What happened to internet forums?

[Lionsfan]

[small](Note- not a Forum games advertisement.)[/small]

It should be an advertisement. Forum Games is the best part about this site

OT: I think internet-weariness does have a lot to do with it. A lot of the older users either have other things to do or are just tired of it.

I mean I've made a few posts about it, but besides the generic feminism/sexism/racism/abortion threads that get recycled, I've seen a bunch of other stuff resurface, like stuff I saw in high school in '06.

And now all the "new" users are on Reddit, 9gag, etc. etc.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well, you can get modded here (and other places) for "low content posts."

Twitter practically encouraged four character posts.

 

[viking97]

Most forums in the traditional sense are toxic and horrid places, so people have moved on to more friendly alternatives that fill the same role, like facebook and reddit and such.

Take that with a large dose of salt though, I've never not been on the escapists forums so that's just my best guess.

 

[Angie7F]

I agree that many people just got busy with facebook.
2ch is active in japan because of the lack of mods.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

As has been said before, social media took most of the forums by storm. There's less drama in places like this forum precisely because most of said drama has moved on to Facebook or Twitter. Then there's entropy to consider.

Things end, OP. Forums have their lifespan, and then they gently fade away. Not everyone has the amount of free time, the inclination or even the lasting desire to put some time into being a dedicated forumite, and that's fine. The older I get, the more offscreen events are motivating my life and the more I find myself talking about them to people I meet at work or to old college buddies. Forum friendships still do apply, of course, but they're not as central to my identity as they used to be for sixteen year-old me. The me that's pushing thirty found out that all the things he found online - a sense of community and of exclusivity with a bunch of like-minded people that share a micro-culture of memes and various references and personal inclinations - are all things that are now starting to be found IRL.

Not to worry, though: there's always going to be a new den for you to haunt. Don't mourn those old hangouts that aren't much more than dust and cobwebs now, look to the legacy they've left behind. Look to how new communities could conceivably build on this.

Otherwise, you'll just get mired up in a fairly noxious amount of nostalgia.

 

[Terramax]

What type of forms are they that you frequent?

The Saturn forums I go to slowed down, but that's because we've exhausted pretty much every Sega Saturn topic known to mankind.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

snip

I have to say, I played with your avatar for about 15 minutes.

Lost my shit when I pulled Kross...

OT:
Social Media and Megasites.

We have a combination of places like Facebook that has more people than most sites on the net combined.

In addition, we have places like Reddit and 4chan that serve every interest. Every board on those sites could be its own entire website.

 

[Esotera]

All technology on the internet has a limited lifespan (which is why the majority of internet users don't use BBS anymore). The forum is being replaced by social media as a place for discussion...at least in most places. I can think of exceptions to the rule like Stackoverflow.

 

[Yuno Gasai]

I think a large part of the issue is enticing new people to sign up.

That, and if you're an individual running an internet forum (and that forum happens to become rather popular and attracts a lot of people), you have to expand to suit demand. Not everyone can afford to host a server, or to pay to have one hosted - and while lots of people may be keen to share their opinions on an internet forum, not as many are willing to dig deep and actually contribute to the server hosting.

Then, there are the points other people have mentioned. Social networking is probably the guiltiest culprit at the moment, though.

 

[KelDG]

I use other forums that are very active, usually around 20 posts an hour in each sub forum. Its good because there seem to be communities that know each other there and you can have a proper conversation with people you get to know.

To be honest I only came here for zero punctuation, I actually feel there are too many people on these forums, threads seem to sink faster than .com ventures.

 

[Krantos]

Maybe people are realizing that socially awkward or maladjusted people combined with the greater Internet Fuckwad Theory makes for generally toxic environments.

Lets face it, once the novelty of talking to strangers half the world away wears off you realize there is very little productive or healthy discussion that takes place on discussion boards.

...which of course raises the question: Why am I still here?

 

[Risingblade]

People move on to other things. Small communities don't attract many people because they're so slow and the big ones makes it harder to befriend anyone.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

Clearly we need up-voting on this forum, for the greater good. Works for Reddit right?

Not that I think it would work for this forum, but I love reddit comments because of the upvote system. The crap goes to the bottom, while the popular opinions float to the top.

Though admittedly, that's the last thing this forum needs.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Consolidation, my man. Like others have said, Reddit and 4chan act as "metaforums" where each subsection is it's own website by itself. Facebook and Twitter have compounded this. Also, a lot of people like ego boosting for what they've said, or at least confirmation in their beliefs from others. Reddit has upvotes, you can be "top commenter" on Youtube videos, and some people treat Facebook "likes" like black tar heroin. Traditional forums can feel like yelling into the ocean, you always wonder if anyone is even going to read that post that you put time into unless you quote someone or try and make it happen.

Also, there's the issue of smartphones and tablets. Every damned thing, even traditional websites, has an app to make mobile access more efficient. For an example, I tried to get someone I know to join the Escapist because he loves video games and he isn't a dick (seems to be the type). His first question was whether there was an Escapist app so that it would be easier on his iphone. I said no (I don't think there's one), and he relented and went to visit the website. That's when I had to break the news that you had to pay money in order for the website itself to be formatted properly for mobile devices. It's actually kind of hard to convince people to join us, and it made me wonder why it is I come here every day. I guess it's good to get "the pulse on what gamers are doing/feeling at the moment" or some such thing, because it doesn't seem like a social thing at all.

 

[Strazdas]

Noticed that too, though there are many forums that arent dead still.
I asked same question around a year ago, not on the escapist, but on variuos other forums and people i talk to. everyone either moveid to sociat network chats (horrible ) or simply think that forums are a waste of time and want instant direct chat.
Also, tricky you, i though you were going to talk about how all forums are full of people who rage on everything or just post "first" and "lol". i had a whole response ready