Greetings:

Well, I see most of these webforums failing, including some of the largest ones out there. Chili's post explicitly explains it.

signature sales, signature trade systems, board advertising, board full sponsorship
The main reason people visit industry forums is to exchange advice and insight with other industry professionals. As such, it stands to reason, that the more intelligent, insightful posts from successful individuals in the industry a forum has, the more popular it will become, and the better chance it has for long-term viability.

Now, take that sentiment, and apply it towards forums that allow for these ridiculous signature sales, signature trading, theology. The goal of the forum, is to increase posts by providing an incentive to individuals to do so.

However, one must wonder, what type of individual are you coaxing to post? The type that's doing it for the sole reason of profiting off of his signatures? Exactly what type of person is that? A well seasoned professional with a specific expertise to share, or one of these bottom feeders that's looking for beer money who has very little to offer in way of expertise?

By the very nature of the business model, they're going to attract the type of people that are the exact opposite of what is needed to sustain a true industry forum.

I think if you look at sites like GoFuckYourself, you'll see exactly what I mean. It's quickly becoming something that's far less about industry, and far more like your typical AOL chatroom. Advertisers will eventually find that spending money to be seen in front of those sorts of eyes, isn't cost effective.