*question says it all*
I think it must be pretty large else competition created a clone.

the worth of social website like nairaland, linda ikeji Facebook, Twitter etc is not in the website or app itself but the number of users I.e not their design but their database, they've users in millions even in billions that's why hackers go after database not the design

without cloning I can design nairaland in less than a week but which magic will help me get 2 million user.

when lynda.com and co are sold for millions of dollars not that the buyers can't design theirs, what they're buying expensively is the database

oluwaseyi000:
the worth of social website like nairaland, linda ikeji Facebook, Twitter etc is not in the website or app itself but the number of users I.e not their design but their database, they've users in millions even in billions that's why hackers go after database not the design

without cloning I can design nairaland in less than a week but which magic will help me get 2 million user.

when lynda.com and co are sold for millions of dollars not that the buyers can't design theirs, what they're buying expensively is the database

they are the users trust.

oluwaseyi000:
the worth of social website like nairaland, linda ikeji Facebook, Twitter etc is not in the website or app itself but the number of users I.e not their design but their database, they've users in millions even in billions that's why hackers go after database not the design

without cloning I can design nairaland in less than a week but which magic will help me get 2 million user.

when lynda.com and co are sold for millions of dollars not that the buyers can't design theirs, what they're buying expensively is the database

I get ur point. But there is always room for improvement hence competition.
Your site may attract 20k users in 10 yrs who are loyal. It's still successful-though not as successful as NL.
And it may grow from there. Competition breeds improvement and variety.
Besides some users may like ur product so much they swear by it!!
So why is there no competition to NL? Maybe laziness , fear of failing etc on the part of developers.
Programming languages are designed and released all the time- and new ones are being developed?
Do the language designers say oh there's no need for another language,it will never get popular.
No? Theyjust do it. Express themselves and the rest is out of their reach. Eventually some people try out the new some love it, most love the mainstream options etc. But after they design it the world has another perspective to compare things with. With Nairaland, we have no other perspective!? Y?

In my humble opinion , the issue is not one of technical expertise but one of finance like others have hinted. To build a forum like NL would take some people a week at most but to build a business like NL would take a lot of money. Its not really a matter of laziness or FOF because i have seen a couple of forums pop up here and there but eventually they fade away because in todays world, it takes more than just "build it and they will come", you have to proactively have to get people to know and engage with your website/app which involves alot of money.

Take for instance naij.com, there was a time you couldn't upon an app or a website without seeing a naij advert, the same with . Those guys must have been spending millions/month on adverts alone. Besides adverts, you also need to have the right team(multiple disciplines, which you have to compensate somehow). Because you might have the money and the media presence but without the right strategies, the website would die a slow death( take linda ikeji social as an example). This is especially critical for a community driven products like NL,instagram,twitter etc because you don't need people to just come, you need them to stay,you need the to engage(post,likes,comments etc) and you need them to keep coming back. This is not a problem you can just throw money at, money might work in the short term but it is not a sustainable solution(LIS is a good example once again).

Lets take your 20k users in 10yrs example. If i was building an alarm clock app, having 20k users in 10 yrs would not be much of a problem because each users usage of the app is mutually exclusive but if you have those same amount of users in a community driven app/website it becomes a problem because for me to enjoy the app/website there must be a large number of post,shares,replies etc which would be hard to do if the community is growing by about 160 users per month.

So to build a forum that can compete needs a deliberate understanding of what it entails both monetary and otherwise because today there is no more "lets build and see". Can it be done? Ofcourse yes. Will it be easy? Not really, The easiest part might actually be the technical one. Imagine uber has nuclear physicists on staff, a Neuroscientist and a host of other people that have nothing to do with actually building the uber app but are critical to the success of uber as company.

Just my own take on the matter sha

asalimpo:


I get ur point. But there is always room for improvement hence competition.
Your site may attract 20k users in 10 yrs who are loyal. It's still successful-though not as successful as NL.
And it may grow from there. Competition breeds improvement and variety.
Besides some users may like ur product so much they swear by it!!
So why is there no competition to NL? Maybe laziness , fear of failing etc on the part of developers.
Programming languages are designed and released all the time- and new ones are being developed?
Do the language designers say oh there's no need for another language,it will never get popular.
No? Theyjust do it. Express themselves and the rest is out of their reach. Eventually some people try out the new some love it, most love the mainstream options etc. But after they design it the world has another perspective to compare things with. With Nairaland, we have no other perspective!? Y?

I understand what you're saying.
There's a business side to it. Nairaland is an established entity.
I was thinking that in this age where many are tech savvy that some1 would ve come up with an alternative product.
While the product may not do well,the cost of competing isnt as high as for other established busnesses,
first, it will be new. Some people will give it a try.
Next, some people are early adopters and just want something different.
Two, the site will offer something different or fill a need nairaland isnt meeting.
It will gain traction slowly. It may grow big or stay niche based on its adoption trends.
e.g apple was niche until circa mid 2000s when it came out with its ipod and ipad then the larger world took notice and it got mainstream.
If a competitor will not be demoralised but keep trying and give himself a 10 yr vetting goal, it may eventually
become a notable competitor to nairaland.
It will take a lot of dying and resurrecting to reach that point though. But in the business world failure is looked upon incorrectly.
They're many features nairaland lacks. Giving users an alternative experience may lure them in.
But like u said, in this day and age, to make an impact some crucial funding is needed.
Let me list some issues a viable alternative may address:
Nairaland is lax -irrelevant post litters this board
so the alternative may choose to market itself to a more serious minded clientele.
like hacker news,quora etc. Posters there want a serious civil atmosphere. Not one pungent with trivial posts. If such was the case on those site,visitors will quite.
The alternative will be for the nigerian market, just like nairaland is.
-- better technicalities:
no smilies terminating code in the programming section
-- a much needed way to express disapproval (a hate/dislike/downvote button)
etc

Finally many companies are started all the time. In ten years a very successfully company you hear about could be that tentative first step taken today.

You are correct on the fact that that we need another alternative to NL. I've only been on NL for just a month now and it still astonishes me how people dey abuse themselves freestyle here. And yea, there are also a lot of things a new competitor can bring to the table in terms of UX and UI.

I also like the way you're thinking long term cos to me no matter how great your idea is,if you're not willing to put in 5 - 10 yrs of your life into it, you might as well just call it a hobby.

With that been said, as the OP, where are you planning to go with this?

Pls check my profile for my only post on NL and let me know what you think...

What's the significance of LOC.