Good General Chat Topics?

[Trevelyan]

Hi there,

I own a dating web site which has a forum within it. There are about 500 members on the site, but only a few of them are active on the forum. What are some good general chat topics? I.E. Fun things like word games -- stuff that everyone can participate in.

Thanks in advance.

[cpvr]

Topics such as these ones are the best:
What are you listening to? (Music)
What's your favorite music genre?
How old are you?
What's your favorite drink?
What's your favorite fruit?
How much sleep do you get?
How old are you?
How did you find this site?
Do you have a cellphone?

Those are the main topics I post on forums that I'm engaging in a post exchange with - if they don't have them already.

[GTAce]

Here are some I listed at my forums...

Going through ours here at AF

* How did you find this site?
* How old are you?
* Where are you from?
* What are you eatiing right now?
* What are you drinking right now?
* What's your favorite color?
* What are you listening to (song are you playing)?
* What are you getting/giving for the holidays?
* What's your screen resolution?
* How did you come up with your username?

And then off the top of my head...

* If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
* Your dream vacation
* Your dream car
* If you could meet any person in the world, who would it be?
* What is on your desktop?
* Take a picture of your desktop
* Picture thread! (pics of yourself)

And there are forum games...

* Word association game
* Never-ending story game
* Person above/below me
* CTRL + V game

Then you have debates....these will typically encourage quality posts

* Religion
* Politics
* Abortion
* Drugs

[Trevelyan]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'll test them out.

[Bleys]

The person above you game, as seen here at SitePoint, is always a popular one. In fact, it is one of SPF's most replied to threads.

[cpvr]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'll test them out.

You're welcome mate, and good luck!

[CaptainCornflake]

Stay away from debates. Period.

Nearly everywhere I go, I've found that politics/gay rights/abortion/ect type threads bring out the worst in people. Trolling, flaming and all of that mean nasty stuff. On top of that, you'll end up with the rent-a-modders, who hold no position of authority on the forums and decide to berate other members for breaking rules. Forum members get mad at each other for long periods of time, and can really ruin trying to keep a "friendly" feel to the place.

I've never had to deal with that on any site of mine, thank God, but I've seen too many places turn to absolute garbage when "serious discussion" forums pop up. Hence why I've been posting at places where anything of that nature is rarely discussed.