Num7

Back in the days when vBulletin was popular, every clever forum admin would buy the vB Blog addon to allow their members to have their own personal blog inside the community.

That was indeed clever in 2008, but what about in 2016? Should you provide your forum members with a place to have their blog, within your community?

I'm not so sure anymore, here's why.

Forum blogs are not visible enough

The core component of your forum will always be ...the forum and it will always be the most visible section of your site, so that everyone can spot the best discussions as fast as possible. What about the blogs? No matter what you do, your blog section will never get as much attention as your forum, because obviously, your forum is a forum in the first place.

It scatters content

Some of content that could have been posted in the forum is going to get posted in the blog section, a section, as stated above, that is less visible, and remember, a blog post doesn't encourage discussion and user engagement as much as a forum discussion. Your forum is the core of your site, while the blogs will always be an add-on section that is secondary. Think about it. Don't you want that "WOW" content to be posted in the forum? You do.

Not related to your niche

Blogs are personal. So they will contain a certain amount of personal stuff that doesn't have anything to do with your forum's topics. Why would you want that general and unrelated content? Yes, that's content, but if it doesn't have anything to do with what your forum is all about, what does it bring to your site in the end? Oh and don't forget that a blog section is a great place for spammers to have a field day.

Conclusion