Are forums dying as a species?

Just wondering what generally people think about forums dying as a species? Has social networking taken over from forums in your eyes? I know only a few months ago there was the highest number of users recorded on this forum ever - so maybe not? But things like Reddit, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook among others seem to be taking up more and more of peoples time. Is there enough time and space for all of them to co-exist? I'd be interested in hearing others thoughts...

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iBrokeIT

I wouldn't say forums are dying and going away but they are declining in popularity. It takes little to no technical knowledge and a lot less time to create a Facebook page or sub-Reddit for a group/interest then it does to setup and configure a forum. When you take that in consideration the trend shouldn't be that surprising.

networker050184

Well, probably not the most unbiased group to ask, but I think it depends on the content. The more main stream the topic the less likely a forum is to thrive on the subject when you can just post to Facebook and anyone can answer it.

Chitownjedi

Yes because the declining in usage and popularity would also cover the "species" comparison.
Message boards requires more patience, and building. You get used to speaking about certain topics, and level of quality is formed, you get to know people and personalities...

In the new day in age the last thing in the world the majority of people want to do is be invested in anything... everything has to be instant, fast, hit it quit it.. in essence... but message boarding tends to build something that can last and require a growth aspect. Just like how emails started to decline with SMS got bigger, and now SMS is getting less prevalent as IM'ing is in the forefront, then Snap chat, maybe one day folks will just start talking face to face again, but that might be to slow...

Shdwmage

I miss the old days of forum role playing games. -_-

MTciscoguy

I own and operate 11 different forum systems and have for a number of years now, I have seen nothing but an increase in my users the last couple of years and increasing traffic, you can specialize when you have a forum, I find Facebook to generalized and to much going on most of the time, if I am searching for a particular subject matter, I still get the fluff stuff that clouds up the topic I am looking for. In addition, I don't have to put up with the popups and advertising on the social networking websites.

jvrlopez

The forums I visit are no where near the level of activity I saw from 2000-2005.

Jon_Cisco

When you say dying are you thinking long term? In a few hundred billion years the universe might collapse on itself.

I think forums have there place but they will probably continue to decline as new technology is developed. Kids that grew up with facebook accounts and cell phones in middle school are not likely to embrace something as dull as a forum. However I personally enjoy getting a feel for the members personalities and following our learning together. So at 41 years old I hope they stick around for at least another 24 years.

Jon

Asif Dasl

Jon_Cisco wrote: »

When you say dying are you thinking long term? In a few hundred billion years the universe might collapse on itself.

Interesting views so far! I don't know, both short term and long term I guess but not long enough that the sun explodes and takes us all with it!

I suppose there is a certain anonymity with forums unlike social networking that could still stand the test of time - but just noticing people over the last couple of months here saying "oh, on twitter" or "it's on reddit already"... Friday Fun hasn't had a post in months and months - just the thought occured to me that maybe forums aren't what they used to be. I dunno maybe things are changing? I just thought I would ask the collective question...

10Linefigure

I think this one still attracts new members, new technology = new questions and as a community you guys seem to have it covered lol.

Kinet1c

Better web filtering within commerical environments - a lot of traffice to sites would've been during work hours
vBulletin's change in pricing a few years back - some sites would be too costly to maintain (can't remember specifics but know they changed something )
I'd imagine facebook has definitely played it's part whereas I think twitter has created a market as opposed to stealing from a pre-existing one.

MTciscoguy

phoeneous wrote: »

I say we bring back bbs.

Ya right, how many on here do you think actually know what a BBS is?

LMFAO!

Plantwiz

phoeneous wrote: »

I say we bring back bbs.

And L.O.R.D!

No forums are not dying...at least not with smart people. And you all are here posting in the thread

JoJoCal19

MTciscoguy wrote: »

Ya right, how many on here do you think actually know what a BBS is?

LMFAO!

Man, I'm "only" 32 but I remember BBS' all during high school. Thinking that far back makes me feel really, really old.

Trashman

BBS and IRC forever.

https://stallman.org/facebook.html

Params7

On the contrary I think they are getting popular. People who spend all their time on Facebook, Twitter etc are the kind who would have never joined a message board in the first place. Though I do think Reddit/4chan and similar imageboards do take some share away from the message board traffic.

Kelkin

phoeneous wrote: »

I say we bring back bbs.

Now those were days..

Plantwiz wrote: »

And L.O.R.D!

and Tradewars!

MTciscoguy

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Man, I'm "only" 32 but I remember BBS' all during high school. Thinking that far back makes me feel really, really old.

BBS's in 2000? I am talking about the late 70's early 80's I graduated a few years before you were even born! LOL By 2000 my wife had been running her web design company for 5 years! heck the BBS I am talking about, was either green or amber text only screens, hooked up a computer running at 4mghz and our modems, were 300 baud if we were lucky!

Now those were the days!

paul78

MTciscoguy wrote: »

... our modems, were 300 baud if we were lucky!

My Novation CAT was not only 300 baud but also full-duplex. I was considered so hip.

@Asif Dasl - I personally can't imagine that forums would go away entirely. There'll always be a place for something similar. It may just evolve like BBS's, USENET, etc. As of being replaced by LinkedIn, Facebook, and social media channels - I don't think that would happen. I don't use Facebook or even LinkedIn for professional or business postings because I won't risk disclosing my identity. My employer frowns upon any public comment which maybe construed as related to my employer - for example - I'm not allowed to blog about anything related to IT without every article being reviewed by the marketing police. I even got into trouble once because I was quoted in a press release and the quote wasn't approved. So forums like TE where I can offer my own views is a great outlet for people like me.

JeanM

paul78 , agreed.

social media sites have their "roles" , but I don't see forums going away, and usenet and bbs is still alive.

JockVSJock

Asif Dasl wrote: »

Just wondering what generally people think about forums dying as a species? Has social networking taken over from forums in your eyes? I know only a few months ago there was the highest number of users recorded on this forum ever - so maybe not? But things like Reddit, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook among others seem to be taking up more and more of peoples time. Is there enough time and space for all of them to co-exist? I'd be interested in hearing others thoughts...

I don't necessary agree with forums dying.

As for quoting TechExams Hompage stats, I think during the fall/winter months there are more people on the forums due to weather, if you are in the northern hemisphere.

JoJoCal19

MTciscoguy wrote: »

BBS's in 2000? I am talking about the late 70's early 80's I graduated a few years before you were even born! LOL By 2000 my wife had been running her web design company for 5 years! heck the BBS I am talking about, was either green or amber text only screens, hooked up a computer running at 4mghz and our modems, were 300 baud if we were lucky!

Now those were the days!

Haha yea you know the real old school. Guess I dont feel too old now. It's more like Jr High through first couple of years of High School. 1994-1998. I remember I was into computer hardware and I had a couple of friends during those years that were into the software side, reading freaking programming books, playing those online role playing games on the BBSs, the green text on black screen you speak of. Back then I just did not understand the point of playing a game with text only. I was too into my N64 and Playstation. And now that I am grown up in the IT world, I actually can appreciate how smart those friends were, who could freaking code programs at 15 years old. I know one went straight out of high school into a programming job with Modis.

paul78

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

I just did not understand the point of playing a game with text only.

Since we are going off-topic -

- nethack, hunt, and corewars are still 3 of my all-time favourite games. Besides all good unix admins need to learn vi so there's nothing better at improving your vi navigation skills than a brisk game of nethack.

tpatt100

I think forums will always be around but they were always a niche thing anyways. I have been a member of different forums for different interests for as long as I can remember and before that I was a regular on a couple of BBS. A forum is more of a close knit family of sorts and something like Facebook encourages "drive by dumbassery" because people don't invest enough time to a particular group to develop an online reputation.

Also with forums if I lose interest and go away it doesn't follow me like social media does.

Snow.bros

I don't want to be bias but forums are dying as species, well at-least slowly but surely, IMHO forums are just too dull (no offense) but interesting and they are subject specific as opposed to social site like facebook which are focused on many subjects and let's not forget that websites are part of technology, somebody out there will always want to add into the website trends with new and innovative ideas. If forums don't upgrade their resources to make them more interesting people will eventually lose interest in forums when there is something better out there.

MTciscoguy

Snow.bros wrote: »

I don't want to be bias but forums are dying as species, well at-least slowly but surely, IMHO forums are just too dull (no offense) but interesting and they are subject specific as opposed to social site like facebook which are focused on many subjects and let's not forget that websites are part of technology, somebody out there will always want to add into the website trends with new and innovative ideas. If forums don't upgrade their resources to make them more interesting people will eventually lose interest in forums when there is something better out there.

I would tend to disagree, one of my forums devoted to National Parks, has already had over 500 posts this morning, so it is not dying.

Shdwmage

SnowBrows, forums are designed to be specific not general. If I wanted to go and chat with all of my friends about the stuff I chat on here, they'd probably beat me down or something.

DevilWAH

remember this one

few years old now.

Google BBS Terminal

Shdwmage

DevilWAH wrote: »

remember this one few years old now.

Google BBS Terminal

Epic Winning!

PurpleIT

I think forums are safe, but they will surely evolve. IMO, what we are on now it just a more refined Usenet (which is still around).

The wonderful thing about Usenet (and now these forums) is that you can focus on a particular area of interest; "social" sites are not meant for anything in depth, they are all about the small-talk for the masses while sites like this are for more in-depth conversations that most people don't want to hear.

Snow.bros

@Shdwmage I did mention that forums are focused specifically on a subject but social media will tend to focus on many different subjects like the same argument can be discussed in some social media platform, at the same time social media are to expand their platforms to meet the needs of their users. Surely the number of users are decreasing.

@MTciscoguy I get your point 100% its obviously doing well now but lets look at the future of forums here, do you think it will still be common as it is today later in the future or will many people still be using forums in some many years to come? The results of that could be unpredictable that's what I am trying to point out although you might disagree but there is a good chance that forums could be replaced by something else but they will exist as an alternative and they will be less popular which decreases the number of users (don't get me wrong though I love forums its still a very good resource). I mean who predicted that SMS's would be replaced by instant messaging applications and SMSs are still being used but many people prefer instant messaging over SMSs so you can probably see where this is going to end up.