. Less traffic is actually due to the merit and ranking system since everyone wants to make money even though they don't have any knowledge related to it.

I don't know how the new forum is going to be but I guess there won't be huge increase in the userbase like social media where people actually register for nothing and wasting their valuable time such kind of members never going to realize the importance of bitcointalk.

[Pmalek]

...and the primary purpose of the new software is not to attract more users;

The main purpose might not be to attract a wider userbase, but I think a bunch of the issues that plagued forum users throughout the years need to be fixed if Bitcointalk is to keep the ones they already have. Releasing a new forum that turns out to be inadequate (feature-wise) could have worse consequences than not creating a new one at all. It might become the reason why some users bid farewell to the community if they realize they waited all this time for something better, but it never arrived.

[aysg76]

We are still good and day by day the forum is already growing with new users registering daily and with growing awareness we will automatically see the stats rising.We are community who prefer to have discussions to crypto related on the dedicated forum developed by Satoshi and all the boards are separated with each distinctive topic and moderators doing their job and managing the forum in prefect manner.We all need is members who want to share their knowledge and learn from others on this forum so why we need any changes when everything is going perfectly in my opinion and this old classic version is better than any modern upgradation.