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Post by Ravensly on Jul 24, 2012 23:55:39 GMT -5
From my conversation with Hito and everyone else in the General RP board, this seems to be a big issue that needs some addressing if the site is ever to be successful, so I'm making a thread for it here.
We need to find some way of letting people know that this site is out there, and in general, raise its visibility [especially among Search Engines] like Shanks used to do for us back at OPHQ. His efforts in that field were one of the major reasons the site was so successful [for a while], so I think we need to start working on raising the site's visibility and in general, attracting new members to join it so we can grow.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jul 25, 2012 0:27:57 GMT -5
I think we all already know this, but the question is, does anyone know how to make this happen.
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Post by Kyubey on Jul 25, 2012 2:20:28 GMT -5
The question actually is, do we really need to grow? I mean, I think we're perfectly fine as we are, no need to go mucking things up by attracting new people to the perfectly good thing we have. Finding the old members like Funkfreed is one thing, but I don't know, I think we need to address why we need to be so successful in the first place. It's not like we're doing this for the money lol.
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Post by Neurotick on Jul 25, 2012 6:26:52 GMT -5
I agree somewhat with Ky, though I also think we should at least be welcoming of new people, if not actively seeking them out. Right now the forum has a reasonable equilibrium and is thriving with little chance of dying out (trust me, I've been on enough sinking ships to know), it just has a smaller user base than most.
Maybe I'm pessimistic right now (I had a bit of a medical scare so life looks less than rosy to me at the moment), but it seems like you, Ravensly, aren't trying to rally us for the sake of the forums "success," but just want more people to come and RP with you...at which point I wonder why you don't just join other sites as well to get your fix, since you have stated multiple times that you've been on more than one RP forum. Hell you could probably make one yourself if you felt really passionate about it, just like Hito and CJ made Manga Blast to reconnect with all of us. But enough evil horrible bashing how dare I voice my opinion talk.
The main difference between Manga Blast and OPHQ is that Shanks had an entire website filled with valuable information and links for One Piece fans, that just happened to also have a forum attached to it. That, more than anything, is why those forums were so well populated; The website had a focused objective to it which made it much more likely to show up in web searches, while the forum reaped the benefits of the added traffic. It wasn't so much a matter of advertising, as it was a matter of content.
Manga Blast is just a forum (and only a few months old, to boot), and one with very little to offer to the average "consumer" that could not be found elsewhere. There are literally hundreds of thousands of forums out there that offer nerdy discussions and RPs, many that already have a larger active community, either because they are a part of a larger site, or their age, or just through sheer force of numbers--even if only about 20% of your average forum community remains active at any given time, 20% out of 1000 is still nearly ten times more than our entire member count.
When it comes down to it, we just don't have that much to advertise to begin with. Frankly we could go all out, buy advertising space everywhere we can think of, drain every penny each member has, tell every single person we know or even meet on the street about how awesome Manga Blast is, and it would probably either be a waste of time and money or attract people we don't even like.
I think rather than focusing on growing the community through advertising, we should work on cultivating what we have into something marketable (read: interesting and unique) to attract new members. We have some damn creative folks here, lots of strongly opinionated ones (like me herp derp) to debate with, and even a few with some stories to tell. A couple of us are trying to start up a radio play, or even our own game company. I think allowing the forum to grow and evolve naturally based on who is already here, rather than trying to force growth upon it, would lead to less heartache in the long run.
Yes, it means things will be slow sometimes. Yes, it means that we might not expand the RP section any time soon. It also means we run less risk of overcrowding the forum with trolls, god-moders, spam bots, and ppl hwo alwys tyep liek dis lol k tx.
Also it is really easy to add trigger words to a website's coding to make it more likely to show up in a web search, but I doubt that will matter much since most of the traffic any forum gets comes more from buzzwords that show up in the posts themselves. (Which, again, means cultivating the forum itself rather than advertising it.)
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jul 25, 2012 9:15:20 GMT -5
We expand or we die.
It is because OPHQ was promoted that all of us are here today. It is because Manga Ground wasn't promoted that all of us are here today.
Do we want this site to go the way of OPHQ, or Manga Ground? For go the way it will it will.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Jul 25, 2012 9:17:44 GMT -5
Respect Ticky.
Also, I don't think we need more members for the RP. The RP is going fine.
I want more members for the OTHER sections. Mainly the manga discussion section. We don't get much conversation going on there. I've made almost every other thread other than the regular chapter discussion threads. I just would like more manga conversation.
And I have been doing my best to make the forum more attractive to newcomers. I created the quick picture links at the top, redesigned the forum, a barrage of special features that didn't come with the forum, and even created a public facebook group.
So yeah, if you can spread the word about MangaBlast, do it. Even if it is just mentioning it to your other online friends.
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jul 25, 2012 13:11:43 GMT -5
I want more members for the OTHER sections. Mainly the manga discussion section. We don't get much conversation going on there. I've made almost every other thread other than the regular chapter discussion threads. I just would like more manga conversation. This is mostly what I was referring to. I don't think the RP is apt to die off all of a sudden, but the rest of the site should be just as active, if not more so (given that people don't have to wait for each other to post in those places).
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Post by CJ on Jul 25, 2012 14:14:22 GMT -5
From what I've read, I think I can come up with three objectives.
1. Focus on narrowing the users per thread in the RPG Section.
RPG Threads should not have more than five users at a time, with the exception of "main" threads. I have always found that threads with two to four users make for the best stories (Examples: Around the World and most of the Grand Path battles).
More threads like "Ensigna" should be allowed so that members, who have the time and desire, can RP more. This would allow members who only want to participate in one or two topics to remain unaffected. It should be noted that if these topics lose interest and remain frozen for more three weeks, a moderator would close them (unless there is some circumstance where the topic needs to be postponed). The moderators are not responsible for the success or failure of threads they are not involved in. I would personally read each of these threads but we cannot be blamed if they are to fail.
2. Advertise the forums.
Hito and I started this forum initially to reunite with people from OPHQ and MG. I personally never expected it to be this successful and I thank you all for staying with us.
I would not mind new members. In fact, I'd be glad to have them. I can only think of two ways to attract members without cost. Note that I do not want anyone opening their wallets for this forum. It is not that kind of organization. We're here to have fun, not to work our butts off.
Here's what you can do:
- As others have said, share the site with your online or real-life friends who may be interested. We accept everyone and anyone, so long as they are respectful and adhere to forum rules.
- Advertise in your signature in other forums and websites you participate in. DO NOT post advertising threads on these sites. It is distasteful and rude to the moderators and users. A simple text link is fine for now. I'd hate to ask Hito to make a button with all that he's done. Maybe I could see what I could do.
3. Encourage others to post in other sections.
You guys are already helping this part by posting in this thread in the first place. Unfortunately, with my work and online class, I haven't had a lot of time to focus on the forum outside of the Manga and RPG Section. I'm sorry for that. In a week and a half, I should be able to amp things up.
I do ask that every member post at least three times in other sections every day they visit the forum. These small actions would jump start more posts in other sections and generate more discussion.
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I should say that, while I am an administrator, I am only a figurehead. A figurehead is a person with a title of power but no real power. Hito and I started this site, but I only contributed to registering for the site and creating sections and topics. In other words, I'm the writer and he's the everything else. The design, the chatbox, the aesthetics, it's all him.
Hitotsumami is the "real" admin, as I'm sure you all know. I'm not looking for a pity party here, it's quite the opposite. I'm saying that Hito and I are on the same level when it comes to decision making for the forum. Oh, and he deserves the most credit.
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Post by Hitotsumami on Jul 25, 2012 19:16:39 GMT -5
I appreciate the gratification CJ~ I also thought the referral button to use in your signature on other forums is a great idea! So I made two buttons! [url=mangablast.proboards.com][img]http://i.imgur.com/VmC5T.gif[/img][/url] and [url=mangablast.proboards.com][img]http://i.imgur.com/VCM8h.png[/img][/url] Post them in your signature at other forums!
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Post by CJ on Aug 15, 2012 0:15:38 GMT -5
I'll be including a link to this forum on my Deviant Art account and including the linked button on future forums I attend. I hope we can get more members so discussions can progress in a positive, awesome way. Thanks again for your work, Hito.
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