Are specialist forums dying?
- Thread starter ***F1ZZY***
- Start date
I guess you can call this a two-week-holiday?I guess that's what you call a Two-fer
*hovers over Ban button*
I don’t like likes.
Social media's killed the forums I used to use. They're still hosted but basically dead. Shame, as used to be good for having basically a permanent record of chat, advice, info etc etc. Social media chat doesn't even last a day without ***** and flippant comments drowning out any useful posts. Bring back the old days....
This is probably one of the only active forums left that I use!
This is probably one of the only active forums left that I use!
Permabanned
- Joined
- 9 Aug 2008
- Posts
- 35,711
It's the only one I use now, don't bother with social media or anywhere else. If this went I wouldn't use anything.
Come on, you've got 42,000 posts and have been here since 2004. You won't leave if they add a 'likes' feature.
I know, they're got us right where they want us. Next they'll introduce a paywall and we'll all be forced to pay because we're addicted!
Soldato
- Joined
- 12 Feb 2006
- Posts
- 17,417
- Location
- Surrey
Agree it does ruin it. I can imagine many users in speakers corner that post to get a reaction would be desperate for the likes. The posts would be for likes only, not is this good content. I imagine ocuk users wouldn't get too carried away, but it certainly would reduce the quality here. It also would reduce the need to reply to show agreement. I could see what you said, like it and leave. Now I have to add my reply. And I think that allows readers to see opinions far better if you've got 50 posts saying yes I agree, this is correct, etc, rather than 1 post with 49 likes.
Deleted User 298457
Deleted User 298457
Its one of the most popular websites in the world, so yes, you are the odd one out. Nothing to do with being old, as it has plenty of very old members.
Associate
- Joined
- 11 Aug 2011
- Posts
- 682
I read OCUK most days but I don't often post (obviously). I have an odd habit of writing replies but not posting them, not really sure why but it happens quite often.
In the last 12 months I've quite gotten into Reddit. I get lots of lols on there but the quality of the comments is low i.e single sentence replies /spam.
Aside from the rise of social media, I think that the main reason for fewer new members is that PC gaming is now far to expensive for most people to get into.
PCs used to be 'do it all machines' but now your phone can do everything and consoles are more pc like with each generation.
Why join a PC forum if you don't need one or cannot afford the crazy expense?
In the last 12 months I've quite gotten into Reddit. I get lots of lols on there but the quality of the comments is low i.e single sentence replies /spam.
Aside from the rise of social media, I think that the main reason for fewer new members is that PC gaming is now far to expensive for most people to get into.
PCs used to be 'do it all machines' but now your phone can do everything and consoles are more pc like with each generation.
Why join a PC forum if you don't need one or cannot afford the crazy expense?
Associate
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2019
- Posts
- 341
- Location
- U.K.
I ran a specialist forum with several thousand members for over a decade and saw a massive decline in the last couple of years. Social media has taken away the social aspect of forums, no question.
However, I have found the quality of information available on these platforms is massively diminished in comparison, and that goes for facebook, reddit, the lot.
I fear that the combination of forums closing down, the great photbucket cleanse and yahoo deleting groups has purged a vast amount of irreplaceable and niche information, quite a bit of it posted by people that are no longer alive or with skills and knowledge that have since been lost.
But at least we can see pictures of what some C list celebrity had for dinner - so there's that..
However, I have found the quality of information available on these platforms is massively diminished in comparison, and that goes for facebook, reddit, the lot.
I fear that the combination of forums closing down, the great photbucket cleanse and yahoo deleting groups has purged a vast amount of irreplaceable and niche information, quite a bit of it posted by people that are no longer alive or with skills and knowledge that have since been lost.
But at least we can see pictures of what some C list celebrity had for dinner - so there's that..
Personally I'm a big fan of the StackExchange network. Clean, fast, helpful, and one login to access everything. I think eventually forums will become a dinosaur like BBS' have unless they evolve.
I think the problem a lot of forums have, including this one, is not knowing when to merge different sub-forums together.
E.g., random example, Mobile and Tablet Games. There's 128 topics since 2017. Kill it and merge it with a general gaming board where more people will see it.
I think this is probably one of the reasons GD is quite dead nowadays, too many sub-forums got added which dilates it too much.
I'd prefer less sub-forums and to allow users to tag their posts with categories (like Reddit/StackExchange/several forums do) so people can easily search to filter down to what they want to see.
Often I'd like to say "thanks" to someone without replying, either because I don't want to drag up an old thread or because replying to say thanks just adds unneeded spam.
I remember when this was brought up before people suggested it should be added to the more specialist boards here rather than say GD, where it would be used more correctly.
I think the problem a lot of forums have, including this one, is not knowing when to merge different sub-forums together.
E.g., random example, Mobile and Tablet Games. There's 128 topics since 2017. Kill it and merge it with a general gaming board where more people will see it.
I think this is probably one of the reasons GD is quite dead nowadays, too many sub-forums got added which dilates it too much.
I'd prefer less sub-forums and to allow users to tag their posts with categories (like Reddit/StackExchange/several forums do) so people can easily search to filter down to what they want to see.
Often I'd like to say "thanks" to someone without replying, either because I don't want to drag up an old thread or because replying to say thanks just adds unneeded spam.
I remember when this was brought up before people suggested it should be added to the more specialist boards here rather than say GD, where it would be used more correctly.
- Use https://old.reddit.com/
- Use the https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ extension
I'm in a very similar boat. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one. I don't think it's odd though, for me it's usually that I stop, re read what I've written and decide I'm not really adding anything so why bother posting.
Facebook has taken most of the traffic but I struggle with groups on there. Posts don't seem to appear in a logical way however you order them. Small groups seem to work OK but when I look at big ones it can be hard to find a post you had previously seen unless you have already commented on it.
Reddit is OK but too big. The front page is useless and often just the same few posts appearing in different sub Reddits. It can be difficult to find a decent community on a subject because there are usually multiple possible choices per subject. There is also a very obvious Russian and Chinese propaganda campaign going on. Also as said people don't use the vote system properly so debate doesn't take place.
Reddit is OK but too big. The front page is useless and often just the same few posts appearing in different sub Reddits. It can be difficult to find a decent community on a subject because there are usually multiple possible choices per subject. There is also a very obvious Russian and Chinese propaganda campaign going on. Also as said people don't use the vote system properly so debate doesn't take place.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Jun 2014
- Posts
- 5,109
I've noticed the gaming forums here on OcUK have become very quiet the past couple of years, which is a shame. There's not much chat about smaller games or general news stories related to gaming.