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Huntn
macrumors Penryn
Imo Discord sucks because of its structure, it’s much harder to locate posts and threads than BBs with a structure such as here and most of the forums I visit. Discord is my last choice for anything other than voice chat and even there I prefer TeamSpeak.
SnowPenguin
macrumors 6502
I agree! It's chaotic. I can't imagine the huge amount of lost information we will lose if it was shut down, compared to the many forums you can still access today (sometimes via the wayback machine).
Sh3ldon
macrumors regular
I think AI will never be able to replace the human brain. Just as I wouldn't seek treatment from an AI if I needed medical care, I prefer interacting with people rather than a bot.
I see forums as vinyl is to music. Unfortunately, we old folks will be the only ones to benefit from them, and the new generations will rely on AI.
But hope is the last to die: hasn't there been a rediscovery of vinyl in recent years?
I see forums as vinyl is to music. Unfortunately, we old folks will be the only ones to benefit from them, and the new generations will rely on AI.
But hope is the last to die: hasn't there been a rediscovery of vinyl in recent years?
TumbleDryer
macrumors 603
I had to sign up to discord for 'support' on something and I can't even describe what I was met with! It was an abomination of words, usernames, animated gifs, multiple coloured everything. Stuff moving around everywhere, no search tool. I thought I'd gone back in time to 1997.
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maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
I've needed to use discord once or twice and it was horrible, I'm largely off of it. I guess they're having a major issue, where they are forcing all members to submit a picture of your face so AI can determine if you're an adult, or a photo id. Otherwise they'll restrict access, i.e., consider you a juvenile. Oh by the way, their security protocols in protecting your information was so good, that hackers stole government IDs of 70,000 users
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adrianlondon
macrumors 604
I've never even bothered to find out what Discord is, let alone use it.
I do read some groups on Reddit. I even created an account so I could limit my entrypoint to just those groups, but I've never posted and don't intend to.
WhatsApp I use for chatting (text or video) with friends. I don't see its relevance to this topic as it's not a forum, is it? It's a chatting tool, like iMessage.
I've had a Facebook account for years and use it quite regularly to admin the expat group I'm a member of, and to share photos with friends and family. I don't use it as a forum replacement though, as I don't see it as a place hosting useful info. It's all bots and people posting a picture for discussion that they ripped from someone else who posted the same picture a few weeks ago. Ah, that's like Reddit too 🙂
This forum - MacRumors - well yeah, I post regularly! Here I am!
There was an expat forum I was a member, and prolific poster, of for a few years but two things happened to it: One, the moderation sucked badly, and they effectively killed it. Two, new expats (mainly younger ones) never joined and so it was just people posting 10 year out-of-date info as that was the correct answer when they arrived, and refused to believe that things might have changed. I went from a few posts a day (there was a very friendly group of people there!) to deleting my account and going cold turkey.
What that taught me is that, after a week or two, one forgets about the forum. That means I could do exactly the same here on MacRumors and after a short period of time I'd never look at it again. Argh - I don't like typing the word rumours incorrectly.
I do read some groups on Reddit. I even created an account so I could limit my entrypoint to just those groups, but I've never posted and don't intend to.
WhatsApp I use for chatting (text or video) with friends. I don't see its relevance to this topic as it's not a forum, is it? It's a chatting tool, like iMessage.
I've had a Facebook account for years and use it quite regularly to admin the expat group I'm a member of, and to share photos with friends and family. I don't use it as a forum replacement though, as I don't see it as a place hosting useful info. It's all bots and people posting a picture for discussion that they ripped from someone else who posted the same picture a few weeks ago. Ah, that's like Reddit too 🙂
This forum - MacRumors - well yeah, I post regularly! Here I am!
There was an expat forum I was a member, and prolific poster, of for a few years but two things happened to it: One, the moderation sucked badly, and they effectively killed it. Two, new expats (mainly younger ones) never joined and so it was just people posting 10 year out-of-date info as that was the correct answer when they arrived, and refused to believe that things might have changed. I went from a few posts a day (there was a very friendly group of people there!) to deleting my account and going cold turkey.
What that taught me is that, after a week or two, one forgets about the forum. That means I could do exactly the same here on MacRumors and after a short period of time I'd never look at it again. Argh - I don't like typing the word rumours incorrectly.
I use Discord only to get updates on game mods and to provide operational feedback to the mod developers.
One reason:
The owners of the forums will get old one day and there is no one to inherit the forum from. And it happens that "the plug is pulled out of the wall"
Second reason:
A black hole has emerged - Facebook. It draws most young people into it and no one is interested in regular forums anymore. The only hope for the forum owners is that Facebook will be banned in their country and then the number of visitors to the forums will increase again.
One reason:
The owners of the forums will get old one day and there is no one to inherit the forum from. And it happens that "the plug is pulled out of the wall"
Second reason:
A black hole has emerged - Facebook. It draws most young people into it and no one is interested in regular forums anymore. The only hope for the forum owners is that Facebook will be banned in their country and then the number of visitors to the forums will increase again.
adrianlondon
macrumors 604
I thought FB was only for oldies like me? I'm not noticing an influx of young people.
rm5
macrumors 601
Nope, I’m on it! And I’m just about to turn 21 years old. I know a lot of older folks so that’s primarily why I use it.
Facebook has the critical mass that most people and businesses one might want to connect with are on it, and some businesses (including schools, etc.) put out public notices on it. So, even if you don't like Facebook, if your kid's school posts whether it's taken some snow days or NTI days due to upcoming bad weather, or you want to know of the Veterinary practice you use is closed due to snow and ice, or you want to see school sports competition photos posted online, or you just want the option to get messages and shares from family and friends, Facebook is the way.
Some may say there are workarounds for those things. Yes, if the business updates their answering service automated message and/or has a website instead of relying on Facebook, and if your social network all use WhatsApp or similar, etc. Even organizations that use another system are likely to post to Facebook, too (since many in the public already understand how to use Facebook).
I don't know how much youth engage with Facebook, but it stands to reason a great many still maintain accounts there.
After all, we don't all use TikTok, Instagram, SnapChat, Discord, Reddit, WhatsApp, etc. Facebook is kind of a de facto universal social network in the U.S.; the others are niche. Some have enormous niches, granted.
adrianlondon
macrumors 604
No. I don't have ascount in facebook 🙂 If there's an account with my name on it, it's fake! In better times there were about 20 of these fakes.
ClaraStahlbaum
macrumors 6502a
I much prefer forums/boards to that of instant message platforms such as Discord. I use Discord, because I am pretty much forced to in order to engage in the communities I am involved in. Discord itself is really not that great of a platform, and a lot of their decisions in the past few years are unethical. The nostalgia I have for long defunct Forums is a powerful one.
Sh3ldon
macrumors regular
But we have to admit, we nostalgic forum users are doomed to extinction. Let's hold on to these last remaining reserves (besides MR, I only frequent one other forum) and hope they last as long as possible.
It's a real shame, because, when well-moderated, they're, in my opinion, the best way to delve deeper into a discussion, be it technical, philosophical, political, or any other topic.
And above all, they provide a space for reflection, something that Facebook, Discord, and others make more difficult because they "require" quicker and more immediate responses.
It's a real shame, because, when well-moderated, they're, in my opinion, the best way to delve deeper into a discussion, be it technical, philosophical, political, or any other topic.
And above all, they provide a space for reflection, something that Facebook, Discord, and others make more difficult because they "require" quicker and more immediate responses.
ClaraStahlbaum
macrumors 6502a
That may very well be the case. I really do miss the internet as it was in the early 2000's and 2010's. After 2020 or so, it really began to fall off in my opinion. Now we have AI running loose everywhere and day by day, the internet feels more and more fake. Which is why I do my best to ignore the slop content on social media and focus my time on more down to Earth places, like this one.
When internet forums are well moderated, they will do quite well. This one is well moderated and it has a very active community, which is because it revolves around one of the largest corporations on the planet and most of us are Apple users in one way or another, so it is something common for us to rally around. A lot of other forums have died out due to poor moderation, or a lack of a cohesive bond.
MacRumors has been my most consistently visited forum lately - I've had pretty interesting discussion and debates here. There are a few other forums I visit, but not as much as this one.
Discord is good for keeping in touch with close friends but other than that it's a total waste of time. Discord is plagued by constant scandals and issues, the stereotypes are true to some extent. Discord is an example of putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping nothing happens. When Discord dies/goes out, it will be a cataclysm that would see years and years of history lost, with no chance of recovery.
Apple fanboy
macrumors Ivy Bridge
Don’t put anything personal on the web period!
This is why I don't think they'll die. Yes, you can get non-controversial short answer responses on Facebook, if you find a page frequented by adequately knowledgeable people on the topic of interest. But as you describe, that model doesn't serve well for deeper exploration.
Lately, there have been threads on MR discussing 5K and 6K display options. I started a thread detailing my 'journey into the world of network-attached storage' and covered a range of topics I had to deal with in making a fairly informed decision. Somebody asked recently about security cameras. There was a thread about keyboard options - switch vs. mechanical, Apple Magic Keyboard vs. a Logitech option, etc.
And it's not just about getting an answer, but also finding a non-brand-specific information repository. I consider Mac Rumors 'neutral ground' to ask about things like CalDigit vs. other brands of Thunderbolt dock, different brands and models of displays in a class, etc.
The community aspect is also key. On Mac Rumors, large numbers of people with varied knowledge of Macs, iOS devices and tech. tend to congregate in a way they're not on Facebook. This is where people step up with tidbits like it's not just the connection between device (e.g.: NAS, dock) and Mac that determines data throughput, but PCI lanes allocated to drive bays or ports, etc.
Perhaps that's a differentiator. Mainstream social media appeals to superficially involved people with a one-time question or two but aren't looking to 'hang out' for the give and take of a specialty community.
Huntn
macrumors Penryn
Discord is awful for organization of topics and conversations. I hate that format. I only use it for in-game chat (when gaming 😉) and it was chosen, not by me. For that, I prefer Team Speak.
Scepticalscribe
macrumors Haswell
Completely agree with all of you.
To my mind, Discord is one of the most horrible things that I have ever encountered online, and is something that I will never voluntarily use again.
rm5
macrumors 601
I think Discord has its perks, but only if you actually have a reason to use it. It should never be used as a substitute for email or even instant messaging with just one person (we have Outlook and iMessage for that). The fact that you can have multiple "channels" for talking about different things keeps everything organized, which I like. I'm only in one Discord server anymore, which I'm just in because I've gotten to know the people well and it's very small. I'm going to keep Discord around JUST because of that one server I'm in - otherwise, I'd probably get rid of it.
And oh boy, Instagram is a whole 'nother can of worms. THAT may be the worst platform I have ever encountered online. I regret joining, it's deteriorated my mental health - it's actually made my life worse. I would leave, except there are a few specific people for whom Instagram DMs are the easiest way to reach them.
And oh boy, Instagram is a whole 'nother can of worms. THAT may be the worst platform I have ever encountered online. I regret joining, it's deteriorated my mental health - it's actually made my life worse. I would leave, except there are a few specific people for whom Instagram DMs are the easiest way to reach them.