GodMode:


Asians always support and promote their own...

There are some asian websites written mainly in Mandarin...

That can't happen in Nigeria... They'll say tribalism, plus some Nigerians can't read their native language..

Yes, I agree with u on this. We need to support our own and make changes.

GodMode:


I don't understand

This is a big step dat we need to move forward. U had an idea to make NL betta n Im for it.

GodMode:


NL is not google.
NL is not yahoo.
NL is not microsoft..

NL is owned by someone who is satisfied and happy with where NL is...

NL is not an ambitious company...

Its a one man business.

N this is y I am so pissed. I have a problem with this mentality. Its like everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die. We all complain dat Nigeria is not doing good n we have a chance to be good, but no we will rather be satisfied with what we have. Nairaland is not google, not yahoo n doesnt plan to, dat is complete bullshit. After all we been thru. After how people treat us badly around da world n we have a chance 2 shine n prove people wrong, but u would rather settle. Everywhere we go people look down on us, n now it is our turn to change dat, but u wouldnt. Look what could happen if NL was more ambitious? Do u know how many people we can feed? How many Boko Haram terrorists we can stop? How many corrupt politicians we can expose? We can change the world n make Nigeria or Africa da giant dat it really is. If NL was ambitious, we could hire more unemployed people.

Godmother:


Well.... Guess the founder knows why he hasn't added other feautures cos it has been put across to him a few times.

Most likely bcuz he needs more creative n innovative people to work with. U need great people on,your team to remain great.

THIS SHOULD BE ON FRONT PAGE TO HEAR PEOPLES THOUGHTS ON NAIRALAND LONGEVITY.

GodMode:


My point is they did something different.. They targeted a market that wasn't explored...

But my main point is targeting a niche..

NL is an "all round" forum...

Imagine creating a website or forum just for politics, sports, romance...

The users on NL will reduce drastically..

Definitely true.but Im not telling NL to downgrade, Im telling NL to upgrade. Like NL allowed Whatsapp n 2go to come into their country n rule them easily. Look at how LINE, WeChat n others are dominating the Asian market but couldnt dominate American n European markets? Look how Google n Facebook dominate American n European markets but couldnt dominate Asian markets. They could only do it 2 Nigerians n as long we may boring, dull n not creative, they'll always will.

GodMode:


She's giving money out to potential competitors...

I've been thinking of creating a comment bot specially for those blogs that do giveaways...

Its very f:oolish of them to do giveaway based on comments only

Thats a very big step dat we need.

100ksalescom:
Interesting topic.

Yeah this deserves 2 be front page 2 get more views n opinions. Sort of like a census.

Nature129:

Before you go praising NL don't forget Linda Ikeji Blog. That lady is attracting thousands on her blog using free gifts and money splash - something NL doesn't do. Linda even filters comments she receives that's why we don't get to see millions of comments on her news stories.

Even the mere fact dat something as simple as a blog can b ranked at da top sites in Nigeria means dat we lack creativity. Like name another country (superpower or has the potential 2 b a superpower) whereby blogs are their top sites?

Godmother:


The thing is a forum needs to be active to sustain people's interest. It should also have fresh content updated several times a day. One of the reasons I visit nairaland is cos of the content that keeps changing.and getting pple to become active on a new forum is hard work.

Dat I agree with but lets not 4get dat NL celebrated its 10th bday in March but doesnt even have up to 2 million registered members, while Facebook has 11 million Nigerian users. Like y cant NL upgrade itself from a forum 2 something else? 2 something better? NL shound have messenger service by now. It should have a great search engine, but it doesnt bcuz we lack creativity.

GodMode:


That's debatable...

Debatable in what sense, it is all facts. Check out da numbers.

GodMode:


What makes konga/jumia different from NL

Konga n Jumia get about 1 - 1.5 million day users. NL gets about 1.2 - 1.3 million. Konga n Jumia are just knockoffs of Amazon n Ebay. No creativity really. Just a different market. How many Nigerians can afford things on Konga or Jumia?

GodMode:


South Africa.

South Africa, Egypt, Algeria might have good internet penetration rate but dats only because these countries have a lower number of population n have more non-black people investing into their economy. Dats like saying I have 10 kids n my friend has 3 kids. If 5 out of my 10 kids pass WAEC, compared to 2 out of my friends 3 kids, does dat mean dat his kids are smarter than mine? Dats a 50% to 66% difference.

GodMode:


A serious person doesn't need creative programmers all a person needs is vBulletin, huge advertising budget and NL is history...

When a huge ad budget, I mean someone with the backing of a Venture Capital..

Or

Someone who knows what he/she is doing..

Though alexa is not 100% accurate check NL stats and compare it to Naij... Naij is more popular.

So then what will be the product or idea? How will it make those who go to Nairaland daily, 2 now come 2 their site? How will it make da other 80 million internet users come 2 their site. A creative idea is a must.

denzmark:
The Gods are looking at this topic hahaha it needs fp

Yeah it definitely needs front page.

Godmother:
A lot of forums have come up over the years and died the same way. I think they died cos they were trying to copy nairaland verbatim.

If they were more creative n aggressive in marketing, I think they would have a chance tho.

ramdris:
And who says they are the number 1 at present?

Number 1 in African forums. But lets be honest which other African country has internet penetration rate like Nigeria? Nigeria has more numbers, we just need more creativity.

GodMode:


That's bad...

I first heard of LIB in 2009... NL was when I was checking alexa for high rank sites in Nigeria in 2011 but I never visited till 2013..

Yeah Nairaland just need 2 step up their game, make updates n be more innovative. It has potential, but it is not using it.

GodMode:


Stop downgrading Nigerian programmers.

You think its easy to think

I don't know of any Nigerian programmers making money on freelance sites but I can tell u from my experience is that been Nigerian is a disadvantage in some cases...

The ways a Nigerian programmer can earn legally on his/her is by

- building a site and getting paid from ads
- building an e-commerce/ paid member site
- been a freelance coder for clients
- creating android or iphone app.

Out of the four above creating android/iphone apps is the fastest...
But Nigerian coders would rather learn python or NODEjs or MEAN ... Which can't help them... They can't help me...

That's my opinion

Im not downgrading Nigerian programmers n 4 da record, those are the ways in which I make my money too. Im just saying dat we need 2 be more creative. Do u know how many countless threads Ive seen posted where people ask each other on Nairaland 4 ideas n its like everybody usually has the same top 3 ideas? Nairaland doesnt have competiton from creative programmers dats y it remains at the top. Its like a big fish in a small pond.

GodMode:



You're forgetting something...

NL and LIB have a name/brand...

I didnt know about NL or LIB till last year, n Ive been on da internet since 2003.

GodMode:
Nigerians are getting more enlightened.. In 10 years the competition will be hard...

But NL has the capital to be on top..

Salary earners will begin to open online businesses using part of their salaries to support the business since their not doing so now...

Oooops... I've said too much...

The only thing keeping Nairaland at the top is the same thing dat will cause their downfall, which is LACK OF CREATIVITY. If there were more creative developers in Nigeria with betta ideas, Nairaland wouldn't have last this long. Alot of us are not creative, we just follow others n dat is sad. Look at music...When did Nigerians start cursing each other in music?... Look at fashion, when did it become cool 2 sag?... Look at languages, when did we start calling our sisters hoes n bitches? Back then we had tribal marks 2 identify clans but now we have tattoos just 2 look cool.

denzmark:
do you think nairaland will still be nigeria's no 1 forum in 10 years?
Or do you have a competitor in mind you suspect?

If they continue like this, then no....What ppl dont understand is dat not many Nigerians use da internet daily. Nairaland has da first mover advantage but needs innovation to remain at da top. Out of 82 million internet users in Nigeria, Google Nigeria only gets 5.2 million daily, while Nairaland only gets 1.3 million daily. Even Konga, Jumia n Linda Ikeji get about 1 - 1.5 million daily each. If someone comes with a betta forum, not a copycat or knockoff dat targets d other 80 million, Nairaland will be ghost like MySpace n Hi5.

RothmasPop:
Pls i got a cool Android game concept....
which professionals do I consult?
Pls share all you know abt the steps to take in designing an android app..

I can get u da source code...

abduljabbar4:

You see, like here in the north most people only like 2go,facebook and twitter. Only few people visit sites like nairaland, naij, lindaikeji etc

Wow, I didnt know dat...Thanks 4 telling me.

onatisi:
u see in marketing,at times ur product may not be popular but u can force ppl to like it and buy it ,while some products are instant hit. The only way u can make ppl use the net is to give them a reason to use it. Waec ,jamb and co have forced students to use the net. Even some states are forcing students to buy cards to register for jss3 and to view their results . So to make them use it ,you must give them a reason ,because if u ask someone who doesn't use the net ,why he or she doesn't ,the person reply will be “why should I ?”

This guy I dey like your mentality. Maybe we should become business partners. How can we force them? With what?

ibietela2:
Is this political post

Yes it is political bcuz involves Nigerian laws, rules and regulations of the internet.

onatisi:
will u pay consultancy fee Just joking . Now the first thing u need to do is the breakdown ppl activities on the web into stages. Look at what the irokotv guy did ,just simply uploading already made film ,and paying peanuts for them and now netflix has joined him . U need to break it down I will give u just 3 categories then I will shut up ,dating,education ,entertainment, I can give u 10 categories but nah ,me too I dey work on many projects comming up this year.

Thanks 4 da info. What do you think is the main reason Nigerians dont use the internet daily? Like how can we make them use the internet daily? What.about those who can't afford it or are offline? How do we target them?

onatisi:
it isn't sad at all except maybe if u have a share or stake in nairaland . Ur observation is very good and it shows that u have the ability to spot opportunities ,what u should do now is to find or think of a concept that mobile internet users in nigeria which totals almost 80million will accept and embrace and even pay 50naira a month to enjoy or even 100naira . That is why I keep telling ppl that nigeria is a business haven if one has the ideas

Dats what Im trying 2 do but I dont understand how people use their phone. What do they use it for, apart from chatting, calling n playing games.... In what ways can their phone help them?

onatisi:
I don't even tweet ,I tried opening one and I said to myself ,what the hell is this ?fb on the other is even a no go area for me , as far as I am concern fb is senseless,why will I putting my family info,pix and so on for the whole world to see and I have a rule any site that I can't derive any gain from I won't bother going there . Nairaland hasn't been able to markets its potentiality and this is because even nairaland itself don't know the opportunities it has . Majority nairaland members don't even know how to tap into the opportunities nairaland has and offers ,very few ppl have done this. My first online biz was conducted here on nairaland almost 7years ago when a product was introduced called florex and I tapped into it ,went to lagos and became the distributor for the product in ibadan. Majority of ppl just visit nairaland to laugh and smile . Ever since I have sold and conducted many businesses here on nairaland . The problem with nigerians in general is that they still don't know the power and uses of the social media ,they need to know that the social media is more useful in many other areas of their life apart from pdp and apc squabbles.

I feel u on this.... It is so true.

DProDG:

I guess not a lot of people can afford data plans for daily usage and WIFI(if their mobile devices have it) networks are scarce.

Thank you for clarifying dat up. I really appreciate it.

babyfaceafrica:
My view is that nairaland needs to upgrade....some people are claiming guest or visitors...the truth is that unless certain platforms are added ..it won't increade ....like chat for example....and please there are too many kids here...insults and tribal missles flying around...the mods have to be more firm....instead of thinking of generating traffic ,they should be more concerned about the quality of their platform

Sad but true. We still need 2 get people back online.

UchihaItachi:
go to whatsapp, BBM, 2go, instagram, Facebook, Viber, Twitter..etc. you'll find them there

So the internet is just used for chatting? Nothing else?