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SI - Site Forums : Silicon Investor - Welcome New SI Members! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RockyBalboa who wrote (13955)	1/20/2001 7:53:05 PM
From: EL KABONG!!!	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 32883

InfoStream.com, I think that the poster was merely postulating his/her opinion. I haven't heard a definitive statement one way or the other regarding the impending fate of message boards. However, that being said, one does have to ponder how these chat sites will financially survive. It is now very clear that the advertising model alone will not provide sufficient cash flow to underwrite the costs associated with running message boards. Sites like Silicon Investor and Raging Bull must find innovative ways of achieving sustainable revenue streams, or face going out of business for lack of proper funding. Other sites such as Yahoo! or AOL are better capitalized, but also have message board costs that dwarf associated revenues. Only AOL has sustainable revenues from their subscriber base, which is more for Internet access than it is for access to AOL chat rooms or the "AOL experience". Motley Fool still seems to be a thriving site, but again, one must question whether or not their revenue streams are sustainable for the long term. I think that eventually message boards will become a "cost of doing business", and you'll see boards that have corporate sponsorship(s). Sites like Silicon Investor, which have an equities focus, might likely be sponsored by brokerages or other investment related businesses. A site that focuses on say sports, might be sponsored by the NFL or ESPN or something along those lines. Some of those groups already have their own Internet sites, which enjoy widely varying degrees of success. Look at CNBC.com or ESPN.com or any of a host of other sites. Sponsored sites (to me) seem to be an extension of the advertising model, in that with sponsorship(s) comes advertising from those sponsors. One way or another, the expenses must be paid somehow. The subscription model may become the ultimate answer, as the end user must pay for his/her participation. We'll just have to wait and see. KJC