Community vs. Forum and the effect on SEO

[unikey]

Hi, I am doing some research into ways to rejuvenate a somewhat stagnant forum. Our current forum is a fairly traditional vbulletin forum that in my opinion has become bloated and the interface somewhat aged.

I am interested in potentially switching to a new format... SocialEngine. My criteria for switching was wanting to focus more on community by removing barriers to interaction. I also needed a platform that would support, user created groups, photo albums and chat functionality.

From what I have seen, I am pretty sold on switching and most likely will... but I am not sure on the effect this could have on seo. Does anyone here use SocialEngine? If so, what are your thoughts. To me, having an active community is more important than having an archive of seo friendly but somewhat dead content.