Internet forums for non-internet folks.....

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
OK....most people that are on a forum like here at NC4x4 are "internet people" first, offroad (or whatever) people second. IOW, there are lots of good offroaders (for me specifically, I know quite a few offline Jeep collector/rebuilders) that have no interest in the Internet and forums like this, so they never find this place, much less participate. It's just not on their radar. Offroaders that are internet-savy are drawn to sites like this. Offroaders that don't do much internet aren't.

So....I am in a large club with over 1200 members (that is not offroad/jeep/truck related...this is for a totally different money-sucking hobby). We have a forum, that is very underutilized. Most everyone is older (40-50 plus), and not being real internet people, participation in the forum is very low...out of the 1200, we have under 100 active on the forum.

Current forum is running vBull 3.6.x....no tapatalk/forumrunner (which would get me interacting even more). Current forum is broken down into way too many sub-boards for the level of activity...31 of them....most boards have a last post date sometime last year. I have been asked to consider taking over as admin.

So, the question is...can people be "drawn" into participating more? How? What things can be done to encourage participation in a forum (within a closed group)? Especially if their world does not revolve around the Internet??
 
Looking back, I was drawn to this forum only because I actually personally knew a bunch of the users already, in real life. I might not have joined otherwise

Do alot of the members of your group know each other personally?
 
It'd be my theory that the 40 to 50 plus year olds simply don't find the internets or communicating on them all that attractive. Maybe try to simplify the forum by deleting a lot of sub forums...?

I think it'll be a real challenge to ''draw back in'' that demographic, if they have previously shown interest and since,lost interest.

This is probably no help...just my opinion I guess. But Good Luck!
 
It comes back to a fundamental question of how you spend your leisure time. If you pick up the computer to check the news and see what else is going on, then you'll likely spend time checking places that are interesting to you personally. If you never pick up the computer, you'll never visit a website, regardless of how interesting the content might be.
 
To me, this Form, can be overwhelming! I try to scan through it every day, because on average there will be 7 pages. I open about 20%, that seem to be of interest to me. Some of the ones that get into 3+ pages on 1 thread, I either don't bother with, or by then, have lost interest.
 
I'm in the sub-30yo club...and if it weren't for being chained to a desk all day, thusly surfing these forums when I get bored...I wouldn't really be an internet person either. I rarely ever check any of the forums after 5pm...and there isn't really a whole lot of content that would draw me in. Honestly, I'd rather be out wrenching, spending time with the family or a million other things, than sitting in front of the computer, waiting for the next new post/thread. Typically, if I have a tech question or want to bs with a buddy, I'll either text them or go over to their shop.


Edit...that said, I have kinda compiled a who's who list of the Ford truck forums of guys around the country...and that is how I've made up my call list.

Second Edit...I was/am the NC chapter leader for a Ford truck site back in college...I had some stickers cut for the members, that seemed to increase interest. I also spammed with fliers. But if you have a closed group, I'm guessing you're selective in who you want to add. Best way to add activity was increasing the volume of members from what I found.
 
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Do the majority of these folks have Facebook? Facebook has become simplified enough to draw in a good bit of the older generation. They love the fact they can connect with people they haven't seen in 30 years.

If the answer is yes, I would say you might be better of starting a Facebook group/page for this club and inviting them to join and start to interact. They can see each member that way, put a face with a name, and interact much simpler that way. If that goes well, start trying to migrate them over to the forum as well.

If most do not have Facebook, well you can just hang it up and maybe start doing pin pals and chain letters lol.

I have friends my own age that love to wheel, but don't make time to take advantage of all the great info, people, and parts for sale on this site.
 
Shawn's and Rodney's posts (#5 & 6) pretty well say it for me, but as the Old Hot Dog Guy would say, "I came here in covered wagon." :)
 
About as many are on FB as on the forums. These are tech people for the main part, and do use computers....just are not social stuff. Online use seems to be mostly research and self-education, not interactive. I want to find a way to encourage them to take advantage of the forum. You know how some people will lurk forever, but never post...because they don't want to be recorded for posterity, or the NSA will find them, or whatever.

Thanks for the thoughts so far.
 
I'm more curious to know what type of forum it is.

I don't do anything 4x4 related any more. My new truck has the push button 4wd. That' as far as I take it. But, this was my 'first' real forum. Been here as long as anybody really. I like the culture this board has and have not frequented other boards that have more stuff of interest because of the culture.
 
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