- Joined
- Sep 20, 2013
- Messages
- 402
More than halfway into the current decade people still try to figure out what is happening to forums and what to do about the change in climate to message boards. This phenomenon has been going on for a long time. Are forums no longer what they once were? What changed? This is a thread to cover it. We're going to settle this once and for all.
So what changed the gaming of message boards? Is it social media? Or is it something else? To give you my answer, I don't think it's social media. Social media might have an affect on forums but it doesn't directly effect them. What has to be understood is the real threat to forums and why that is.
TAZ was started in 2004. A time when forums were growing. The forum world was colorful and had tons of life back then. In the 2000s they were dynamic, whether it be in the early, mid, or late part of the decade. Back then forums had a lot more users being active participants on them. If you went to a handful of them you might know that. You would get replies to a thread within minutes. It wasn't uncommon for threads to fall off the first page every single day. Threads would get bumped to the second page daily. This was if you were in a forum that had a good community and environment. Threads didn't stay on the first page as much like they do now in the old days. Now you can see threads lasting days, weeks, months, or even a year. So this prompts the question, what could cause all of this? What is the catalyst to such astonishment?
What do you use to gain access to the internet with? What are you using to get on it? In the 2000s people didn't have mobile. Only went on with the PC. Mobile dominates the scene now, along with laptops although that has been around for a while. The difference between the 2000s and 2010s is that in the current decade people can go on the internet outside of their homes a lot more than during the previous decade. Mobile happened. Mobile came onto the scene. People have smartphones and tablets now. Ever since they came into existence people spend time on the internet at a higher volume. The internet usage jumped higher than before as time went on. So to reconcile with a statement above, what people use to get on the internet with has a direct effect on forums. What I described with forums in the past doesn't happen anymore because of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Where does the label 'consumer' come from? Less people are on a forum than in the pre mobile era. In the old days pre mobile era, you could see tons of people on a forum as I stated. The traffic that you would've seen back then got consumed. Because of mobile, the amount of users a forum was capable of having back in the day is held to a smaller capacity due to the higher rate of internet usage. Active users on a forum are consumed, that's what changed the climate of the forum world and why they aren't dynamic like they once were.
Mobile is designed for quick check-ups. It's made so users can check up on their email and other stuff while they're on the go or biding time. With it, a person can decide within moments if something is interesting or not. That can also be referred to as instant gratification. The point being made, you didn't have to think of the viewers as much prior to the existence of smartphones and tablets. Now, you have to think of the viewers a lot more. When people come to visit a place they come to see an item of interest. They came to see something interesting. This is where the damage is being done. So you have to ask yourself this question; What do people see on a forum that is interesting? If the viewers find boring things they'll hit that scroll quickly, tune out and move on. Many sites don't get as much visits because of this. That's also why advertisements come into play more often than they did in the past. We're in an era where the viewers are crueler. Furthermore, mobile doesn't allow for the same experience on a forum that a PC does. Mobile isn't good for contributing lengthy material, whereas the PC makes way for it. The PC provides the forum experience in a more comforting way. You're more likely to contribute in-depth stuff on them. Plus, on the PC you're in the comforts of your own home.
One thing a message board can do is improvise. People will tell you that creating good content will go a long ways. Which is true. But in what ways and how is unknown to many people around the world. Making and sustaining good content is hard to come by. Users on a forum are always capable of making lousy posts or threads. The reason why discussion threads often go bad is because people can get lazy and gets away with it. If somebody says something to you and they don't tell you about it will that form a discussion or give you enough to work with? If someone doesn't explain something to you does that get the juice flowing? Most likely, no. Just like in real life, when a person says "tell me about it" "tell us about it", the same thing applies with the internet. If someone declares something you need them to tell you about it. You don't promote things effectively if people don't explain stuff. There are certain actions a person makes. You have to be able to distinguish between different actions. Is the person making a comment or a claim/statement? These are things you have to identify to orchestrate forum content better. What happens when a post is incoherent? You're likely not going to understand what that person is trying to say. You want it to be so that they are being coherent. Did you get much out of what the person is saying? Another thing you should be thinking about. Managing good content isn't easy to come by. They need to be orchestrated.
A question that gets asked is what do forum moderators do. People know they enforce rules and regulations. But moderators aren't just there to prosecute people for doing something wrong/bad or clean up the trash. They are more than that. Moderators do other things like interacting with normal members. If they aren't seen doing much in this regard that might raise questions on what they really do or if they have the drive to do their job. The moderator position can be utilized further. A moderator can orchestrate things to handle stuff I just described above. They can edit and delete posts to make content in threads on the forum appear more interesting. They can get involved and help make the topic better.
Pretty soon more and more forums are going to die out. Forums with a good or active community are the ones that have the best chance at surviving. Someone might ask where did everyone go. People are still there. They're still around to see what's going on. As people get older they'll appreciate what came and what they had.
I'll wrap this up by saying the forum world still has hope and something communities can do to survive. Mobile is the real reason for forums to be seemingly dying. Devices like smartphones and tablets have been around since 2010. They've been around the whole decade. They have been doing the damage. It's now an age where you have to think of the viewers a lot more. Forums that run a certain way need to have the formula and the strength in community to live on.
So what changed the gaming of message boards? Is it social media? Or is it something else? To give you my answer, I don't think it's social media. Social media might have an affect on forums but it doesn't directly effect them. What has to be understood is the real threat to forums and why that is.
TAZ was started in 2004. A time when forums were growing. The forum world was colorful and had tons of life back then. In the 2000s they were dynamic, whether it be in the early, mid, or late part of the decade. Back then forums had a lot more users being active participants on them. If you went to a handful of them you might know that. You would get replies to a thread within minutes. It wasn't uncommon for threads to fall off the first page every single day. Threads would get bumped to the second page daily. This was if you were in a forum that had a good community and environment. Threads didn't stay on the first page as much like they do now in the old days. Now you can see threads lasting days, weeks, months, or even a year. So this prompts the question, what could cause all of this? What is the catalyst to such astonishment?
What do you use to gain access to the internet with? What are you using to get on it? In the 2000s people didn't have mobile. Only went on with the PC. Mobile dominates the scene now, along with laptops although that has been around for a while. The difference between the 2000s and 2010s is that in the current decade people can go on the internet outside of their homes a lot more than during the previous decade. Mobile happened. Mobile came onto the scene. People have smartphones and tablets now. Ever since they came into existence people spend time on the internet at a higher volume. The internet usage jumped higher than before as time went on. So to reconcile with a statement above, what people use to get on the internet with has a direct effect on forums. What I described with forums in the past doesn't happen anymore because of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Where does the label 'consumer' come from? Less people are on a forum than in the pre mobile era. In the old days pre mobile era, you could see tons of people on a forum as I stated. The traffic that you would've seen back then got consumed. Because of mobile, the amount of users a forum was capable of having back in the day is held to a smaller capacity due to the higher rate of internet usage. Active users on a forum are consumed, that's what changed the climate of the forum world and why they aren't dynamic like they once were.
Mobile is designed for quick check-ups. It's made so users can check up on their email and other stuff while they're on the go or biding time. With it, a person can decide within moments if something is interesting or not. That can also be referred to as instant gratification. The point being made, you didn't have to think of the viewers as much prior to the existence of smartphones and tablets. Now, you have to think of the viewers a lot more. When people come to visit a place they come to see an item of interest. They came to see something interesting. This is where the damage is being done. So you have to ask yourself this question; What do people see on a forum that is interesting? If the viewers find boring things they'll hit that scroll quickly, tune out and move on. Many sites don't get as much visits because of this. That's also why advertisements come into play more often than they did in the past. We're in an era where the viewers are crueler. Furthermore, mobile doesn't allow for the same experience on a forum that a PC does. Mobile isn't good for contributing lengthy material, whereas the PC makes way for it. The PC provides the forum experience in a more comforting way. You're more likely to contribute in-depth stuff on them. Plus, on the PC you're in the comforts of your own home.
One thing a message board can do is improvise. People will tell you that creating good content will go a long ways. Which is true. But in what ways and how is unknown to many people around the world. Making and sustaining good content is hard to come by. Users on a forum are always capable of making lousy posts or threads. The reason why discussion threads often go bad is because people can get lazy and gets away with it. If somebody says something to you and they don't tell you about it will that form a discussion or give you enough to work with? If someone doesn't explain something to you does that get the juice flowing? Most likely, no. Just like in real life, when a person says "tell me about it" "tell us about it", the same thing applies with the internet. If someone declares something you need them to tell you about it. You don't promote things effectively if people don't explain stuff. There are certain actions a person makes. You have to be able to distinguish between different actions. Is the person making a comment or a claim/statement? These are things you have to identify to orchestrate forum content better. What happens when a post is incoherent? You're likely not going to understand what that person is trying to say. You want it to be so that they are being coherent. Did you get much out of what the person is saying? Another thing you should be thinking about. Managing good content isn't easy to come by. They need to be orchestrated.
A question that gets asked is what do forum moderators do. People know they enforce rules and regulations. But moderators aren't just there to prosecute people for doing something wrong/bad or clean up the trash. They are more than that. Moderators do other things like interacting with normal members. If they aren't seen doing much in this regard that might raise questions on what they really do or if they have the drive to do their job. The moderator position can be utilized further. A moderator can orchestrate things to handle stuff I just described above. They can edit and delete posts to make content in threads on the forum appear more interesting. They can get involved and help make the topic better.
Pretty soon more and more forums are going to die out. Forums with a good or active community are the ones that have the best chance at surviving. Someone might ask where did everyone go. People are still there. They're still around to see what's going on. As people get older they'll appreciate what came and what they had.
I'll wrap this up by saying the forum world still has hope and something communities can do to survive. Mobile is the real reason for forums to be seemingly dying. Devices like smartphones and tablets have been around since 2010. They've been around the whole decade. They have been doing the damage. It's now an age where you have to think of the viewers a lot more. Forums that run a certain way need to have the formula and the strength in community to live on.
