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Because, at least these days, people try to do everything in Discord, even the things at wasn't designed to do.
I still think forums can have their place in the web. As none of thr social media fully replaces them. It's has more to do with convincing younger people to use them, and how to monetize them.
I still think forums can have their place in the web. As none of thr social media fully replaces them. It's has more to do with convincing younger people to use them, and how to monetize them.
- Competition, i.e., Reddit, discord
- Cost of running forums, lack of ROI
- Bots, spam, the newer AI bots are now flooding forums, makes the staff work harder
- Overzealous moderation - people getting warned and suspended for the stupidest reasons
- Under-moderation - no moderation is just as bad as over moderation, turns the forums into an insult fest
- Cliques - not welcoming new people, because you weren't part of us before mentality.
- Technology maturity, there's less hobbyists who are excited about this
Facebook is another major reason. Their approach to getting people to keep their attention within Facebook has resulted in a lot of forums becoming Facebook Groups, and people looking there first for topics that catch their interest. It just hoovered up a lot of the attention that would have otherwise gone to forums.
Things change.
From The Well, to dial-up BBSes, AOL's nascent form of forums, Usenet, mailing lists.
Web forums changed all that, in ways good (easy access) and bad (LCD of participants dropped).
Social media has changed things. And putting aside Reddit's awfulness as a platform (including poor reliability for such a large site), it as well. Discord, too (including similar operational issues IME).
The biggest challenge is finding the users who have something to offer, and where they congregate.
From The Well, to dial-up BBSes, AOL's nascent form of forums, Usenet, mailing lists.
Web forums changed all that, in ways good (easy access) and bad (LCD of participants dropped).
Social media has changed things. And putting aside Reddit's awfulness as a platform (including poor reliability for such a large site), it as well. Discord, too (including similar operational issues IME).
The biggest challenge is finding the users who have something to offer, and where they congregate.
I can't imagine a web without forums. Due to my age, I'm tied to the old forums, from a time when almost all of them were based on vBulletin 3 or, at most, Phobb. I find it easier to delve deeper into a topic within a forum, finding an answer in a themed section, rather than using platforms like Reddit. Even if I were the last Japanese soldier on a deserted island, or rather, the captain of a sinking ship, I'd want to be the last to leave a forum.
I think that is a big part of it. I developed the habit of participating in forums, but newer communication vehicles were adopted by younger generations. I've never used Reddit or Facebook, and Discord barely registers with me. (Yeah, I've heard of it, I think.) I don't know much about any of them, or how to start using them. But, I'm happily ignorant on that score. It will evolve, and someday those things will be replaced too.
I'm semi-active in reddit. I found that for Mac stuff I get a more balanced community there (scary - reddit offering a balanced perspective). For instance, Tahoe 26 is largely hated here, I don't get that vibe on the various mac subs on reddit.
As for discord, I'm not even on that, I've tried it a number of times, but its not my thing, so I just ignore it. Sadly many of the my games that I play expect people to use discord as the platform to communicate on. I still don't.
Different forms of social media, over zealous users fighting to the bitter end. Some forums have very poor moderators as well.
So groups of people set up their own small private groups in other apps. A lot of forums I will read but have no interest to register an account for them. When they try to force you to register, I don’t go back.
I feel like options are becoming more limited than ever. I'm on this forum for technology conversation, but there isn't really that much outside of Apple (Which is understandable considering this is an Apple forum). I have tried Reddit and Discord a few times and I just don't like the toxicity of Reddit and Discord is not all that fun either. I also have basically left Facebook, so like I said options are limited.
Notwithstanding the good points already mentioned, if every social media platform (including comments on news sites or blogosphere entries) could be considered a discussion forum of sorts, then I disagree.
While a classic forum format such as MR and others may see less traffic than (using OP's magic number) 12 years ago (is that even true?) that hardly constitutes "dying", imho.
What am I missing?
I use discord for a few retro FPS games I enjoy (VERY small communities). The cool thing about discord is the realtime chat element discord has. I find that experience closer to IRC than forums truthfully. Discord also has voice chat for hands free gaming comms which forums don’t have either so forums very much are a really old format that unless you grew up using them or something similar, I don’t think you’re going to use.
My opinion is that when you take an old format like forums and add unthoughtful moderation and ban thinking, intelligent people who can self-moderate for unthinking, idiotic reasons - that action alone not only invalidates the forum format to young, curious people/would be users, you drive away the dwindling population of people who still use & see value in the format.
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I don't know whether this is a broad, pervasive trend. Some factors that might impact some forums:
1.) If it's an 'outdoorsy,' expensive hobby like scuba diving or I would assume skiing, as the cost of living has gone up and many people are more into online (and cheaper) forms of recreation, participation in the hobby declines, so online forum participation may.
2.) Alternatives - not just Facebook, etc., but YouTube influencer videos and websites with written articles offer a plethora of info. Yes, discussion forums are great for finding or asking for and receiving quality info. fast, but there are other ways to get that info.
3.) Benign Neglect. A forum may start out by a person with vision and a passion for the subject, who is joined by others sharing that mission. But 'Life' happens. People get old, financial wellbeing drops, kids happen, people die, etc. Eventually the forum may drift into the hands of people who care, just not as much, as it wasn't their 'baby.'
I don't think discussion forums will go extinct anytime soon.
1.) If it's an 'outdoorsy,' expensive hobby like scuba diving or I would assume skiing, as the cost of living has gone up and many people are more into online (and cheaper) forms of recreation, participation in the hobby declines, so online forum participation may.
2.) Alternatives - not just Facebook, etc., but YouTube influencer videos and websites with written articles offer a plethora of info. Yes, discussion forums are great for finding or asking for and receiving quality info. fast, but there are other ways to get that info.
3.) Benign Neglect. A forum may start out by a person with vision and a passion for the subject, who is joined by others sharing that mission. But 'Life' happens. People get old, financial wellbeing drops, kids happen, people die, etc. Eventually the forum may drift into the hands of people who care, just not as much, as it wasn't their 'baby.'
I don't think discussion forums will go extinct anytime soon.
this website and a cycling one are last 2 places I type, from 10?
seems to me the internet audience has gotten very closed minded and lacks a simple sense of humor.
many seem "arguing" is why we designed the internet in the early 1990s.
They’re expensive to host and most people figured they’d do the same sort of things via “free” social platforms and now “free” AI sites.
It doesn't help that a lot of the valuable content is being gobbled up by AI scrapers. They then regurgitate it in the form of an AI answer at the top of search results; completely bypassing the likes of MacRumors who originally hosted the content.
In the past, these referrals from the likes of Google would generate traffic and potential signups. Now the same people are never even seeing MacRumors because Google is providing an instant answer in-line via "Gemini".
So as some existing members lose interest in MR, they are not being supplanted by new registrations that landed here from a Google search. This leads to an inevitable decline in activity, content, and fresh ideas. This in turn leads more people to lose interest in MR and the vicious cycle goes on and on.
In the past, these referrals from the likes of Google would generate traffic and potential signups. Now the same people are never even seeing MacRumors because Google is providing an instant answer in-line via "Gemini".
So as some existing members lose interest in MR, they are not being supplanted by new registrations that landed here from a Google search. This leads to an inevitable decline in activity, content, and fresh ideas. This in turn leads more people to lose interest in MR and the vicious cycle goes on and on.
Never joined any of those, including WhatsApp. So no you are not the only one.
Never been on Discord or Reddit either.
Forums are still going to be around for as long as people like me who don't want to share my information with Facebook or Twitter are around.
I only ever use WhatsApp when working abroad as it is widely used on the work phones with which we have been issued, and we are obliged to use it.
However, I never use it on my private phone, something which Other Brother remonstrated with me for, as recently as today.
Have never used Instagram, Tiktok, FB, etc, and do not plan to change that.
I use Reddit, but whilst some mods on here can be stringent, well enforce the rules with no leeway lol that can be annoying, Reddit is a cesspit sometimes! It can be good, but it can just be an insult fest, it feels like it leans to one side of the political spectrum too. I have my feed set to just what I want to view which is tech stuff, but if you venture outside that oh boy.. People on here are ‘usually’ mature, but on Reddit they can do what they like or seems and it is bot central too, some stuff like dog videos are just regurgitated over and over and over due to bots farming it.
I use discord for the more sort of obscure stuff, like a motor racing game on mobile, it is released in Asia and looks good, so I follow it on their discord, also some of the You Tube channels I follow have Discords too.
Guess I put it like this.
Mac Rumors for Apple stuff. (But also I post a lot in the Community section like here)
Reddit for Apple and other tech brands.
Discord for specific things and You Tube channel forums
I tend to avoid Facebook. Zuckerberg is someone I really never liked and just think if he could get your would and sell it for profit he would.
Sadly Ai is taking over, and it scares me and I hate it, soon one day we will be talking to super smart Ai and not humans… and we will not know the difference. Google are building a quantum computer as I understand for their Ai and that is where I personally draw the line on it.
I use discord for the more sort of obscure stuff, like a motor racing game on mobile, it is released in Asia and looks good, so I follow it on their discord, also some of the You Tube channels I follow have Discords too.
Guess I put it like this.
Mac Rumors for Apple stuff. (But also I post a lot in the Community section like here)
Reddit for Apple and other tech brands.
Discord for specific things and You Tube channel forums
I tend to avoid Facebook. Zuckerberg is someone I really never liked and just think if he could get your would and sell it for profit he would.
Sadly Ai is taking over, and it scares me and I hate it, soon one day we will be talking to super smart Ai and not humans… and we will not know the difference. Google are building a quantum computer as I understand for their Ai and that is where I personally draw the line on it.
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I used AI today ... rather I was forced to.
This is a fantastic point.
MR overall has been a fun forum for Mac stuff but especially retro PowerPC and Early Intel Mac stuff and the communities around those sub forums specifically for me. I like the photography stuff as well truthfully but the moderation as of late has really ground my gears. It’s tough to see a space that has built up the community it has and risk that with poor moderation choices. It reminds me of the mgmt mantra - employees don’t leave companies, they leave bad managers and this essence holds true here - people don’t leave forums, they leave poor moderation. Thoughtfulness, nuance & context are crucial tools to moderation - more so than the rules themselves.
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Likely to the proliferation of social media and the desire of people who use TikTok, Discord, and Instagram to write very short responses. I think those platforms have their place, but I could never live without internet forums (and although this is the only one I'm really on, I deeply appreciate it).
I feel my time with Instagram has come to an end, I don't see a purpose behind being on it anymore. The past two months, I've just used it for DMs. When I get back up to college next week, I'm going to collect the last few phone numbers of people I need, and then probably delete my account.
Facebook I need for professional reasons, and many people I know INSIST, for some reason, on using Facebook Messenger for messaging. Ultimately, I have a feed-blocker extension on my computer, so Facebook is never a problem.
I used WhatsApp once, and it was fine, but that was the only time I did.
I feel my time with Instagram has come to an end, I don't see a purpose behind being on it anymore. The past two months, I've just used it for DMs. When I get back up to college next week, I'm going to collect the last few phone numbers of people I need, and then probably delete my account.
Facebook I need for professional reasons, and many people I know INSIST, for some reason, on using Facebook Messenger for messaging. Ultimately, I have a feed-blocker extension on my computer, so Facebook is never a problem.
AI is horrible, don't get me started on that. It is beyond dumb. Every time I have used it, I get back nothing more than a repeat of the question I posed to it, with some very apathetic, and probably inaccurate, "thinking" from it. Also, it doesn't understand context or nuance whatsoever, cannot accurately - or in a way that makes sense - explain complex problems, and, when asked for resources, it points me to things that either don't exist or that I cannot use.
WhatsApp was a pretty good app in the days when they purportedly charged users $1/year, and may very well be even better now, but I migrated away from it after Facebook gave Jan Koum and his partner the jackpot, and relived them from having to work another day in their lives.
One bit of good is that Brian Acton was the other half of that partnership, and he later went on to co-found and back Signal.
But, regardless of how apps/platforms/forums/etc. evolve and change, none of it matters if the users aren't worth a damn. They are the drivers, and can make even a crappy platform, like Reddit, or at least parts of it, palatable.
One bit of good is that Brian Acton was the other half of that partnership, and he later went on to co-found and back Signal.
But, regardless of how apps/platforms/forums/etc. evolve and change, none of it matters if the users aren't worth a damn. They are the drivers, and can make even a crappy platform, like Reddit, or at least parts of it, palatable.
I use Facebook very occasionally, Messenger a bit more often because some of my American relations insist on it, and WhatsApp and Signal very frequently.
Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Twitter and so on I find not worth getting involved in. The signal-to-noise ratio is so awful, what do you think to get out of it? I’ve just about wrangled YouTube’s algorithm into giving me some of what I want. Mainly video essays, football highlights, and the like.
As far as AI is concerned, I used to look for Alan Watts audio on YouTube, but now there is such a lot of AI-generated content that mimics his voice, that that is no longer a fun way of discovering the real Alan Watts. I think the music industry must be worried, let alone Hollywood over fan-produced, AI generated short films which have started appearing.
Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Twitter and so on I find not worth getting involved in. The signal-to-noise ratio is so awful, what do you think to get out of it? I’ve just about wrangled YouTube’s algorithm into giving me some of what I want. Mainly video essays, football highlights, and the like.
As far as AI is concerned, I used to look for Alan Watts audio on YouTube, but now there is such a lot of AI-generated content that mimics his voice, that that is no longer a fun way of discovering the real Alan Watts. I think the music industry must be worried, let alone Hollywood over fan-produced, AI generated short films which have started appearing.