It would almost be a year since Ftalk moved to a new domain and we all know that its activity has significantly lowered especially in the past months. It's amazing how it still managed to survive for that long.
I asked around regarding the possible reasons as to why the once very active forum turned into what it is now. Here's what I discovered.
- Registration by invitation (Which admin already answered in a different thread, still looking forward to action.)
- The rise of Tumblr. (I honestly don't see how this should be happening as Tumblr's and Ftalk's functionality are very different obviously. I guess it's the fun factor. I know of people who preferred Tumblr over Ftalk.)
- The rise of Wattpad which became a better alternative to our literary section. We all have to admit that next to Friendster layouts, it's the stories written by Ftalkers which invited a lot of new and old user alike to actually interact with each other.
- The absence of the "What-makes-Ftalk-different" factor. (I think it's just the lack of highlighting of it. We all know Ftalk has the potential to become one of the best online forums ever created (if it is not already one) with its unique badges, reputation, contests and egroup system.)
- The absence of contests and battles (Which is branches out from the lack of active members caused by the registration by invitation.)
We all love Ftalk. I don't know about you guys but it remains to be a big part of my [online] life and I don't want to see it die. I think it's time that we take action.
Here are my suggestions (because I am not the type to complain about something and not help in doing something about it.)
- Remove registration by invitation.
- Send FB messages to old members and try to bring them back. I'm sure a number would be willing to do so.
- Utilize Ftalkers (esp. those who are now famous) to at least write a blog post about their Ftalk experience. I'm sure they're willing to do this if admin asks them.
- Promote certain deserving members to moderators as the need arises.
Everything should go up from there. New awesome ideas would come with new awesome members and Ftalk would grow not only as a forum but as something even more unique in the future. Leggo Ftalk!