Álex Marín (founder of Forocoches): “I do not consider Reddit to be a direct competitor to Forocoches”.

Forocoches, the most read Spanish forum in the world has been around for more than 20 years. It was created in 2003 and since then it has not stopped growing. However, very soon it stopped being a “car forum” to become a place to go to when any of its users, the “shur”, had doubts or felt uneasy about any subject: love, cars, work, etc.

Today we talk with Álex Marín, the creator of this successful forum that for many years now has been invitation-only. Why? Because Forocoches is the place for trolling par excellence. Well because of that, and because it is much easier to control the number of users and content moderation.

Born on May 6, 1980, Alex lived the birth of the early days of the Internet and began to have a great passion for computers at a very young age. This led him to start online projects such as Forocoches (among others) and to start a Telecommunications Engineering degree at the University of Valladolid. This is how Electrick was born.

The interview

First of all, do you prefer to be called Alejandro or Alex? Why did you choose Electrik as your nickname?

You can call me Alex, that’s how I’m better known. About the nickname “Electrik”, it comes partly from my interest in electronics, a hobby I had since I was a child and that led me to dedicate myself to what I do now. I started using that name in the early days of the internet and in the end it became part of my digital identity.

We understand that from a very young age you were a fan of computer science and everything that had to do with computers. As a native of Palencia (Spain), I suppose that going to Valladolid (Spain) to study was a difficult decision and that the rivalry between both cities had nothing to do with you leaving your engineering career, right? What was it that made you make that decision? How did your family take it?

Exactly, my passion for computers started at a very young age. In fact, my parents even locked up the computer at home to limit my time in front of the screen, but I always found a way to keep learning and exploring. It was that passion that initially led me to enroll in Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Valladolid. However, I quickly discovered that the theoretical approach and pace of university education did not align with my self-taught, hands-on learning style.

About the rivalry between Palencia and Valladolid, I will tell you that it did not influence my decision. My choice to study in Valladolid was more for academic offer than for anything else. As for my decision to leave the university after only three months, at first it was difficult for my family to understand, because they understood that formal education was the way to go. However, once they saw that I could support myself financially and was successful with my online projects, including Forocoches, they began to see it as the right decision.

Forocoches was born in 2003 as a necessity: to solve doubts about automotive vehicles and share opinions about the automotive sector. How was this idea born? When did you realize that Forocoches was no longer a forum to talk only about cars?

Forocoches was born in 2003 in a quite simple and natural way. It all started a year before, when I bought a Renault Laguna and, looking for a place to share experiences and solve specific doubts about this model, I created a forum dedicated to it. I realized that not only I had questions; there were many people looking for a place to talk about their cars and share their automotive experiences. So I decided to broaden the spectrum and create a more general forum that would not only cover a particular model but everything related to vehicles and the automotive world.

Over time, Forocoches began to evolve into something much bigger than just a car forum. I realized that it had ceased to be an automotive-only forum when users began to use it to discuss a wide range of topics, not just related to cars. This included everything from life advice to discussions on technology, politics and much more.

“The community grew and diversified rapidly, and Forocoches became a microcosm of society, a place where people came to talk about anything, not just cars.”

Que os parece el diseño de las vias del AVE en España? https://t.co/8cEmpJpfEF pic.twitter.com/lRIgaz4rF4

— Foro Coches (@forocoches) May 3, 2024

Tell us about those early years in Forocoches. Is it true that there were doubts about your real existence? Were you part of the debates and trolls that were organized in the forum in those early years? Do you have a favorite one?

The first years of Forocoches were really intense and very interesting. Back then, the community was much smaller and closer, but you could already perceive the energy and potential that the forum had. It is true that there was a time when some users doubted my real existence. Many theories and speculations were generated about whether “Electrik” was a real person or just a character created to manage the forum. This, in part, was due to the fact that I preferred to keep a low profile and did not expose myself much in the media or in public events.

As for my participation in the debates and trolls, I have always been aware of what is going on in the forum, although my role has been more of an observer and moderator to ensure that everything stays within the bounds of respect and legality. Over the years, Forocoches has been the scene of numerous notable trolls and campaigns; some of them have been very creative and have captured attention both nationally and internationally.

An outstanding example of the influence of Forocoches in national events was the case of Rodolfo Chikilicuatre and his song “Baila el Chiki-chiki” in 2008. Although the original idea came from a comedy sketch on television, it was the Forocoches community that became actively involved in the promotion, voting and support of the candidacy, which in the end ended up reaching Eurovision in 2008. In 2010 it was repeated with the case of John Cobra, who was in the RTVE selection gala, causing one of the most surreal moments in the Spanish public television. This is just one of the examples of the strength of the forum.

Since you need an invitation to join, there have been many people asking for invitations all the time, even to the point of trying to buy them on eBay and other platforms. Now we have seen that in your social networks you use to provide invitations from time to time. Why did you make that decision? How many users do you currently have registered in Forocoches? What has been its evolution?

The decision to require an invitation to join Forocoches was made to maintain the quality of the community and to ensure that new users would bring value to the forum. Initially, Forocoches was open to anyone, but as the popularity of the forum grew, so did the challenges related to moderation and content quality. Implementing an invitation system helped control growth and ensure that new members understood the culture and rules of the forum before actively participating.

The practice of offering invitations on our social media and other platforms became a way to interact with the broader community and maintain interest in the forum. This also allows existing users to play a role in growing the community by inviting people they believe will be positive contributors. At times, invitations have even been sold by users themselves, on platforms such as eBay due to high demand, which shows the value people place on being part of Forocoches.

In terms of the number of users, Forocoches has grown significantly since its inception.

“The exact number of registered users is currently around 900,000, although our filtering and deletion of unused accounts is continuous, in order to maintain a forum with real and active users.”

The community has evolved from a small group of car enthusiasts to a vast network where multiple topics are discussed, from technology and science to culture and sports. The evolution has been remarkable, and Forocoches has established itself as the largest Spanish-speaking forum on the internet, maintaining an active and engaged community over the years.

We are talking about the most widely read Spanish-language forum in the world. How many people are part of the Forocoches team? How is revenue generated?

Although it is the largest and most read Spanish forum in the world, it is maintained with a relatively small team. We have Edu as my right hand, Pilar as moderation and support manager, on whom a team of about 10 people depend, Joan responsible for the development team and Jorge, Community Manager. We have always remained efficient and frugal, since we have no investors and do not want to require funding, so the growth has always been organic and sustainable.

We continue to keep our feet on the ground, so one of the keys of Forocoches to make this moderation efficient is a reporting system, where users themselves can report inappropriate content, which allows for efficient management of the forum with less staff. In addition, the moderators themselves “monitor” the forum in case there are behaviors that are not reported by users, but this is isolated and rare, as there are always at least a few reports for any problem. This is essential to maintain an agile and efficient management.

In terms of revenue, Forocoches generates its income in three ways: programmatic, affiliation and native advertising. The first is programmatic, which are the banners we see on any website, accessible through the most common ad exchanges, such as Google. The platform is very attractive to advertisers because of its huge traffic and audience. The second is affiliation, for which we are relevant partners of the largest affiliate programs in Spain. The third and last one is native advertising, i.e. the formats integrated in the forum such as sponsored threads or the header/header, which help to reach and interact directly with our users.

There is a perception that Forocoches is a hostile place for women and minority groups such as LGTBI. How do you control this type of comments? Do you use any automated moderation tool? Do you think it is a safe space for women and other minority groups? And if not, what could be done to make it so?

There are several misconceptions in this sometimes generalized perception. The first thing is that Forocoches is a totally gay friendly community, in fact we even have threads for LGTBI adults. Our support team is in charge of verifying that the community is open and respectful, but at the same time this must be taken into consideration within what is the forum: joker, troll, foul, etc.. There is no one who is free: neither the rich, nor the ugly, nor the handsome, nor the bald, nor myself. There is trolling for everyone, but not only in the forum: virtualization and anonymity generates this kind of foul comments either on Twitter/X or in the comments section of any media that does not require identity verification and publication of the same.

That said, as far as women are concerned, on the one hand we have many more women forum members than people think, as internal statistics show. On the other hand, there are users who can be sexist, yes, but it is something that also happens in Spanish society: we can not pretend to exemplify a forum that, by its volume, is a very representative sample of society, while this is sexist. I’ll give you an example with one of the best known series: The Simpsons. In an episode, Maude Flanders, Ned’s wife, makes a suggestion at a town hall meeting and Homer sends her to “Scrub”. Does this mean that The Simpsons is a sexist series? No, far from it, it simply shows how much of a jerk Homer is. We, as a community with almost a million users, also have this kind of behavior sometimes.

That said, jokes and humor are allowed on the forum with everything, you have to understand many contexts, jargons, vocabulary, etc.

“It is necessary to understand the forum and the users.”

While browsing the public forums, we have found that several forum members have mentioned some of our articles in their conversations about SEO, marketing and digital commerce. What do you think about this sector? In your book “The Engine of Success” you share some key insights from your experience, what have you learned at the business level as a director of Forocoches?

Over the years, I have learned that these areas are essential not only to attract traffic and users, but also to build a strong brand and maintain an active and engaged community.

From my experience at the helm of Forocoches, some of the most important learnings at a business level have been:

• Importance of SEO and quality content: For a website to grow and stay relevant in a competitive market, it is crucial to invest in SEO and generate content that really brings value to users. This helps improve search engine rankings and attracts organic traffic, which is essential for long-term sustainability.
• Adaptability and innovation: The digital world is changing at a dizzying pace. Learning to adapt quickly to new technologies, market trends and consumer preferences is key. At Forocoches, we are always looking for ways to innovate and improve the user experience, from improving our moderation tools to exploring new forms of community interaction.
• Listening to the community: One of the keys to the success of Forocoches has been actively listening to our community. Users often have excellent ideas on how to improve the site and address issues. Facilitating an open and transparent dialogue has helped foster a sense of ownership and loyalty, which is crucial for any online community.
• Respectful monetization: Finding a balance between monetizing a website and maintaining user satisfaction can be challenging. It is critical to develop monetization strategies that do not disrupt the user experience or compromise the integrity of the site. At Forocoches, we have achieved this through non-intrusive advertising and strategic partnerships.
• Crisis and online reputation management: Managing online reputation and potential crises requires careful planning and rapid response. Over the years, we have learned the importance of communicating transparently and effectively with our users, especially during times of controversy or change.

Social networks have evolved a lot in recent years. More and more users are using them every day. Reddit was created just a couple of years later than Forocoches and is currently growing in popularity among the Spanish public, with the difference that you don’t need invitations to join, it is much more accessible. With the difference that you don’t need invitations to enter, it is much more accessible. Would you consider it a competitor? And if not, why not?

There is a certain causality between Reddit’s popularity in certain countries and Google’s purchase of its content to train its AI. It is not lost on anyone that this is yet another use of the search monopoly that Mountain View has, so if they have bought something new, they will want to “show” it to the public.

However, I do not consider Reddit to be a direct competitor to Forocoches, primarily for several strategic and cultural reasons..

1. Cultural and community differences: Although both platforms are forums, each has a unique culture and community focus. Forocoches has a very strong identity with Spanish culture and focuses more on interests that particularly resonate with Spanish-speaking audiences. Reddit, on the other hand, has a global user base and is very diverse in terms of topics and discussions, which can dilute the focus on interests specific to the Spanish community.
2. Access model: The exclusivity of Forocoches through the invitation system creates a sense of community and belonging that is different from Reddit, where anyone with internet access can participate. This model helps maintain a quality and consistency of discussion within Forocoches, which is appreciated by many of its members.
3. Personalization and moderation: Forocoches has a moderation system that is adaptive and particularly tailored to the norms and sensitivities of its specific community. Reddit also has moderation, but it is more decentralized and varies greatly from subreddit to subreddit, being much more aggressive than Forocoches’, to put it mildly.
4. User loyalty: Forocoches users tend to show a high degree of loyalty to the platform, in part due to the invitation system and strong sense of community. This has allowed Forocoches to maintain an active and engaged user base despite the existence of alternatives. Let’s remember that we come from competing with numerous forums in Spain that, for one reason or another, have ceased to exist such as Meristation, or also competing with other options such as Facebook Groups or Telegram. Therefore, we are used to it and we believe that there is room for everyone, so we are not worried.
5. Niche market: Forocoches has positioned itself effectively in a specific niche, focusing on particular interests of Spanish users and offering a space for them to express themselves in a way that other more global platforms cannot exactly replicate.

For these reasons, while Reddit is undoubtedly a huge platform, its value proposition is different from that of Forocoches. Rather than seeing Reddit as a competitor, I see it more as a complement within the online forum ecosystem where different platforms cater to different user needs and preferences.

Traveling through time

What advice would you give to your 2003 self if you could travel back in time?

If I could travel back in time and give advice to my 2003 self, at the beginning of the Forocoches adventure, I would say the following:

1. Have patience and perseverance: Beginnings are always complicated, and not everything will work perfectly from the start. There will be mistakes and failures, but they are essential to learn and grow. Patience and perseverance are crucial. Don’t be discouraged by initial setbacks; every challenge is an opportunity to improve.
2. Actively listen to your community: The key to the success of Forocoches lies in its community. Make sure you build a space where they feel heard and valued. Foster an environment of open communication and use their feedback to guide the development and improvement of the forum.
3. Invest in technology and security from the beginning: As the platform grows, you will face more complex technical and security challenges. Investing in good technology and robust security measures from the beginning will save you a lot of trouble in the future.
4. Clearly define moderation rules and policies: Establishing clear and consistent standards of behavior and moderation is critical to maintaining the quality and culture of the forum. As the community grows, good moderation becomes even more crucial to preserve the environment you want to foster.
5. Maintain a work-life balance: Running Forocoches will be a significant part of your life, but it should not be the only part. Make sure you maintain a healthy balance between work and your personal life. Taking time to relax and unwind will help you keep a fresh perspective and avoid burnout.
6. Be prepared for change and adaptation: The digital world is evolving at a dizzying pace. Keep an open and flexible mindset, and be prepared to adapt to new technologies and changes in user behavior. This will allow you to keep Forocoches relevant and growing.
7. Trust your vision: Finally, trust your original vision. There will be many voices and opinions along the way, some helpful and some not so helpful. Listen, but also trust your instincts and the vision you have for Forocoches. You are capable of making this project a success.

This advice would not only be useful for my younger self, but also for any entrepreneur who is just starting their journey in the digital world or any other field.

This sector has evolved a lot in recent years. In two or three years, we will be talking about topics that we can’t even imagine right now. What are your future plans for Forocoches? What are the new trends that will mark the Internet and social networks in 2025/26?

En cuanto a los planes de Forocoches, te diría estos cuatro puntos:

• Improved technology and interface: Continue to invest in improving the platform technologically to ensure it is fast, secure and accessible, adapting it to new trends such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve personalization and moderation.
• Expansion of topics and services: Expanding the forum sections to cover more areas of interest, possibly exploring new markets or demographic segments, and incorporating tools that allow for richer, multimedia interaction.
• Fostering community and participation: Implement new forms of interaction that strengthen the community, such as online events, competitions, and collaborations with influencers and brands within the sectors of interest to users.
• Sustainability and monetization: continue to focus on monetization methods that respect the user experience, such as sponsorships and direct collaborations with brands, while maintaining the integrity of the forum and its editorial independence.

And as for internet and social networks, I would go with:

• Artificial intelligence and automation: AI will continue to be a major influence, especially in content personalization, automated moderation and in creating new forms of social interaction that are more relevant to users’ individual interests. But, yes, we want to continue to be a community of people for people, because we believe that’s where our value is going to be. The media will probably use AI very soon, if not already, because their cost structure is so large that they need to generate content quickly and cheaply. We, however, are betting on the opposite: having a reduced structure, we will be exploring how to improve moderation with AI, but we want the user to know that if they are in Forocoches, they will talk person to person and, in the case of putting an AI in the future, they will be perfectly labeled as such.
• Augmented and virtual reality: These technologies will continue to mature, offering new ways to interact online. Social networks could begin to integrate these technologies to offer immersive experiences.
• Privacy and security: With increased regulation such as GDPR or the Digital Markets Act, as well as growing concerns about privacy, I expect there will be a stronger focus on protecting user data and providing transparency on how this data is used.

What headline about Forocoches would you like to read in Marketing4eCommerce a year from now?

Very good question, I don’t know what to answer. On the one hand, maybe a new interview would be good, to see how we have evolved, what we have changed technically (there will be new features this year) or how the AI is progressing with respect to the forum. But on the other hand, maybe if you don’t need it, it means that everything is going well and we haven’t messed up, so I don’t know what to keep.