Are Forums Dying?

10-11-2018, 09:31 AM

Fitfattony Wrote: I have been a part of a number of different types of forums for a number of years. I found that the influx of members was attributed directly to a forums ability to provide a space for many types of conversations. Not just having a wide range of subject heading but actual members contributions to that particular subject.

The other factor I think is having a place to go to every day and build on friendships with those members. I was part of a few invite only forums about 15 years ago, and the communities while different would hang out in chat rooms and be able to shoot the shit or be there for support. Whether it was with a project (i used to work i web design) or someone was just having a rough time, I think even though there is so many social media forms out there now the place for forums on the internent will remain for those who enjoy this type of community

The problem I am seeing with forums lately, is the lack of conversation. As you stated forums stay alive based on member contribution. If there isn't anybody actually posting useful stuff or it's just a spam board, what's the point in staying active on that forum? I feel that chat rooms are a bit more important now, such as Discord, but either way (forums or chatrooms) you still need content. Without the content there is no use in staying on that site. For instance, a lot of forums now are using this anti-spam mod (Nulled being a prime example). Why set a limit on user posts if all they are going to do is spam your site and then the staff isn't going to clean up the spam posts? That's another issue. When people see those type of posts, most of the time their first impression is,

"This site has too much spam. I'm not gonna stay."

or they see that they have to reach a specific amount of posts to actually do anything within the forums, so they become the spammers and then once they are banned, they never return. That's a huge loss for the site. Losing members is an issue in forums.. Invite only sites are cool and all, but how do you build a community based on that? Only specific people are allowed.. Or they have to pay to get in. Not worth the time or effort so most people stay away from those. Idk, maybe my thoughts are way off? My opinion is only based off of what I am seeing lately.