Anyone have good theories?
Obviously you need dedicated posters, so that the board gets something daily. But how many is that? I'm struggling to fill the gap personally in my niche board, but there's only so far I can go without running out. I see places like ABe, Miko, Maid, great ideas, but little traffic. You can also look at some of the random *chans out there. Are we too specialized/unpopular, or is there something else we can do?
This is just pulling numbers out of my ass, but I think maybe 20-50 "regulars" are needed to guarantee steady activity. Not everyone can post every day. You also need a steady influx because there's always going to be people leaving every so often. Things like miko and maid are pretty damn small niches. They're not going to get much attention without a larger core group in the more general a/c boards.
This kind of board is also has to struggle against preconceptions of forums. Some people are scared off by the openness. Some are really desperate to get "credit" for their posts, and to know who posts what.
I'm not sure what can be done, beyond whoring out the place and spreading word of mouth. Especially for the niche boards with a potentially more mainstream audience, like /cars. Perhaps highlight the work-safeness of it?