Why aren't #forums popular anymore ?
#Asknostr
Discussion
I think as the internet grew to general audiences/users away from the more technically capable, things primarily communication protocols like social media become more geared towards broad audiences rather than a specific niche.
Do u like that more?
Not particularly, I saw some video a while back that described this same phenomenon.
I think the internet is more socially cohesive when different types of people are allowed to congregate online in places that benefit them.
I think a general internet has pros, and cons, it may break echochambers, or help people find niche communities quickly but it could also cause conflicts, and accelerate extremism.
I think the current social media paradigm is slightly broken but tools like Mastodon, and Nostr may be steps to heal it.
I agree
I used to have a large portfolio of forums in the early to mid 2000s. Reddit was really a big dagger since each sub is essentially mini forums.
That said, quality niche forums are still alive and kicking. I run one on my alma mater's sports teams that's been online since 2007.
Should also note that forums got absolutely destroyed by modern SEO changes implemented by search engines. Organic search traffic really got destroyed over the last 5 years or so.
the lack of bridging between things has been what killed the little ones, that's part of why nostr's inherent leaky design and self sovereign identity are so valuable as a way to bridge people back to a more free form internet without centralized gatekeepers pretending to moderate but actually manipulating
Shitty apps like Tapatalk made the majority of old PHP forums somewhat usable on mobile phones between 2011-201x and the UX was horrible so moving communities to more modern takes on forums like Reddit with apps like Alien Blue made sense. Easy prey. If forums had invested in better forum software they might still be relevant.
This makes a lot of sense