Have forums had their day?

sscott · Post by **sscott** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:46 pm

Not this one before the old regulars accuse me of doom and gloom but the general forum format? Have some of the old regulars moved to social media? Long live our forum, I have been here over 8 year and I can genuinely say it has a positive impact on me, noticed that the events get only 10% comments compared to what the used to and new members are few and far between, I dunno... Thoughts?

DPrinny · Post by **DPrinny** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 1:22 pm

All sings point to yes, I have been foruming for well over 10 years and did see the forum boom where there was bloody loads of them, these days there's things like the near endless "chan" sites, Redit, facebook, twitter to name a few

David · Post by **David** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 1:23 pm

I am not on any sort of social media at all.

this is like state of the art for me

although it is quite fitting if forums are now "retro"

rocky1980 · Post by **rocky1980** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 1:59 pm

Back in the early 2000's forums were going great guns. Pages of new threads and replies every day. Now they are not fast enough for people, its all twitter, Facebook, instagram. People do not like writing more than a few sentences. Another issue and what I think is a real big on is forums do not look good on tablets or phones no matter what software you use they are not designed for small screens.

The Beans · Post by **The Beans** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:25 pm

Yes, forums have had their day. They're being supplanted by faster, sleeker and generally nattier forms of communication. Such is the way of things.
We ourselves are also in the process of being replaced. By gamers who Twitch and prefer watching a Youtube talking head instead of reading the written word. In the not too distant future there will be a distinct shortage of interest in Manic Miner and all that other prehistoric 8-bit stuff as our generation hands on the gaming baton to increasingly younger people who just can't stop spelling "lose" as "loose" for some reason. This also, is the way of things.

David · Post by **David** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 2:36 pm

and spelling off as of, where as were, aargh drives me mental

HalcyonDaze00 · Post by **HalcyonDaze00** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 3:01 pm

no.

football forums are still hugely popular, as are some of the book, film and music forums.

I also think that dedicated fans of anything still get more out of detailed forum chat than they do on social media.

Certainly the younger generation prefer facebook/twitter etc as that is what they have been brought up with, but there is clearly still a place for forums and that will remain the case for some time yet.

this place is not a good example for judging the general health of forums as it has never been a hive of activity.

skodathegreat · Post by **skodathegreat** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 3:09 pm

HalcyonDaze00 wrote:no.

football forums are still hugely popular, as are some of the book, film and music forums.

I also think that dedicated fans of anything still get more out of detailed forum chat than they do on social media.

Certainly the younger generation prefer facebook/twitter etc as that is what they have been brought up with, but there is clearly still a place for forums and that will remain the case for some time yet.

this place is not a good example for judging the general health of forums as it has never been a hive of activity.

This. I am active on a football forum, and for the fan base it is quite active.
You just need to look at the Pie & Bovril too (Scottish Football forum) to see how active a forum can be.

IronMaidenRule · Post by **IronMaidenRule** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 3:13 pm

Maybe it is a case of trimming away the fat, all the useless boring one have fallen away and ones likes this very forum where people have a healthy interest in the subject will keep on going.

psj3809 · Post by **psj3809** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 4:34 pm

I think 'our generation' are still fine with forums, younger gamers might be facebook only. Many of us are on facebook and forums.

Over the years i've got more used to Facebook and dont hate it as much as i used to, still see a lot of people posting their life story/photos of meals on facebook daily which is frustrating.

Linkedin is getting a 'bit' like facebook now, getting lots of requests on that from people who i dont have anything common with jobwise.

flatapex · Post by **flatapex** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 4:41 pm

well, I would usually say there is plenty of life in forums, then a few days ago I started working on a replacement for a forum I moderated on for 6 years and where I learned about organising swaps/secret santas etc.

The attitudes have ranged from glad it was back, to basically turning round and saying they were not coming back, I wanted just one person to say 'thanks for the work you have put in Andy', but not one person has done so, and they all know it was myself that built a lot of it, with my friend doing the rest, they have not thanked her either.

They would all be talking away on a facebook group chat, I would add that I had added different things and asked what else they wanted, it was all just expected.

Rayne · Post by **Rayne** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 4:45 pm

IronMaidenRule wrote:Maybe it is a case of trimming away the fat, all the useless boring one have fallen away and ones likes this very forum where people have a healthy interest in the subject will keep on going.

I like to think this is the case, in my endless googling for work I often find answers to bizarre questions on forums bristling with people dedicated to the weirdest things (advanced excel, grass roots marketing, sewing, microwave cookery

). I see the appeal of social media, Reddit and so on but I really have no interest in it.

sscott · Post by **sscott** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:31 pm

The Beans wrote:Yes, forums have had their day. They're being supplanted by faster, sleeker and generally nattier forms of communication. Such is the way of things.
We ourselves are also in the process of being replaced. By gamers who Twitch and prefer watching a Youtube talking head instead of reading the written word. In the not too distant future there will be a distinct shortage of interest in Manic Miner and all that other prehistoric 8-bit stuff as our generation hands on the gaming baton to increasingly younger people who just can't stop spelling "lose" as "loose" for some reason. This also, is the way of things.

The worst misspelling of all at school, loose! Ha!

Katzkatz · Post by **Katzkatz** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 5:51 pm

David wrote:and spelling off as of, where as were, aargh drives me mental

Doez ya spk Inglsh Davd? Txt spk. The ban of the modern English language!

Megamixer · Post by **Megamixer** » Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:01 pm

I don't think so...not completely anyway. I think there will always be certain subjects that will thrive with forums. I see car and PC/tech support forums still going really strong for example. On the gaming front, Eurogamer is still extremely active.

Personally I'd rather read an in-depth opinion or detailing of something I'm interested in than a six word sentence that somebody was too lazy to expand on in the world of social media.

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