Private online communities have it tough. The reason? They’re no longer the only game in town.

In a post on the FeverBee blog, community expert Richard Millington presents arguments both for and against keeping online forums around in an age when social media generally replicates the technology.

His conclusion? Even if forums have value, the threat of being superseded by social networking platforms is strong.

“You could try to build higher walls around your community and make it better, but you’re in the same boat as the independent video store when Blockbuster came to town (and Blockbuster when Netflix appeared),” Millington writes.

His recommendation? “Don’t fight against the tidal wave, figure out how to swim with it.”

If you have a platform that’s being threatened by Facebook or Reddit, consider moving to one of those platforms instead. If you don’t want to do that, focus on offering things those platforms can’t.

Compete either by being unique or by being flexible.

I Hope You’re Sitting Down

More than two decades ago, furniture manufacturer Herman Miller redefined office seating forever with the Aeron Chair, which has become iconic in a way that office chairs almost never do.

Now, Herman Miller is remaking the chair, with the help of Don Chadwick, one of the original designers. The goal? The company wants to make the design more ergonomically sound. Check out the video above to get an idea of what they’re working on, and learn more at the Herman Miller website.

Other Links of Note

Is your member database missing an important field? Now might be a good time to do a double-check. Wild Apricot has some insights on the fields your database should have.

Like Google Docs? Like Slack? Good news: Google, which recently changed the name of its office platform to G Suite, says it’ll offer deeper integration between its software and the popular chat platform.

Just because your content is old doesn’t mean it’s valuable. In a guest post for SocialFish, Internet Marketing Ninjas Brand Manager Ann Smarty recommends a bunch of tips for giving your old content new life on Google.

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