How to survive the hype train? 🔥🚂

[Gummibeer]

Something I've recognized over the years is that it's easy to start but nearly the hardest task to build a community that survives the hype phase.

I don't have a solution right now. But possibly does someone else have an idea?

I don't want that @Adam has done this only to waste it. Because I think that it can get something good!

 

[Gummibeer]

One idea I have is to switch away from the typical forum design. It's so old-school and feels wrong for a modern user group.
The idea would be to move a bit more to Twitter.

I mean to allow sub discussions, like person#1 opens a topic, person#2 answers, person#3 answers and now person#4 wants to answer person#2. With the quotes it's always complicated. With a simple answer it's easier.

I also think that the design shouldn't focus on categories but on the topics. It's definitely handy to have categories, but I would prefer tags. Sometimes a post/topic relates to multiple categories.

But I've no idea if this is possible with the current forum engine? 🤔

 

[Adam]

Hi Tom, I agree that the forum structure needs a bit of work. There is tagging functionality we can make use of. I was planning on seeing what people use most and look at discussions that don't quite fit and rearrange forums accordingly.

I've posted some thoughts on surviving the hype train and the benefits of this format here: Why Webwide? 💬✨

 

[sfcgeorge]

It's a valid concern and I've certainly seen communities fizzle out (even my own). In a large part it's up to us! Keep posting, keep replying. If you post something elsewhere, maybe remember to copy it here too.

Perhaps Webwide could have an API / webhook / easy programatic way of cross-posting to assist with that.

@Adam has mentioned moderators, if himself and mods take on a bit of a community lead roll that'll go a long way. A good example already is the community challenge that's running.

He'll also likely have to keep promoting Webwide on other channels like Twitter (which is already happening).

You could add some scripts down the line to automate some social posts, aka when a thread gets over say 20 posts automatically Tweet it, etc.

RE not being a forum. I don't know. Other communities like StackOverflow, Dribbble and Twitter already exist, so copying them would be fruitless. Forums have gone out of popularity but perhaps that leaves a bit of a hole in the market for a new, modern forum. There are certainly people who miss the community feeling and hijinks of forums. Adam has chosen a modern forum engine and gone some way to customising it, I'm sure there's more that can be done.

I saw someone ask why not Discourse, I haven't really used a Discourse board but they seem better suited for product help and support than a community. I guess it feels more utilitarian, though that's not to say it couldn't be customised also.

For now I guess, keep hyping! 🎉

 

[Michael]