Forums

[landbeforetimelover]

I made this topic to discuss the many different types of forums out there.  Despite the huge rise of social services such as Facebook/MySpace, blogs, and other social networks out there, forums still remain strong.  There are many people that won't touch other social networking sites due to the fact that what is shared through a forum is (normally) more meaningful and useful.  I am one of those people.  I will never use social media sites for anything other than advertising my business.  But anyway, let's talk about the different types of forums out there.

There are may types of forums out there from the open and the crazy to the closed and the secretive.  If you've been online for a decent amount of time, you're probably a member of some closed private forums that only allow registration through invitation.  There are the simple forums that talk about pretty much anything and everything.  One example of these types of forums is facepunch.com.  It's a crazy open haven for 12 year old jerks to come on in and make your life miserable.  This forum is for you if you like to squander away your life online doing nothing of any importance and getting insulted and almost banned every day you're on.

There are some really hard ass forums out there that are only for the few of us that are tough as nails and can survive and thrive in that sort of environment.  The worst one I've come across so far (not including illegal forums) is wickedfire.com.  Now illegal forums that discuss things such as blackhat techniques and intrusive hacking are MUCH worse than wickedfire, but I don't want to bring those forums into discussion here.  Most of them that are any good have private registrations anyway.

There are also specific forums like this one.  Specific forums make up a large portion of the forums out there.  They are generally nice places to hang out but most of them aren't insanely popular.  Some examples of these types of forums are GOF and DigitalPoint.  I'm very impressed with GOF because of the tight administration.  Most specific forums eventually let things slack and get crazy, especially if the specific niche they are a part of is learning how to do certain things (i.e. DigitalPoint is a SEO forum).  The problem with this is that the community loses its power and popularity.  DigitalPoint is full of people that talk the talk but have never walked the walk.  That's why taking advice from DigitalPoint is rarely a good idea.  This is why I'm a member of WickedFire.  The administration is tough and it's hard as heck to stay alive there, but at least 99% of the advice there is legit and it's from people that are actually out there in the field doing what they're advising on.

So anyways, how about it?  Why do forums continue to stay alive?  What about them makes them so alluring to visitors?  Will social sites such as MySpace and Facebook eventually lead to an end of forums?

[Mumbling]

I don't think social networking sites and forums are actually competing. A thing I find more competing (and always have found) are chatboxes and forums, in which forums definitely won the battle. Social networking sites are really more to post updates on your life, while forums are usually actually useful.

I'm with you on the not liking social networks part. I do like (certain) forums though, I never thought of joining any forum until you introduced me to this one... By now I am an admin on this forum as well as an admin on a (much busier) forum focused on Neopets. Especially on the bigger forums you see what kind of help people look for in forums, which is so much easier than on social networking sites.

The only thing I like about Social networking sites is this website: http://failbook.com/

[Amaranthine]

I don't mind social networks, it's just...the focus of those sites is just to be just that, social. There really is no focused topic on what to say or anything. On forums like this though, we HAVE topics that we can discuss. It's easier to find common interests on forums like these since they are fandom forums.

[Petrie.]

I use facebook only to watch and keep track on how my sister is doing in Florida.  Otherwise, I don't bother with sites that focus on life updates to the nth degree.  Here, I can be and explain who I am and what I want is just fine with me.  Everyone here is content with that too.

[Malte279]

I'm avoiding facebook myself. Some of the abuse of data stories as well as the degree to which some members release really private data and the amount of spam resulting in the creation of a facebook account (I tried it once but had it completely deleted again) sort of freak me out.