Is there an overabundance of general chat sites?

[Tracy]

I'm regularly seeing people bringing forums online that are of general chat nature.
Of all the forum types that I've seen over the years that seem to go by the wayside, it is that niche or games.
My question pertains to the thought process behind recreating the wheel as it were. As the old saying goes when applied to general discussion sites, they are a dime a dozen on the internet. And rarely have I seen one be very successful.
Usually the more successful sites are those related to a particular niche topic. This is even more noticeable now with the plethora of social media sites that allow basic general chat type interactions. I imagine trying to gain traction for a general discussion forum is even more difficult, especially when you consider that forums are not the format that it seems that most of society wants to use for general discussions.
I realize that even those niche related sites are becoming saturated. There can only be so many successful sites for them also. But generally it is easier to gain traction with them if you can provide content that is related to that niche and is useful to others - and that is not found regularly elsewhere.

What are your thoughts? In todays internet, will niche sites perform better than a general chat/discussion site?

 

[Cpvr]

A general chat forum is definitely harder to gain traction with compared to a niche forum. The challenge lies in its broad nature—it covers so many subjects, making it harder to stand out. However, the appeal of a general chat forum lies in its members and the unique, engaging content they create. If you can foster quality discussions that aren’t easily found elsewhere, your forum has a good chance of succeeding.


On the other hand, niche forums are generally easier to build and gain traction with, especially if the niche has a sizable, dedicated audience.

Take the gaming industry, for example—it’s a billion-dollar industry with countless topics to cover. From gaming consoles with devoted fanbases to hundreds of individual games per console, there’s always something to discuss. This abundance of content makes gaming forums easier to market and grow.



This also explains why platforms like Reddit’s gaming and rumor subreddits are so popular. They provide gamers with fast-paced, interactive discussions and a sense of community around their shared interests. Niche forums benefit from this same focused engagement, making them more likely to thrive in today’s internet landscape.

 

[Tracy]

This also explains why platforms like Reddit’s gaming and rumor subreddits are so popular. They provide gamers with fast-paced, interactive discussions and a sense of community around their shared interests. Niche forums benefit from this same focused engagement, making them more likely to thrive in today’s internet landscape.

And this is what lead to the topic.
With a niche specific interest, you are more likely to have distinct content on it than somewhere that is just general chatter. I think that's one of the things that Google found and why for so long they were penalizing forums in their search discovery. Frequently forums were just a place that rehashed discussions that were going on in multiple other general chat forums. Those discussions were light on content even though they might have been lengthy on number of posts.
If I was going to participate in a site like that, I would want the interface to be friendlier than what forums offer.

As you noted, with niche forums, there tends to be more quality content in them - not always, but usually.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I always thought that general niches would be the second largest of the forum niches, with gaming being the first.

I even have a general forum, LOL.

I find it difficult to manage, but I've enjoyed learning about managing one. Mine isn't doing that bad, either.

But it isn't easy because our niche is usually our passion, and a general niche isn't really passion-specific. I think the important thing is to wing it for the first year and see what works and what doesn't while also determining how your general forum can be unique in the world of the general forum niche.

Many general forums out there have become big deals over the years.

Something Awful is one of them. It was where the creepypasta character of Slenderman was created. That character has become a cult classic, with movies made about it and even crimes committed in relation to it. That might be an infamous example, but still, a very famous general forum to mention.

The million-dollar question is still going to be - how can you be unique and different from the rest?

 

[Tracy]

The million-dollar question is still going to be - how can you be unique and different from the rest?

And to me, that's the biggest issue with a general discussion site. How do you differentiate yourself from others.
Right now I'm talking with a person that is wanting to rebrand his site. He has a distinctive .UK TLD that is actually a rather good one. But they are wanting a .COM, apparently thinking that just by getting one of the big TLD's the site will get more traction.
Meanwhile, the issue is more that it's a general chat forum and it's hard for them to gain traction, not the TLD it is tied to.... although a .UK one may not be as big of a draw with people thinking it is more UK related. That's why I only use .US for my blog. If I had a site that was specific to US dicussions I could see it working, but then you are back to that localization of your audience based upon the TLD.

 

[Heatman]

It's very much possible for niche sites to perform better than a general chat/discussion site but it's only going to be possible if you know how to get the audience interested in that site niche on board.

A general chat/discussion site gets bored very quickly because of the nature of contents you see on them. It's more like repeating the same thing over and over again on different sites.

 

[Tracy]

Well... I am working on a new site that, I would say it's a niche, but it is a fairly wide ranging one.

Ideology Central

ideologycentral.com

It's one of those places where politics and religion is welcome to be discussed in a manner that is not degrading to others.
Currently working on getting it set up. I figured with society the way it is today, it might have a decent chance of getting off the ground.
I've still got to create a logo and such for it.

 

[AWS]

I am in the process of officially launching a general forum. I'm doing for 2 reasons. I had one before that was very popular and I am giving Discourse a whirl. It hasn't started off too bad. A couple users from my tech site came over and joined to help me seed some content. They seem to like it because they can post about anything. I am fairly strict about off topic general topics being posted on the tech sites.

I doubt it will get as big or as popular as the last one. Doesn't really matter I'm doing it to gain experience with another platform.

General Forums - Where People Converse

The place to talk about anything and everything.

www.general-forums.net

 

[Shawn Gossman]

But something I've noticed, even on the popular niche forums, they seem to be adding more "general boards" to their forums. Not just the typically Off Topic section that we've traditionally been used to. Now I'm seeing full Off Topic categories with multiple boards and each one are full of discussions (usually the same as any other forum) and they almost outrank the main niche boards.