I think part of cougarboard’s success is two fold: One HEAVY moderation, which as West showed above, is needed in this state/Mormon culture. If it doesn’t agree with us, we run from it. Cougarboard does a great job sheltering it’s posters from each other with the restrictions on what you can/can’t post about, quick deletions of posts, and barring certain topics unless you pay to play.
The second part to their success is how accessible it is. It’s easy to use, easy to read, and moves fast, BUT you can go on and on and on and on about a subject with one or two others if you want to with their notifications.
I think if someone copied cougarboard, they’d make a ton of money. Hide the crazy, pay to play, easy to navigate/use.