Linux_Is_Best
What happened to forums?
2 problems really.
1) People are social and tribal, and they like to unite where there are the most people with the most activity.
Social media guaranteed both, with everyone knowing someone already there and continuously something and someone new to contribute. You're experiencing that, right now, here on Mastodon.
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gnutelephony
@Linux_Is_Best Some of the bigger online forums weren't simply tribal, but literally "tribal". A perfect example is 6 nations, supported by the Haudenosaune and ran by Eric Cayote. This was focused at the time (2 decades and more ago) on the land reclamation protests and boarding school issues.
Linux_Is_Best
Happened to forums?
In short, the very nature of forums, and the direction they were led to by the people who lead them, were outgrown by most people
You can still find forums out there, if you look hard enough, but the people behind them often have not changed. It was more than just the lack of vision behind the software, but the mindset that drove it
They failed to grow the growing global consciousness. Forums lack adaption, expecting people to conform, when it was they who needed to
8/END
Linux_Is_Best
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As for paid developments, no place was perfect.
It was unfortunate, because you were buying into something. Paying to both support the development, but also to be part of their ecosystem.
It was not great buying into forums (for all the previous reason).
It's why most people opted to use free forums. Not just because they were free (obviously).
But that being said, Woltlab Burning Board, was "fair"
Yet often unknown.
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Linux_Is_Best
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There were those who tried to fight against the tide, of course.
But with many of the same types of people gravitating toward developments of their like mindset, they often were not well known.
ElkArte is a free forum development that actively encouraged positive and helpful people
But today, most people would likely not recognize them by name. I'm surprised to learn their development is still ongoing.
Linux_Is_Best
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The creators of forum software also lacked vision.
It took years before many of them took the mobile web (support for mobile devices) seriously, and by the time they did, they were already falling behind.
Additionally, if forum owners were often toxic themselves (as previously covered), you can imagine trying to participate in a community where such types of individuals collectively gathered.
Try to imagine not 1 Elon Musk, but a handful of them.
Linux_Is_Best
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Often forums were singularly focused on a single topic, and that is not a true representation of life.
For example, my name here on Mastodon is Linux_Is_Best, and not surprisingly, yes, I do use Linux and I talk about Linux.
But ultimately, I am, me (Adam Howard) and I have many more interest regarding things I wish to participate in.
Forums truly were breeding grounds for mindless "personas" with communities often laser focused on a single-minded topic. No growth
Linux_Is_Best
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2) The second problem about forums was often the people who managed forums.
Elon Musk may manage Twitter, but back in the day, I could imagine him being a forum owner.
Forums often formed cliques and often attempted to control the narratives of their community.
They also easily became "echo chambers" of themselves, similar to how Facebook Groups are today.
Outside thinking and creativity was not something you could easily experience on a forum
Linux_Is_Best
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But it is also why I moved from Mastodon dot social to a different instance
I don't want the Fediverse to mistakenly experience a de facto centralized platform
If almost everyone is on Mastodon dot social or dot online, they'll be under the same umbrella, run by the same creators of the software (they run those 2 instances)
I think they do a great job. I started on Mastodon dot social. Still, I think it wise to branch out a little.
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gnutelephony
@Linux_Is_Best another very large forum of the period with a large international following was Lakota Republic, organized by people around Russell Means. These forms of discussion forums have disappeared entirely, leaving behind the already marginalized communities they once served who have often become even more marginalized and invisible with their passing.
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