In Cyprus we have a tendency to follow the tide and almost NEVER look at how we can learn from our own market. We blindly follow international trends and end up shooting ourselves in the foot because we don't realize that our products and services need to be tweaked for the Cyprus consumer.
Did you know that Cyprus-Forum has more sections (like Jokes and Enigmas, Sports, General etc) than most international forums - which cater to millions of users per day. Take a look at Google-Earth forums and tell me what you notice... that's right, Cy-Forum has MORE sections than Google-Earth... and google-earth forums cater to hundreds of thousands of people every day.
On this site 75% of all posts happen in 2 sections.
A person who posts in a section other than the main ones may NEVER get a reply.
It's laughable to see sections like Jokes, Sports and Entertainment!! Do these subjects not deserve to be part of the mainstream? I guarantee you that nobody will think "I'll go to cy-forums and check out some new jokes"
People visit this site as a passtime (we are not professional forumites) and as such count on the element of "stumble upon". I have never come to this site with the intention of finding something specific like a job or a new joke. I visit the site to see the "buzz" and what my internet friends are occupied with. The fact of the matter is, this site makes it difficult for me to be sociable in a virtual space.
Please, for the good of this site THINK for a moment. In a club or bar, do we separate the people on a table into "sports fans", "joke tellers" or "gossipers"? No we don't!! Yet it's happening in this site.
This site has a lot of potential as a place to get the "buzz" of what is happening in Cyprus. However a user instantly feels like they don't belong here, nobody is actually seeking a specific type of chat or banter.
At any one time this site may have 6-8 users which are browsing different sections. It's funny to think that there are more sections on this site than actual users at any one time.
The owners of this site have accomplished something great. You should know that you have been doing a good job but the structure of the site is hindering your growth and putting off many users who might otherwise have signed up and started posting.
Take a lesson from my favourite company Google! Before google the Internet search engines where a cluttered (ad-filled) mess and where actually loosing money. Google comes along and removes the clutter, kills the annoying banner advertising and suddenly it becomes the internets best known website and the number one brand on the planet in 2004.
Sometimes, to have more is better. In the case of Cy-Forum more is not only bad, it's devastating. I wonder... would i have received a reply to my post had i posted this in the "Suggestions and Feedback" section?
Andy