So, why DID forums fall out of favor?

[MAR1]

I was young when forums were still the main places of discussion on the internet-- I remember going to them on occasion, or finding forum threads when I looked things up, but it feels like there's so few now, and what are there are extremely inactive.

Using this forum to help moderate TF2C has actually made me kinda appreciate forums a lot more, it's grown on me. and now it just leaves me wondering why they're so rare now! They're such a well organized, good place for thoughtful discussion, so much so I've actually joined another forum for splatoon and am trying to use it as well, though it's fairly unpopular in that community, due to having Discord and Twitter.

I like the format of forums though, and can really see why Vintage as so vehemently stuck by one when everyone else kinda scoffs at the prospect a lot of the time. I hope forums can make a resurgence. I wanna post forum weapons

 

[CompMeistR]

Probably one of the largest things is that, by it's very nature, it is nowhere near as easy to monetize forums, where people go to participate in meaningful discourse (generally), as it is to monetize a much larger majority of the populace (who could care less about thoughtful discussion) through advertisements on mindless platforms such as Twitter (again, generally).

 

[VintagePC]

I think there are a few things at play here:

- There's a reason we have both forums and a shoutbox; some things are just better organised in long-form threads that can be easily browsed at one's convenience, whereas other things are more convenient with a quick chat message.

- Where I find it always gets messy is when the two get mixed in IM services like slack/discord; then the long-form in-depth threads are effectively lost (nobody wants to scroll up and sift through hundreds of past messages to find one specific thing) amongst the casual chatter and a pain to find if you can't recall quite the right keywords to search for it. Let's face it, nobody goes back and reads anything older than a few days in discord or slack unless you're deliberately looking for something. Managing staff applications, ban appeals, etc, via discord would drive me bonkers.

- Most messaging platforms take part in push notifications which scratches that FOMO itch people tend to have these days due to being always connected and always online. Forums are from a more relaxed era where you sat down with the intention of reading what was new at a convenient time rather than as soon as it happened.

- And yes, we're fortunate to be in a position where we were able to go completely ad-free years ago and we've kept it ever since. It's a breath of fresh air from everywhere else where you are assaulted with messages and information telling you you must buy this or that thing for some bullshit reason

Just my 2 cents.

 

[MoiraPrime]

Half the issue too is that Reddit absorbed forums entirely. So for all the long form content that would've been on a blog or forum is now on Reddit, and all the stuff that would've been ICQ, XMPP, Skype, or Yahoo Messanger got absorbed into Telegram and Discord.

 

[TimeCrush]

Forums may have fallen out of style years ago; but damned if you don't check in on the few you have enjoyed now and then for ol' times sake.

 

[VintagePC]

ERMAGHERD A WILD TC