How To Tell If Seniorsonly.club Is The Best Forum

As you might know, I keep track of how well this forum is doing in search engine results since that's part of what I do for a living, but I'm not competing with any other forum as far as trying to lure members from any other forum to this one, although anyone is welcome, of course. People will send me links to posts on other forums where people are talking about us, good or bad. It's always pleasant to have someone saying something nice about our forum but, if someone is talking bad about us, it's not the end of the world. I am not embarrassed that someone is talking bad about the SENIORSonly Club on another forum, in other words. We can't be everything to everyone, and there are bound to be people who are unhappy with us. Plus, there is some truth to the adage that all advertising is good advertising.

I don't usually click on the links because I'd rather just do what we do here, and not try to please people who aren't even a part of this forum. Some of you participate in other senior forums as well, and that's fine. It's not as if we are competing teams and anyone has to choose a side, at least not as far as I'm concerned.

Although this is my first senior forum, I've run a lot of forums over the years, so I know that there will be times when someone will get upset with a decision that I have made, or with other people in the forum. Sometimes, these are people who have come to the forum in order to cause trouble but that's not always the case. I might even be wrong, since I'm not perfect, but I do the best I can.

Since forum members sometimes form cliques, they will often draw others into the drama they have created, and cause unrest in the forum. There are books on forum administration, and they suggest removing the person causing the problem, as well as anyone who joins in with them, the idea being that the others will simply stick around to continue the unrest.

I have trouble doing that because often these are well meaning people who have contributed much to the forum in the past, so I wait them out. Most often, they do just what the books suggest, sticking around only so long as they can continue to bring further unrest to the forum, then leaving anyhow. If they become as much of a problem as the one they are supporting, I suppose I would remove them too but they usually remove themselves or get over it. Their choice.

I also try to look at the whole of what someone has contributed to the forum. Someone who has been a contributing member to the forum for a long while will be more easily forgiven than someone who starts causing trouble from the start.

The same books suggest copious rules and regulations, but I choose not to do that either. These books are written for people who intend to make money from their forum, while I am doing this because I enjoy it, and I neither enjoy writing or enforcing long lists of rules. Instead, I will ban someone only when it becomes clear to me that they don't intend to become a contributing member of the forum. Other than spammers, I have banned only two members from this forum in the more than a year and a half that we've been here, so I don't think that I'm being unreasonable.

When someone is upset over something, leaves the forum or forces me to ban them, and starts a thread about what a terrible forum we have here, I'm not going to get caught up in the drama. That's why I don't follow the links; it's not as if I don't appreciate your concern, but it's not the end of the world. Those who remain will continue the conversation, others will join, and the forum will continue.

My goal isn't for the SENIORSonly Club forum to become the best seniors forum because we can't be everything to everyone and if I tried, I wouldn't even like it anymore.

 

A wise man once said:

But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can’t please everyone, so ya got to please yourself.

Then he freebased some cocaine, flew his plane into some trees, and died.

 

Awesome post, @Ken Anderson , and I agree with everything you said, as well as the fair and honest way you manage this forum. I think most of us came here (and stay here) because we DO like the peaceful, pleasant atmosphere of this forum, and the lack of drama or snarky posts.
I have seen excellent posters banned from forums, simply because they offended the wrong people and someone lied to the admin about them. It is good to have an admin who is not so quick to judge without at least checking to see what the truth is, and your willingness to give people the time to prove themselves is another testimony to your fairness here.
As far as people going to another forum to talk bad about Senior'sonly Club (or ANY other forum); then I am heartily thankful that they chose to go elsewhere, and not stay here and do it where we have to listen to them.
Hopefully, they like it better, whever they went.

 

Share your holidays here with us, @Steve North . We have the whole section for holidays, and it would be great to learn a little bit more about your Jewish holidays, what you celebrate, and why. Or share in the religious section , like @Ken Anderson is doing about the Anabaptist faith.