Do You Invite Your Friends and Family to Post on Your Forum?

When I create a forum the first users are always my friends from real life and also a few family members. They don't remain active for a long time but they help seed content initially. Do you also invite your friends and family to post on your forums, do they become a regular user?

I tried this before and it was funny how it turned out. You think friends go support but they barely post lol. Everyone say “I’ll check it later” then disappear. I even dropped a link in a family WhatsApp group once, only two people replied. But once strangers start joining organically, that one feels better. At least you know they came because the topic interested them, not just because they know you.

When I created my first successful forum, my father and brother registered and posted around a bit.

When I launched my second successful forum, two old friends registered. One posted a little, but the other never did.

I know my family isn't interested in resource forums for a particular software, so they would be uninterested in joining my current forum. As for IRL friends, I don't have any.

While you might not have friends and family interested in your niche forums (particularly technical) but if you have forums on general topics, they might be interested. I was once running a lifestyle forum with a lot off general interest categories and I managed to get some friends and families.

nope, never did

Well, you have to know if your friends and family members are into using forums first because if they don't, it's a waste of time inviting them to post.

I only invite a few of my friends who are always going to help me with anything I ask without asking any questions. I have such guys in my small circle.

I used to try and invite my friends and family members to join my forums back when I was new to owning them, but since no one in that group ever joined I stopped inviting them. They are content with staying on Facebook unfortunately, I've tried for years to get them to join forums but it just falls on deaf ears.

Ravenfreak said:

I used to try and invite my friends and family members to join my forums back when I was new to owning them, but since no one in that group ever joined I stopped inviting them. They are content with staying on Facebook unfortunately, I've tried for years to get them to join forums but it just falls on deaf ears.

That kind of experience is everywhere. When you invite friends they always say “I’ll check it later”, the “ later” never comes. I dropped my forum link inside a WhatsApp group and everybody just reacted with emoji then then are silence. Meanwhile the same people can spend hours scrolling Facebook or TikTok. Na human nature honestly. Strangers online sometimes support your project more than people you know offline.

Ravenfreak said:

I used to try and invite my friends and family members to join my forums back when I was new to owning them, but since no one in that group ever joined I stopped inviting them. They are content with staying on Facebook unfortunately, I've tried for years to get them to join forums but it just falls on deaf ears.

This is exactly what I talked about. A lot of people find it very difficult to use forums. It doesn't matter if they are your family members or close friends, if they are not used to it, there's no amount of pressure that's going to make them use it.

I have never invited my friends or family members to post on forums. However, I have invited a few online friends. Having said that, majority of them never posted on forums for a long time. They abandoned the forum and this was quite disappointing.

Inviting friends is one of the biggest mistakes I made early. Strangers online supported me more than the people I see everyday. One guy from another country was replying to all my threads while my own guys were posting memes on WhatsApp. That's crazy.

On Mar 20, 2026, Bright said:

Inviting friends is one of the biggest mistakes I made early. Strangers online supported me more than the people I see everyday. One guy from another country was replying to all my threads while my own guys were posting memes on WhatsApp. That's crazy.

This is a sad reality about life. It's from those whom you least expect help and support that we usually get it from without them asking for anything in return. Some people are not worth being a family member.