The decline of forums

Noticed it has been slow around here lately, got me thinking about quite a few forums I know that are slow or some even barely hanging on. I don't think the younger generation is into chat forums as much and the user group that was has aged and lost interest or grown out of it.
I know I don't spend anywhere near as much time on them as I use to. I use to visit at least 7-9 forums quite frequently, now maybe 2 and I rarely post. This just my completely non fact based opinion, What say you?

It seems to be all about Facebook groups now, which is unfortunate. Trying to follow a discussion of any depth or complexity on there is horrible. I also really dislike the trend of posting a friend's name as a comment as a way to bring a post to their attention. Send it to them as a message. /oldschoolrant

It seems to be all about Facebook groups now, which is unfortunate. Trying to follow a discussion of any depth or complexity on there is horrible. I also really dislike the trend of posting a friend's name as a comment as a way to bring a post to their attention. /oldschoolrant

For me, Facebook lately has almost become intolerable. I feel it has become misguided.
I realize people are free to post as they wish but with the recent election, the "fun" if you want to call it that has been sucked away nothing but political posts that I truly don't care about.

The SJWs don't have anyone left to chase away so they just high five one another now. That's progress and the only right way to do things; everything else is neocon bs nowadays.

The SJWs don't have anyone left to chase away so they just high five one another now. That's progress and the only right way to do things; everything else is neocon bs nowadays.

wow. even in a thread like this.

Too many forums and other places to post bike related comments, pictures or have discussions = diluted content everywhere.
Imagine if all that was on just a few forums…..like it use to be.

For me I wanted to be active in the bike community but have seen maybe 1 positive and productive post for every 10 filled with vitriol after like 5+ years on the board.

Most attempts to have good discussion just get crapped on around here.

Yadda yadda you poor little snowflake right?

People can only beat their heads against a wall too many times before they get sick of it and move on.

I just checked out Myspace for interest in how Facebook destroyed it. Now, that has deteriorated! Nothing but click bait to online gambling sites.

It seems to be all about Facebook groups now, which is unfortunate. Trying to follow a discussion of any depth or complexity on there is horrible. I also really dislike the trend of posting a friend's name as a comment as a way to bring a post to their attention. Send it to them as a message. /oldschoolrant

Facebook groups are pretty tragic, the way some people argue on those is mind boggling.. like that's your real name not even a pseudonym. I do think the rise of social media definitely took a bite out of the forum user base.. like when was this forum the most happening? definitely 10 years ago before everyone and their fucking dog had a facebook account.

I've often wondered why I'm still here I haven't had a bike in 5 years.. habit I guess.
and reddit is 1000 times worse than this place anyways.

wow. even in a thread like this.

Yup, even whining here now. Has something changed?

Sometimes I wish there were more places for decent online discussion of politics - I'd like to get a better understanding of other perspectives - but it always devolves into such crap. I'm a hippy libtard but I suspect that I agree with cons on 90% of the issues and on another 5% we prolly strive for the same outcome In different ways.

Had a great chat with 2 albertans on the chairlift but just when we started to really get somewhere the bar came up. I've tried the same thing on FB with my trump-voting cousin but he replies with obamahate memes. That shit is lame, on both sides.

Forums like this are incredibly powerful, they can be almost wiki-like repositories of valuable "crowd-sourced" knowledge. FB is pretty much just a broadcast platform. Totally different purposes, but he difference seems lost on most. I hope forums stay alive!

I actually think decline of forums is symptomatic of a larger trend in society. Its the "echo chamber" effect that has been described as people that segregate themselves into like minded groups and only choose to hear like minded opinions.

The failure is that most people are fully entrenched in their views, not interested in being engaged and challenged.

Its like proudly saying "I only vote party X, have all my life. " that pretty much sums a person not worth having a discussion with.

With that you get a decline in discussion, decline in traffic, and community gone.

Its systematically happened to most boards I been visiting over the last 15 years, regardless of what the topic of discussion is. The community always hangs up on a polarizing issue, splinters into groups, and eventually devolves into chaos.

This is why Twitter and FB chat are successful, its like guerrilla warfare, you can have 100 different arguments a day without ever needing to preserve a common platform.

I just checked out Myspace for interest in how Facebook destroyed it. Now, that has deteriorated! Nothing but click bait to online gambling sites.

I retrieved my login for myspace. Had not used it in 10 years probably.
Wow does it suck.

I dropped FB a few years back, just miss one group I was on. The rest is fluff and
slacktivism at it's finest.

I don't find this board too negative, everyone has opinions. If you wanna see nasty read the comments on CBC. I just wish it was more comical threads like some of the threads on TetonGravity. This place does have it's moments tho.

A classic:
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/35651-The-Pantsuit-Effect-A-Trip-Report