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BESIDES BEING A treasure trove of information on everything from whether to get a pet monkey to the most-awesome t-shirt ever, it’s a site possibly best known for looking like something straight out of the early noughties.
But Boards.ie, that grand old dame of the Irish internet, is about to get an overhaul and its head is promising a better experience for users as the site gets closer and closer to becoming legally of age.
It’s a revamp perhaps long overdue, judging from a recent thread on rival forum Reddit in which users vented their spleens on what they would fix about the 17-year-old site.
“Firstly get rid of the completely outdated layout and the countless, baron (sic) sub-forums that aren’t moderated adequately,” one wrote.
Another said: ”Don’t bother. The whole forum thing is dying/has died out. Boards is just a shadow of its former self … because of Facebook, Twitter, and ironically, Reddit.”
But despite the cannibalising effects of social media and other platforms, and the clear need for an update, Boards CEO Seán Coughlan insists the platform is still strong.
“Boards kind of sits under the radar a bit; if you ask people if they’ve heard of Boards it ranks really high, but I think people don’t realise how big Boards is,” he told TheJournal.ie.
I think the proof of (our success) is that when Boards started 17 years ago there was no Facebook, there was no Twitter, there was no Instagram, there was no Snapchat – all of those other ways of engaging and interacting online exist now and yet Boards still remains as one of the most-popular sites for an Irish internet audience.”
He said over 800 people were signing up as new users each week and the forum, which makes its money selling advertising space and “talk to” slots for companies like banks and internet providers, had about 2.2 million monthly visitors.
I think one of the reasons for that success is that, no matter what you want to talk about, there is a place for you on Boards. I think one of the other driving success factors, unlike lots of other platforms, it’s Irish and the conversation is very uniquely Irish.”
‘A bit Irish of us’
The site was founded by tech entrepreneurs John Breslin and Tom Murphy out of a gaming bulletin board the former established in 1998.
Coughlan took up his current role just over a year ago after stepping down from his position as chief executive of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, an organisation he co-founded in 2004.
The new site launch, scheduled for October, would give Boards a “very different look and feel” that made it easier for people to find the information they were after, he said.
The mobile version for smartphones and tablets would also be updated to offer the full functionality of the desktop site.
Looking further ahead, Coughlan said the company was toying with ways to use mobile device location data to better tailor information to users, as well as adding more “expert answer” services to complement existing conversations.
He said it was “a bit Irish of us” that people tended to only celebrate the success of shiny new startups, rather than companies like Boards that had managed to survive and grow over nearly two decades.
I do think it’s important that we start to celebrate success and it isn’t just the shorter term or more ephemeral success of something that got series-A investment in the last 18 months.”
Note: Journal Media Ltd has shareholders in common with Boards.ie.
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If true it’s seem Enda won’t be there to see it happen, which will be nice!
@Les Behan: Would not count on Enda not being there he is a crafty one and only likes to play the fool. He is as sneaky as they come just ask poor old Joanie.
When do the Irish get a vote or do our politicians not trust us to give us a vote on anything that matters?
Regardless of what Enda thinks it’s Goodbye, so long, Adieu to the most recalcitrant member of the EU
Why can’t our political representatives set out our position on Brexit …..what are our ‘red lines’ ?
The train is coming
This country has a veto and needs to use it if our national interests are significantly affected
We could be affected more than almost anyone else from a ‘National Question’ and trade and indeed travel perspective
Brexit is probably the biggest single matter to affect us since joining the EU itself yet our politicians and indeed our journalists are looking at it as if the country is a somewhat interested bystander….sitting on our hands and hoping it will work out ok.
We have serious skin in this game and need to wise up and get in there setting out exactly what we want
The conversation needs to start and the media and political classes need to engage the public – otherwise we will be backed in to an unsuitable corner by parties whose interests are not ours.
Depends what you think the “national interest” is. You might think it would be the UK staying in the single market and openly trading, but i’m not so sure. In that scenario, multinationals might choose the UK instead of Ireland because they can trade freely across Europe but be outside the jurisdiction of the EU commission (eg Apple might move there).
No, what i think is in Irelands interests is if it becomes clear that Ireland is the only English speaking country with full access to the EU market. It might be tough for our farmers initially if its tougher to export to the UK, but overall we would be better off with time.
It would make no sense for Ireland (or any other member state) to try to force the UK to stay in the EU. It’s a voluntary union.
I bet people hearing Kenny make this statement leads them to believe he actually has a strategy and plan in place for dealing with this potentially existential crisis for Ireland. Oh no, I’m afraid not. That’s not how we do things in Ireland.
What exactly would we use a veto for?
Enda can predict what the UK government does, but doesn’t have a clue closer to home.
Can he predict the winner of the 3.45 at Goodwood today
@Chris Kirk: If you need the winner at the 3.45………ring Bertie.
No 4 Sky hunter. You heard it here folks
@Stephen Kilbane:
Flying Shite – Won`t be licked
Hate to say I told you so
He also said, “We in fg are totally united on the issue of water charges”. In other news, Irish water has been found guilty of failing to improve water quality in Galway
Like everything enda says, I’ll be taking this with a large pinch of salt.
Or March, or April… of some year…
@Fiona Fitzgerald: Maybe May
Enda Kenny predicts.. Lol.. Ok
A few months ago Enda was campaigning around Britain proclaiming a Doomsday Scenario ‘The end is nigh’ if Britain exited the EU.
Honestly, only a fool or a Fine Tory die hard would take anything this man says seriously anymore.
@Sam Palmer: They haven’t left the EU yet. Perhaps the end will be nigh. For Britain.
This may actually be one that Kenny calls correctly. May wants to try hold off for a while, but she has the problem of her back bench pushing hard for 50 to be activated ASAP. Even some of her Ministers want it.
A stopped clock is right twice a day…
They are afraid of their lives to invoke and shocked that rest of Europe are saying invoke it before any negotiations. Their hand weaker than their Empire mentality realised.
lol…Brexit Britain running around with a gun pointed at their own foot, shouting “we’re going to shoot, don’t think we won’t! We’ll probably do it in January, might take us a few years to bleed out”.
Rest of Europe looks on in bemusement. The Brits really are embarrassing themselves.
Loading him with antibiotics is an unhelpful reference when we as a nation overuse abuse antibiotics
Before or after the Endaexet
have your say