When forum members set up a rival forum…

When you’re a forum admin, the site of some of your other forum members setting up a rival forum can be pretty chilling.

Firstly, if you do see this, don’t panic.

If you’ve been a good admin, the only people who’ll really resent your forum are the people you probably aren’t comfortable having on there anyway.

Secondly, if you have been a good forum admin, you should have also built up and established a forum that will take a lot of time and effort to beat. Time and effort that your rivals probably won’t be able to invest.

So the quick rule is - if members form a rival forum, you’ve nothing immediately to worry about.

After all, it’s also worth remembering that your members will probably belong to a number of forums, some of them in related topics, and some of your staff may do so also.

Here’s the kicker - you have no rival forum to yourself.

Sure, you have “friendly competitors” - but if your forum has value, and your friendly competitors also have value, then users will simply take what they can from both.

Additionally, “friendly competitors” can even work together.

For example, I know the admins of other business forums based in the UK, which rival the Platinax business forums. I’ve spoken to them on the phone, by invitation, and the conversations have been cordial and friendly.

After all, as forum admins and small business owners, we’re all in the same boat.

Even in less commercial areas, I’ve been keen to try and retain friendly relations with other “friendly competitors”.

It doesn’t always work - in fact, the less commercial a sector, the more anal I’ve found some of the people to be. Which is the reverse of what I’d expect.

But they are not all like that.

And when I could, I’ve even bought out some of those “friendly competitors” to ensure that they are no longer competitors.

To do this, you need to go in before the other site is established enough to demand a price that would be too unaffordable.

And think about how things could go a few years down the line, when the competitiveness may feel less friendly as you end up running rival behemoths.

So, back to today - I found an established member PM spamming new members to join a proboards community.

A closer inspection - no less than 3 of my 21 site staff were running the show, which included the “rival” admin.

Of course, PM spamming is a no brainer - deleted the members outgoing PM (spam) and sent a stern warning - everyone gets a second chance, but in this instance, instant ban if any further promotion.

After all, it’s fine for people to make recommendations to a few friends - it is not acceptable to send out mass unsolicited members at your own forum members. Forum members expect admins to be able to prevent that.

It’s also a shame because the admin of the rival site is someone I really value.

So I sent her an email, and basically asked if there was anything I could do to focus her attention on my own forum, rather than her own.

If not, I’ll offer to help with the hosting and get it off proboards and onto SMF or MyBB.

At the end of the day, people will move around, people will visit similar if different websites, and the only thing a forum admin can do is focus on building value in their own community.

After all, that’s what building a forum is all about.