Are internet forums dead

Good day guys, many of you have asked me if Internet Forums are dead? This question seemed complicated at first but I have found the answer.

Forums are not dead, but they are suffering from an identity crisis right now. There was a time when forums were where all the activity happened on the web. If you wanted real time discussion, you found it on forums.

If you wanted social interaction, you found it on forums. If you were seeking high quality user generated content, you found it on forums. Nowadays the proliferation of social media sites has caused a competitive dynamic that has reduced overall time spent per session on forums, but this dynamic has also created an opportunity for forums to focus on their core strengths.


Forums are the best medium for many to many discussion around a subject of mutual interest.

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These were initially niche interests, but the accessibility to these topics has actually resulted in more people learning about these topics and that in turn keeps driving unique users to forum based properties.

Forums are where you go to learn about a topic in its entirety. On a forum you can ask and answer questions but you can also share content whether it is something you have found, or something you have created.
 Sites like Quora allow you to ask and answer questions while sites like Reddit allow you to share content, but forums give you a comprehensive ability to do both in a way that is not limited by social or follower dynamics.




Another compelling feature of forums is that real identities are the exception, not the rule. While having discussions with users named furryfan72 and ninjasquid might be offputting at first, it forces you to focus on the quality of their thoughts and ideas and not how popular they are in real life. I personally love this merit based attribute of forums and I find it hard to reproduce this type of honest exchange of ideas on any other medium.

If you added up all of the people who post on forums and were somehow able to network them using common platforms, sign on methodologies, and forum centric search- you would have one of the most potent membership bases that has yet to be exploited fully on the web.




Take the example of a person who is a passionate and knowledgable scuba diver. They might share a few scuba pictures on Facebook or Pinterest, maybe they will tweet about a great dive. If they have a question, they could try posting it on Quora or Yahoo Answers. If they are very knowledgeable they could look for questions on these same sites and help out by providing their expertise, but none of these options allows you to immerse yourself in scuba. This is where forums come in- they are immersive and the experience is not replicated by any of the major social media platforms that you read about in the press.




Forums are wonderful. They need some technology upgrades and smart people to recognize their value so that they can continue to flourish well into the future