I was once active in a forum that bubbled with activities. When I learnt the age of the owner I was surprised. He was a teenager! But you couldn’t have guessed because he is so good at what he does.
Age does not matter in the success of a forum, if you start gaining experience early. Young forum owners might also have older and experienced ones assisting them.
I started on forums using InvisionFree and ZetaBoards when I was 12 years old. I'm now almost 33, so that's nearly 21 years ago. During that time, I've seen plenty of successful communities managed by teens. So no I don't believe age matters.
Experience, knowledge, management and leadership qualities of a forum owner is what's going to make a forum successful. A forum owner might be 50 years old but still an idiot who doesn't know how to run the community and it's going to crash.
I think experience helps more than anything. A 13 year old who makes their first forum will probably mess up, but they can use this as a learning opportunity. Over time, they can get a feel for how to run a forum and eventually have a successful forum at a different age.
I started on forums using InvisionFree and ZetaBoards when I was 12 years old. I'm now almost 33, so that's nearly 21 years ago. During that time, I've seen plenty of successful communities managed by teens. So no I don't believe age matters.
I also started when I was young, but Smf was the first forum software that I used. I was about 15 or 16 when I started my first forum. I used SMF for a while before I made the switch to vBulletin.
I also started when I was young, but Smf was the first forum software that I used. I was about 15 or 16 when I started my first forum. I used SMF for a while before I made the switch to vBulletin.
Knowledge can be acquired at any age as long as the person is willing to learn. It's why I believe that's the key to being successful in whatever you're doing irrespective of your age.
I don't believe age matters at all when it comes to being the owner of a forum. I have been on forums now for over 20 years and have seen forum owners come and go and even some succeed.
If you have a plan, want to succeed and have a passion for what you create, age should not matter.
No. Age itself isn't really a factor however experience is. When I was really young, I started my own forum, but I had NO IDEA what I was doing or even how to run a successful forum, I just knew I wanted to run my own forum and so I did. I think my lack of experience with forums really played a huge part on why my forum was never really successful or very active.
You can be a 12-year-old genius when it comes to forums if you have enough experience and know what you're doing, and you could be a 50-year-old who can't make a successful forum. Age doesn't really matter but experience and knowledge does.
Experience is important when it comes to creating forums, that's for sure, but it most definitely isn't the be all and end all.
I first began using forums at the age of about 11-12. The first forum I ever joined was a forum that was sort-of linked to a website I used called Swapitshop, which was a site at the time that allowed kids to safely trade items (toys, games, trading cards, etc) between each other. The forum wasn't officially linked to the website, but was run by a slightly older teenager, who was about 14 when he created the forum I think, and was just as popular as the site itself, having thousands of members at it's peak. I'm sure that he made a lot of money from the site, and it was successful enough that for many years while Swapitshop existed he was able to run the forum as a successful business.
I myself started my most successful forum at the age of 13 I think, and while it was 18 months or so by the time it had started to get popular, at the age of 15 I was running a forum with hundreds of daily active members getting multiple thousands of posts a week, and making a reasonable enough income to invest significantly in the site and buy myself some extra little treats (and spend on some other online projects!).
Age isn't so important - what's important is being good at building communities, relating to others, and being able to encourage others to participate in your community and feel like they've found a "home" of friends.