Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

When will forums in general die?

  • Never

    Votes: 18 64.3%
  • 1 year from now

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • 2 years from now

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • 3 years from now

    Votes: 1 3.6%
  • 4 years from now

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 5 years from now

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • Other

    Votes: 5 17.9%

  • Total voters
    28
There will be Q&A forums in the foreseeable future.

One likelihood is that they will be different forums.

Online communities scale poorly. The software and servers are fine, it's a problem with the people. We see that here as well.

People will migrate to new and smaller online communities. Usually the best and the brightest are the first to leave for greener pastures elsewhere.
 
Some very good points made by both @Rhonindk and @Erehy Dobon;

I would imagine that this format will continue but will change, as online communication changes; I would see it as complementing, other, more popular (perhaps topical) formats, continuing to operate alongside them, as it fulfils a function, but neither supplanted nor replaced by them, instead, I would expect it to continue to co-exist alongside them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dk001 and max2
Of the Original Big Three providers; Compuserve, AOL, and Prodigy; only Prodigy has bitten the dust. Compuserve is over 50 years old and along with AOL now belongs to Verizon! 😊
 
Last edited:
I feel like forums have already died. Sure there’s a few that are still very active but pretty much every forum I used to hang out on has long been gone. I wish they would make a comeback though.
 
I see forums sticking around for quite some time.
Agreed.

Of the Original Big Three providers; Compuserve, AOL, and Prodigy; only Prodigy has bitten the dust. Compuserve is over 50 years old and along with AOL now belongs to Verizon! 😊

Well, I think that there is a distinction to be drawn between the concept of "forums" (fora?) - and whether announcing their demise is somewhat premature - and I think that it is - and the actual death of individual platforms some of which will die natural deaths through obsolescence, bankruptcy, takeovers, mergers, and so on.

Some of the finest - and most inventive and creative and original - automobile manufacturers of the early 20th century have long since bitten the proverbial dust, - but the motor-car is still with us.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Conutz
What I like most here is it is so diverse!

It is almost the most diverse community.
 
Regardless, the great thing about forums, sometimes we don’t find topics that were able to discuss with those around us in our communities or in our homes, therefore; we branch out to a wider audience across the world where others share similar interests, provide feedback, critical discussion, etc. That’s what I really like about Macrumors, is not just so much that is a ‘tech site’, but it’s dynamic side of people with many different experiences across an array of topics.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.