Forums still one of the best ways to communicate on the Internet?

[retta283]

I've been thinking about this recently, thought I'd post it to see other's opinions (biased due to this being a forum, but still interested). Forums to me were always my favorite way to communicate with people online, other than personal emails. I joined a number of forums in the late 90s/early 2000s, (blade forums, dslreports, civfanatics, etc) and enjoyed my time on most of them. I found the communities in most cases to be welcoming and helpful. I think the reason for this is that these forums are centered on a single topic or "genre" of content, so there's common ground and both sides are expected to have at least some knowledge. If not, a lot of users are interested enough in the subject to be willing to help someone else figure it out.

Comparing this to social media in particular, I see a huge difference. Twitter is the best example IMO, it has no focus whatsoever and it's a mess. I've seen people talking about computer hardware getting trashed on in the same thread of tweets for a political or scientific discussion they had at some earlier point. Things like these seem commonplace because the platform has no focus. I believe Jack Dorsey himself said he wants Twitter to be like a town hall, but what focus is that? It's very loose. This also applies to most other social media platforms. Not to say these things don't occur on forums, but it seems like it's very prevalent in more modern applications.

I think the above has a part in why forums are not as prominent as they once were. For me, I come here mostly for Mac discussion, I go to blade forums to talk knives, DSLR to talk hardware, and so on. Twitter or other platforms are more convenient in this way, as all of this discussion can go on under one site/app. While I understand the appeal of that, I believe the drawbacks negate enough that this is not worth it. I'd rather have 50 forums with good, meaningful discussion than 1 site with a mess of discussions and flaming.

I hope I got my point across here, and I'd be interested in seeing what others think about this.

 

[AustinIllini]

The concept of "threads" are missing on most social media. The idea that, if I'm in a mac enthusiast group on facebook, there wouldn't be one "Faulty Mac Keyboard" thread, there would be constant facebook updates over and over with the same complaint.

 

[tlnargi]

I kind of use Twitter to find out what to talk about in forums. Impossible to have a real discussion on social media.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Forums are more organized and while you can like something, you don't downvote anything, which is one of the things I don't like about Reddit.

 

[michael9891]

Forums are more organized and while you can like something, you don't downvote anything, which is one of the things I don't like about Reddit.

The laughing emoji does a decent job of letting someone know what you think on here.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

The laughing emoji does a decent job of letting someone know what you think on here.

Maybe it's just a psychological thing to me, but a laughing emoji is a lot less negative than a downvote. I mean yeah it could be negative, or you could just be laughing at a joke or a funny comment.

 

[michael9891]

Maybe it's just a psychological thing to me, but a laughing emoji is a lot less negative than a downvote. I mean yeah it could be negative, or you could just be laughing at a joke or a funny comment.

Definitely. I do use it when people are talking out their arse, because you're not allowed to tell them they are without a warning.

 

[Morris]

I have been wondering about this for long time. On the one hand I see a lot of forums emptying out, not as active or much smaller than they used to be. I thought this was largely due to social media. On the other hand, isn't Reddit just a giant forum? Perhaps it's not social media that is draining forums but it's Reddit.

The question then is, what makes Reddit so much more attractive than other forums?

I have been considering setting up a forum for a specific niche subject and can probably get a handful of people to join. The problem is that a forum only works if there are enough people. You need a critical mass for it to take off. That's why so many forums by people who thought they could start a forum because they can install PHPBB failed. If only a few people stop by a week it's destined to never take off.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I have been here 8 years. I guess forums are ok.

 

[mainelyme]

Yes definitely. While Reddit looks superficially like a forum of fora, it's more like one of those awful chan sites. Individuals have usernames, but they might as well not. In a real forum, you get to know people, and you develop a reputation, which keeps you from being a jerk. Also we have more freedom to include images and links and things in replies, and more than that, the interface itself encourages you to post substantive comments, rather than reactions. And, while I'm all for freedom of expression, moderation plays a big part.

I used to be a contributing member of many forums dedicated to esoteric interests I've had over the years. They were a large part of my youth, and I miss them. Most seem to have been subsumed into Reddit or Facebook, and that has ruined them.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I despise social media.
I love forums.
I miss IRC.
I am ok-ish with Reddit; it's great to ask/find for info even on the most esoteric of things but it could easily end up being a time-waster.

 

[yaxomoxay]

In a real forum, you get to know people, and you develop a reputation, which keeps you from being a jerk.

This x100.
On a humanity level, forums are way different than reddit and social media (meant as FB, IG, Twitter, etc.). I think it's because they work "backwards" and they are somewhat longform:

• On social media, especially Facebook and Instagram, you tend to know most of your contacts in real life. From this "real life" contact, you build your "social media" persona. Social media tends to take a "real life" friendship (potential or real) and strips it of its human elements, all in the name of "convenience" (want to share a picture of your kids with your friends? One click away. No need to write an email, no need to personalize etc.. It's even worse with birthday wishes, they are so impersonal of Facebook with its reminder that make the experience more depressing than a nice thing).
• Twitter is slightly different due to its "town hall" style, but at the end of the day, it's meant for quick and dirty back and forth, which end up being "gotcha" sessions. The fact that us mere mortal can "communicate" with so-called VIPs doesn't help either as their bad habits trickle down to us.
• Reddit is a mix between forums and Twitter. I think that reddit is more or less fine, but due to its size and its lack of focus (you can find subs of all kind) makes it totally impersonal.
• Forums, if well built and managed, need for human capital in written, long form. One liners are really not effective on forums, and most people WANT to engage in conversations. I think that forums take virtual friendships as humanizes them towards real virtual friendships and in some cases even true real-life friendships. One of my dearest real-life friends was met on a forum about 15 years ago. Same for other acquaintances.

 

[Plutonius]

I've been thinking about this recently, thought I'd post it to see other's opinions (biased due to this being a forum, but still interested). Forums to me were always my favorite way to communicate with people online, other than personal emails. I joined a number of forums in the late 90s/early 2000s, (blade forums, dslreports, civfanatics, etc) and enjoyed my time on most of them. I found the communities in most cases to be welcoming and helpful. I think the reason for this is that these forums are centered on a single topic or "genre" of content, so there's common ground and both sides are expected to have at least some knowledge. If not, a lot of users are interested enough in the subject to be willing to help someone else figure it out.

Comparing this to social media in particular, I see a huge difference. Twitter is the best example IMO, it has no focus whatsoever and it's a mess. I've seen people talking about computer hardware getting trashed on in the same thread of tweets for a political or scientific discussion they had at some earlier point. Things like these seem commonplace because the platform has no focus. I believe Jack Dorsey himself said he wants Twitter to be like a town hall, but what focus is that? It's very loose. This also applies to most other social media platforms. Not to say these things don't occur on forums, but it seems like it's very prevalent in more modern applications.

I think the above has a part in why forums are not as prominent as they once were. For me, I come here mostly for Mac discussion, I go to blade forums to talk knives, DSLR to talk hardware, and so on. Twitter or other platforms are more convenient in this way, as all of this discussion can go on under one site/app. While I understand the appeal of that, I believe the drawbacks negate enough that this is not worth it. I'd rather have 50 forums with good, meaningful discussion than 1 site with a mess of discussions and flaming.

I hope I got my point across here, and I'd be interested in seeing what others think about this.

Probably in the past but it seems now like people only want to hear what they agree with no matter what the forum is.

 

[jwip]

I kind of use Twitter to find out what to talk about in forums. Impossible to have a real discussion on social media.

It all gets lost in the shuffle.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Yeah, it still depends on the people who are on the forum to begin with. Like the people complaining about other people's taste in iOS 14 widgets right now are not really adding to the discussion. It's like someone with a DSLR telling people with their smartphones that their pictures don't look as good as theirs (and no, a lot don't, but the actual photographer doesn't need to waste their time trying to convince them).

Compared to those on social media, we are having better conversations about this pandemic because it's actually people talking about their lives right now and they're not telling other people what they should be doing with this time or just sharing news stories/science research/and government updates.

 

[retta283]

A lot of great points raised that I did not include in my original post. One thing I did want to touch on was Reddit, @yaxomoxay pretty much sums up what I think about it. It's a mix of social media and forum, but it's too wide-focus to build the same kinds of communities that forums do. I know most of the people that I see post here, at least I recognize their username/picture.

 

[eyoungren]

…you don't downvote anything, which is one of the things I don't like about Reddit.

When I joined this forum in 2011 there was a downvote button. Presumably that button had been there for quite some time, but I only assume that because I wasn't here when the forum actually started.

That said, there's a reason there is no longer a down vote button. All it took was a forum wide down vote/up vote war that happened a year or so after I joined for the admin to remove the downvote button.

That button has never returned.

 

[eyoungren]

Internet forums developed naturally from the old Bulletin Board Systems in the 80s and 90s, as well as from chat rooms on the online services (such as AOL, CompuServe, Prodigy, etc).

With a BBS and chat rooms, these existed for a particular subject, so you could expect that the people there were going to talk about that. Getting online was a hassle so you were invested in the subject - unlike now where internet connections are hot and you can spend your entire day in a browser going nowhere. It's much easier to talk about nothing, especially when people use the 'net because they're bored.

I frequent forums because my introverted personality seeks meaningful discourse with other like-minded souls. That's kind of the difference I think. Relationships on social media tend to be superficial or transitory, while forum relationships are developed over time and have a certain sense of attachment.

That's been my experience anyway.

 

[yaxomoxay]

That button has never returned.

The downvote button ("disagree") is available on the news articles.

 

[compwiz1202]

Probably in the past but it seems now like people only want to hear what they agree with no matter what the forum is.

This is why I don't necessarily think downvotes aren't the exact problems. It's a tool being used improperly again. I only downvote if someone is breaking a rule and/or being rude or is stating something obviously factually incorrect. Not an opinion. The problem is people downvote for anything. Facts are right or wrong, but not opinions. Might not be how I feel, but it's not inherently wrong.

 

[NT1440]

I don’t have any social media.

Forums allow for meaningful discussion, social media is engineered for engagement and addiction.

I’m a member of MR, and two DIY Volvo repair forums, that’s it.

I’ve got enough to do every day without the mental stress of maintaining an online presence everyday.

 

[Tech198]

I despise social media.
I love forums.
I miss IRC.
I am ok-ish with Reddit; it's great to ask/find for info even on the most esoteric of things but it could easily end up being a time-waster.

IRC was good before Ausnet caved in. After that, it kinda went down-hill and less enjoyable. (Efnet and Dalnet were my 2nd and 3rd choices.) bu only because i'm in Australia

I spend 90% of my time on forums.

.. and i've only posted on Reddit few times,

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Regardless of what you call them: chat rooms, social media, forums, groups, spaces, comment systems, discussion boards, etc., they are all essentially the same in goal: places for people with similar interests to discuss.

They are all online communities. Usenet, IRC, MySpace, Twitter, Google Groups, Instagram, Nextdoor, Twitch, whatever. It really doesn't matter what the name of today's hot thing is or how you try to categorize it.

I've been on a few of the social media services during their infancy when there were maybe only a few hundred users actively posting. That includes pre-smartphone era Twitter when people were mostly just using SMS. The early days of Flickr and later Instagram. You'd see the same early adopters every time using the same handles.

Hell, I've forgotten more places I've passed through than those I can remember. Some I can remember: Diaspora (FB alternative), Tribe.net, Path, imeem.

The most important thing to understand regarding Internet interaction: online communities scale poorly. That's not a system or software problem. That's an inherent limitation of human interaction.

Twenty years ago, there were geeky people talking about scalable systems for online communities. It turns out that the software isn't the limiting factor. It's online human behavior that doesn't scale.

Services like Nextdoor can feasibly exist over the long haul because they are geographically based neighborhoods with a finite number of interested participants.

The primary way for a growing forum/online community to survive is to subdivide into smaller groups. On Reddit, they have subreddits, often about very esoteric and specific topics. Here at MR, there are various forums that are often split into subforums (like MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air); while these subfora are typically based on topic, they do also provide the benefit of limiting the number of participants. There are people who almost exclusively post in the Community Discussion group. There are others who primarily hang out in the political forum. Some post mostly to the gaming sections or Alternatives to Mac.

On unchecked communities, you either see fracturing or you see people move on to the new New Thing. More often than not the New Thing ends up being a dead end. In many cases, the New Thing might be cool for a while (like Snapchat) then becomes uncool. Remember that even Facebook was perceived as "cool" in its infancy when membership was limited to college students. Now it looks like the jury selection room at the county courthouse or the waiting area at the DMV.

The other category that tends to survive better are private, invitation-only groups. These are basically the country clubs/private societies of the Internet. New members need to be vouched for by an existing member. Some of the real-world, meat-space versions have survived for centuries.

In a way, churches are very similar. They maintain a manageable size by limiting the congregation size. New congregations emerge when there's a critical mass of adherents in a geographically contiguous region.

Soon I will move from MacRumors to something else. It's inevitable and I don't expect to have regrets in leaving this place behind. MacRumors will end up as just another one of the hundreds of online communities I have passed through. I can remember many of the physical real life neighbors over decades but I can't even remember what anyone online said last week.

 

[Huntn]

Forums are the best for me. Threads being organized by topic is an easy to follow structure. I have a twitter account, but don’t use it other than pulling up a posted link, infrequently. My wife participates on Facebook in discussions usually politically oriented, and it’s best described as the jungle, and there are no quoted replies, so you have to address the person you are replying to, not nearly as good as a quoted reply. Threads becone long rambling messes.

 

[ghboard2010]

The laughing emoji does a decent job of letting someone know what you think on here.

I could not control myself, I had to do it.