What do you think forums could do to make a comeback over social media?

[Cory]

Do you think forums need to become more like social media? Do you think forums just need a major revamp from the way they work and are designed? Do you think forums need to have more opportunities to make money? What's your opinion on the subject?

 

[Shortie]

This is a tough one as I feel many people choose to go to forums because they don't like the social media atmosphere which I can fully understand if I am honest. With social media, it can be very difficult to sit and just voice your opinions without having someone tell you that you are wrong but with forums, it's more pressed for as people like to voice their opinions and have healthy conversations about them. I hope that they don't change forums too much to be like social media because I feel it will lose their uniqueness and what makes the different from social media.

 

[Nomad]

Forums can never compete with social media, however, forums need to learn to co-exist along side social media. While there is not possible to see serious discussion on most social media platforms, forums can build that gap.

 

[Cedric]

Forums can never compete with social media, however, forums need to learn to co-exist along side social media. While there is not possible to see serious discussion on most social media platforms, forums can build that gap.

Forum can't learn to co-exist, we as a webmaster must realize they are two different things and stop comparing social media to forums. Both have their positive and negative points, both have a different audience. I've said it before, but you don't want audience from social media on your forum, they are (most of the time) not a great asset to your forum. The attention span of a social media user is usually not that long, and not comparable to a forum user, where they want to have endless discussions.

 

[Cory]

stop comparing social media to forums

I think we tend to do this because social media is kind of what started killing off forums.

 

[Nomad]

Forum can't learn to co-exist

When I said learn to co-exist, what I was trying to tell is that just like there are social media, there are also forums. Yes, they are different things, and they exist together in the world wide web, one cannot eliminate the other.

 

[Cedric]

When I said learn to co-exist, what I was trying to tell is that just like there are social media, there are also forums. Yes, they are different things, and they exist together in the world wide web, one cannot eliminate the other.

That’s true, there will always be people who prefer forums above social media. You use forums for more in-depth discussions where that is not possible on social media.

 

[Kyng]

I'll quote what I previously said in the "Future of Forum Software" thread, because I think it's relevant here too:

I do wonder whether the Flarum- or Discourse- style of forums will ever take off. So far, they haven't - which I believe is because they just haven't found a market. They're trying to win over the social media crowd - but those people won't use something that's like social media, when they can instead use something that is social media. On the other hand, the people who still use traditional forums stay away from Discourse too, because they just don't want to re-learn how use basic features. (And also, I don't think it helps that 'Discourse' sounds similar to 'Discord', and therefore often gets confused with it, even though they're completely different services...)

So no, I don't think forums should even try to ape or imitate social media. For me, the three main advantages that forums have over social media are that: a) everything's more organised (and not just curated by an algorithm); b) there's a greater sense of community (whereas social media feels like a no-man's land); and c) they offer more long-term value, as the content posted on them will remain easy to find for months or even years (whereas anything posted on social media will be buried and become hard to find after a day or two). With that being said, if something works well on social media - but would also make forums better at doing what they do best - then the world of forums would be wise to adopt it.

 

[Nomad]

I don't think forums should even try to ape or imitate social media.

I don't think any forum owners are trying to imitate social media, if anyone is doing so, he does not know what exactly is a forum. The success of forum likes in its niche and member base. Bitcointalk is one of the biggest forums I have seen on the internet, it has over 3 million users.

 

[oldbuddy]

The only thing I do with Social Media is check in once a day to see if there are any new photos of my grandkids so I can leave a like and maybe a comment.

 

[Arantor]

OK, it's time to get controversial.

Forums are social media. That's literally what the term means: social = interactions with people, media = content that results. As for audiences, it's entirely possible to be an audience of both. I frequently catch up with people on Facebook, Twitter, Mastodon and LinkedIn -- and on a bunch of forums.

And you know what the common denominator is? They all have people there that are saying things that interest me, and that I want to reply to.

Here's the other part of the equation: forums are villages, 'the socials' are cities. If you want a small curated experience, the bar where everyone knows your name, etc., forums are the place to go. Meanwhile if you want a thousand choices, all of which are equally shallow, then the socials are where it's at.

Especially Facebook Groups - there's a thousand for any given topic, but they're all interchangeable with rotating casts of people, no opportunity to build any meaningful connections. Great if you want to roll up and ask a question and bounce off again. Twitter is similar though it's at least possible to build relationships and connections with individuals in a given field because it's more open in that respect.

The saying 'content is king' is only half the story, it only ever was. People don't find communities because they're looking for communities, they come for the content, they *stay* for the community.

 

[Cory]

Very thought-provoking post there, Arantor. I never considered the fact that social media can be coined for forums too. It does make sense, though. I myself only browse Reddit and just recently, use LinkedIn. I've tried using Facebook 4-5 different times and I either delete or deactivate my account every time. I feel like I easily get jealous of others' successes on Facebook, I feel like I post just for validation, and I feel like it's pretty pointless when you have little to no friends like me. This is why I admire forums, the discussions are very thoughtful and people don't always post for just validation or instant gratification.

 

[Cedric]

Very thought-provoking post there, Arantor. I never considered the fact that social media can be coined for forums too. It does make sense, though. I myself only browse Reddit and just recently, use LinkedIn. I've tried using Facebook 4-5 different times and I either delete or deactivate my account every time. I feel like I easily get jealous of others' successes on Facebook, I feel like I post just for validation, and I feel like it's pretty pointless when you have little to no friends like me. This is why I admire forums, the discussions are very thoughtful and people don't always post for just validation or instant gratification.

How do you define the success though? Is it because they have a huge amount of friends list ? In all honesty, I have never cared for such thing as I frequently browse my 'friends list' and delete anyone that I haven't had contact with for over a year or just never really.

 

[Kale]

This is a tough one as I feel many people choose to go to forums because they don't like the social media atmosphere which I can fully understand if I am honest. With social media, it can be very difficult to sit and just voice your opinions without having someone tell you that you are wrong but with forums, it's more pressed for as people like to voice their opinions and have healthy conversations about them. I hope that they don't change forums too much to be like social media because I feel it will lose their uniqueness and what makes the different from social media.

I have seen people be told that they are wrong on forums before too, to be fair. It's not as often, but have seen arguments and heated debates happen.

 

[Cory]

How do you define the success though? Is it because they have a huge amount of friends list ?

Having a huge friends list was part of it, seeing as I only had like 40 friends and a lot of my FB friends had hundreds, if not 1K+ friends. They say comparison is the thief of joy, but when I was on FB I couldn't help but compare my life to the successes of others. That's what people primarily post on their timelines anyway, their own successes. I have one true friend that I've made my entire adulthood and he no longer lives in the same town as me, so when I see people with a lot of friends it kind of bogs me down and makes me wish I had my own friend circle.

 

[Arantor]

That's what people primarily post on their timelines anyway, their own successes.

Indeed, Facebook (and to an even more specific degree Instagram) isn't about 'living your best life' but 'living what you want to show off as your best life', which may or may not accurately represent anything. It fostered a ridiculous culture of showcasing the life you wanted your friends to think you had - maybe even convince yourself that you had? - and you'd end up looking around at your friends and wondering who among them was doing the same curation. It cheapens it, but in FB's case that's the point.

 

[Cory]

Indeed, Facebook (and to an even more specific degree Instagram) isn't about 'living your best life' but 'living what you want to show off as your best life', which may or may not accurately represent anything. It fostered a ridiculous culture of showcasing the life you wanted your friends to think you had - maybe even convince yourself that you had? - and you'd end up looking around at your friends and wondering who among them was doing the same curation. It cheapens it, but in FB's case that's the point.

Well said, this is why I'm not very fond of most social media. I don't have many successes to show off anyway.

 

[Arantor]

I don't think life needs to be about 'successes' especially because what one person's definition of 'success' is, is not going to be someone else's. Which is just why this circle-jerk atmosphere is a problem.

Forums don't tend to have that because it's a shared space everyone is in, rather than 'my timeline' or 'your timeline'.

 

[Cory]

I don't think life needs to be about 'successes' especially because what one person's definition of 'success' is, is not going to be someone else's. Which is just why this circle-jerk atmosphere is a problem.

Forums don't tend to have that because it's a shared space everyone is in, rather than 'my timeline' or 'your timeline'.

That is true, having a fancy car could be one's success while another's success is just having any type of transportation.

Yeah, I don't like the whole timeline thing, which is one of many reasons I can't stay on Facebook. It's a constant attention grab. Don't get me wrong, knowing what's going on in your friends and family's life can be nice, but some people just enjoy the likes and the praise.

 

[Kale]

I hate to say and admit this but...add some social media like features? Allow more privacy options too. I'd like to hide my profile, posts, etc so not every guest can see it. I really do not feel like forums will make a come back sadly.

Maybe not a timeline for forums, but maybe subscribed forums you'd see the latest topics/discussions or so. Make it a bit more like a Twitter or Tumblr perhaps?