Seriousing up select forums.

[Duke]

Alright, I'm not going to even pretend that I'm an angel and lead by example by keeping my responses on track so please keep that in mind when you read the following.

I hope I'm not alone in my thoughts that this site is primarily a fun place. We have a very warm and friendly member base that loves to goof around which I fully encourage, in fact, I promote it.

The problem becomes that some of our more serious areas are tainted (I believe) by silliness and stray off topic continually. A major part of me wonders if this may have something to do with why we don't rank as highly as we should in the SERPS. As fun as it is to stray off topic, it only damages the keyword density and supporting content which is primarily responsible for ranking high in Google and possibly MSN and Yahoo.

I also wonder if we suffer in the form of less new membership because we really aren't discussing the matters properly and anyone who wants help may think we're just a bunch of goof balls. Of course it's great to have fun and laugh your self silly but it does a person no good who is legitimately suffering from a topic we're goofing off in.

For this reason, I'd like all your input into which forums (if any) that should be moderated more heavily to keep topics on track.

Our current list of forums/subforums are as follows (currently, they all allow off topic conversation):

LEGEND:

Serious Forum = SF
Goofy Forum = GF
Not Sure = ?

Welcome to Lifesupporters.com: GF

• Network Information SF
• Suggestion Box GF

Off Topic GF

Uplifting/Inspirational: GF

• Success Stories GF

The World Around Us: ?

• Lifesupporters News SF
• Hot Topics ?
• Religion ?
• Politics ?

Life Support Resource: SF

• Issues A - Z SF

Health and Wellness SF

Friends and Family SF

The Inner Me SF

Dream Diary ?

Separation and Divorce SF

Marriage/Dating SF

Pregnancy, Parenting and Granparenting SF

Abuse General (Adults Perspective) SF

Dating/Relationship Issues SF

Communication General ?

Abuse General (Childs Perspective) SF

Entertainment General GF

Pets GF

Jobs/Careers GF

The Class Room SF

I'm looking for any and all input on the above as I think it's imperative we be more stringent with where we choose to goof around and where we choose to discuss and learn together.

Please remember, it may be more than just us learning from serious discussion.

Thoughts?

[PepsiChic]

i think all these;

Lifesupporters News SF
Hot Topics ?
Religion ?
Politics ?

should be SF, some people are very religious and may take offence to goofiness in a forum dedicated to religion, politics etc.

[Duke]

Originally Posted by GamerGal

i think all these;

should be SF, some people are very religious and may take offence to goofiness in a forum dedicated to religion, politics etc.

The only isue I have with Politics and Religion is that if these are allowed to get too serious, they turn into debate which is strictly not allowed here.

[TKDLady]

I think maybe Welcome to Lifesupporters.com: GF should be a serious topic. It can have GF subtopics but the main welcome should be serious. IMO