Making Forums More Popular in This Decade

[Retread]

Jul 5, 2020 5:15:42 GMT -8 :~:Sarapha:~: said:

I think it's the ability for instant replies and the more feeling of closeness that social media offers over forums. Yes, forums and social media are fundamentally different; but social media may, unfortunately, always outweigh forums. There is a sense of closeness in social media; you're literally following someone's life as it is happening, feeling that intimate connection.

While, on the other hand, forums are generally impersonal discussions. Sure, you can set your avatar as your own image, but you don't have the option to post daily images of your life without going through a lot of hoops and hurtles, third party hosting sites, etc. You can post threads where you update people on your daily events, but there isn't really a practical way to make that interactive.

The way to solve this issue is to recognize the differences between the two, and realize that comparing them is asinine. Both fulfill meaningful parts of society. Forums are an excellent resource for things like Role Play, lengthy discussion and debate, and conveying larger amounts of information. Social media is very bad for all of those things. Role play, because unless you create a whole new Facebook, it's hard to convey as a different character, and switching through accounts to post is a nightmare. Lengthy discussion and debate because of character limits.

Ultimately; people just need to get reacquainted with forums again.

I probably would have phrased the highlighted part differently. We certainly can compare them. But it's foolish to equate them or consider them interchangeable.

Aside from that, I completely agree with your assessment Forums vs Social Media.

Worth noting: The organization of posts on social media is profile-centric. With forums, it's topic-centric. Also, posts and replies on social media are 'threaded', meaning it's possible to reply directly to a reply rather than the original post and have the reply to the reply nested beneath the reply rather than have it appear chronologically with the replies that were previously made. Most forum structures don't use threaded view these days. They are strictly linear.

In my opinion, social media is a useful way to share information with your family and close friends. But I much prefer discussions with a larger group of 'strangers' who share certain of my interests.

[stardust]

I’m heavily active on several social media websites, but I also use forums a fair amount as well. I feel it’s probably due to the fact that I’ve been using forums since such a young age and that it’s just sort of.. habit? Routine? I just enjoy browsing forums. I have been using forums for a while. It would feel weird if I didn’t continue to use forums.

Plus, forums are such a unique and more intimate way of getting to know people and a good way to talk about specific topics. Sure there are groups and other stuff on social media websites, but those just have such a different feel than forums. I dunno how to describe it.

[Chani]

I really wish forums were more popular than they are. I've really missed the variety! It's become almost impossible to find a forum with good organization and an established community that matches my interests whereas it used to be as simple as making a quick search.  Perhaps running social media profiles for clients' businesses has ruined the fun of it for me, but I'm just plain tired of "conversations" consisting of mostly monosyllabic replies and emojis.

It just seems that nobody wants to have a real conversation about anything anymore. They want to stand on their soapbox, throw out their thoughts, and receive praise. They don't want their views challenged, just heard. They want to throw up selfies with quotes they don't understand as captions and get buried in Likes. They don't want to actually connect. It's no wonder depression is so high in a world that categorizes something so inherently isolating as "socializing."

I guess maybe I'm just old and stubborn. But there is also the chance that there are others who feel like I do and that forums will become more popular over time as more people reach out for something more substantial than social media posts. I think the fact that Reddit is booming proves that forums can work. I'll cling to my hopes and support Proboards in any way I can in the meantime!

[HoudiniDerek]

Jul 14, 2020 9:02:32 GMT -8 Chani said:

I really wish forums were more popular than they are. I've really missed the variety! It's become almost impossible to find a forum with good organization and an established community that matches my interests whereas it used to be as simple as making a quick search.  Perhaps running social media profiles for clients' businesses has ruined the fun of it for me, but I'm just plain tired of "conversations" consisting of mostly monosyllabic replies and emojis.

It just seems that nobody wants to have a real conversation about anything anymore. They want to stand on their soapbox, throw out their thoughts, and receive praise. They don't want their views challenged, just heard. They want to throw up selfies with quotes they don't understand as captions and get buried in Likes. They don't want to actually connect. It's no wonder depression is so high in a world that categorizes something so inherently isolating as "socializing."

I guess maybe I'm just old and stubborn. But there is also the chance that there are others who feel like I do and that forums will become more popular over time as more people reach out for something more substantial than social media posts. I think the fact that Reddit is booming proves that forums can work. I'll cling to my hopes and support Proboards in any way I can in the meantime!

Like most things, I'm sure it will come back around again.

However, in going off comments in the Deleting Forums thread, so many people do not know how to run a quality forum or get fed up and delete them, that it can be trying to keep at it.  In that sense, Facebook definitely makes it easier to interact with certain ideas and forums on their site.  Even if those get shut down or deleted, it's a one-stop shop to find another group there where there can be hundreds.  A forum is one place and if it closes, you have to search elsewhere for another and start over.  Sometimes with people you know, sometimes not.  

That being said, I think forums could come back, but they will have to avail themselves of staying power, quality members, and better outreach.

[Chani]

Jul 14, 2020 10:07:20 GMT -8 HoudiniDerek said:

Like most things, I'm sure it will come back around again.

However, in going off comments in the Deleting Forums thread, so many people do not know how to run a quality forum or get fed up and delete them, that it can be trying to keep at it. In that sense, Facebook definitely makes it easier to interact with certain ideas and forums on their site. Even if those get shut down or deleted, it's a one-stop shop to find another group there where there can be hundreds. A forum is one place and if it closes, you have to search elsewhere for another and start over. Sometimes with people you know, sometimes not.

That being said, I think forums could come back, but they will have to avail themselves of staying power, quality members, and better outreach.

This is all very true and something I was not considering. Creating and maintaining a good forum does require a particular skillset. Too often you see a forum with a good design but terrible organization, fantastic organization but no leadership skills, etc. Then you have a group of people who seem to enjoy the thrill of starting a new forum but don't want to follow through with advertising and maintenance; they fizzle out quickly.

We just have to hold out hope that more people will find forums worth the effort. I certainly think they are.