Using paid forum service

Is this a good or a bad idea?

[cuple]

Hi all,

I've just started my social network site with a forum and thinking of using paid forum posting service to get the ball rolling. This would be my first time I manage a community site and I need some tips from you all..

Has anyone done this trick before? How's the result?

Cheers!

[jtara]

Not sure what a "paid forum posting service" is.

I hope you don't mean a service that will make shill posts to your forum.

Alas, I think that is what you mean:

Has anyone done this trick before?

I'd never heard of this until now. But there is every kind of dishonesty on the Internet, so it doesn't surprise me.

[King_Fisher]

Sounds like "trick" is the key word here...KF

[RandomDot]

If people don't find out that it's paid for - it's a good idea, as in don't make it public that you paid somebody for it if you want to appear as a community thingie ... because either people will hate you for it and leave or they will also want money to make posts..and then it's a bad idea.. unless you have a revenue model which could support the idea of somebody getting paid to do some cool posts and all that -

But it is used alot of places and have been for a long time - with varying success. But as a standard it can be used to get the forum going on a basic content level - just make sure the posts which are being made screams for attention so people begin to participate and discuss and get involved.. make a non-public forum to start with and let the paid posters make a framework for discussion there - then just make some different profiles on the public forum and make the different profiles "discuss" with eachother on various topics which relates to the forum topic..

Then you'll have to get a high traffic number in a short timeframe once you have the ehrm - basic posts to make it appear that there's already a community alive at this place. If it doesn't work the first time as in the first month you do it.. then change the dates of the posts, rinse and repeat .. but make sure that the posts you have to start with are good, funny, witty, provocative, screams for whatever it is you want people to do - otherwise you can keep doing the next step with traffic from now and until you go broke -

[edited by: RandomDot at 7:03 am (utc) on Sep. 28, 2007]

[John_Blake]

Don't do it mate! I haven't got any experience in that field of yours but I can tell you for sure that this won't last for long.

[jtara]

Keep in mind that every "trick" you pull on the web goes on your "permanent record".

That is.... there's no denying it and no erasing it.

One must presume the search engines keep history. Even if they don't know about a trick today, they will tomorrow, and then they can (potentially) go back and see who pulled the trick in the past, as well as today. And the Wayback Machine will have your site cached, as well.

[rogerd]

Getting some paid help to keep activity up is fine, but be sure that whoever you hire knows what they are doing and isn't dumping the work on offshore forum spammers. Ideally, any "ringer" posters should be friendly, helpful, and have their own distinct voice. Familiarity with your topic would be helpful, though perhaps not essential depending on the kind of posting they are doing.

In other words, these posters should be, or seem like, valuable community members, not random pot-stirrers bumping threads with ten-character replies.

Note that depending on your software, any volunteer mods you recruit may be able to spot multiple-identity posters and "out" them unless they are told what is going on. That's another reason to do things in an ethical and positive manner.