Internet Forums

[crookedspire]

Are Internet Forums waining as 'Facebook' and other social websites are now more popular . Sheffield Forum seems to be not doing to bad but others like Manchester Forum are very quite and Chesterfield Forum is dead ?

[smithy266]

I think so..... I use a few facebook pages. For some though, the interchange of techical info and help is not as good as a decent forum.

[tzijlstra]

Check out http://www.reddit.com - it is ten years old and going from strength to strength, it is a forum with a modernised twist. What traditional vBulletin boards like this and many others need is to keep evolving.

 

SF seems to work because it has an active community of regulars; that's what is at the heart of every successful internet community.

[Mister M]

Are Internet Forums waining as 'Facebook' and other social websites are now more popular . Sheffield Forum seems to be not doing to bad but others like Manchester Forum are very quite and Chesterfield Forum is dead ?

 

I occasionally pop over to Digital Spy Forums, which is still very popular. Leeds Forum is dead though

[woodmally]

Are Internet Forums waining as 'Facebook' and other social websites are now more popular . Sheffield Forum seems to be not doing to bad but others like Manchester Forum are very quite and Chesterfield Forum is dead ?

 

The problem is how its managed. Facebook and social media the onus is on the poster to abide by the rules therefore people are free to post what they like (however risk getting into trouble if they post something they shouldn't). However with forums like SF if something is posted that is illegal or cannot be posted then the onus is on the forum. Hence SF have to be more restrictive about what is and isn't posted otherwise they will get sued or in trouble in some way.

 

So what happens is people go to places where they can talk freely. However they will soon learn they cannot post what they want when they get into trouble and it will soon change

[Chammy]

I think it depends on the forum itself really. I visit one called The Money Shed and have seen it grow from a couple of hundred members 2 years ago to over 2500 (with regular inactive member culls), and still growing. The information provided and subjects covered don't work on Facebook so well because it's either littered with scams or people assume genuine things are a scam.

[petemcewan]

I think it is sadly inevitable. A Forum can act like a social knowledge base. I know some Forums archive the material. It's accessible at a later date and can be referred to.

 

The SF is the only Forum I post on.I have no desire to post on or interest in social media like Facebook and Twitter. I would miss the SF if it closed.

[tinfoilhat]

Check out http://www.reddit.com - it is ten years old and going from strength to strength, it is a forum with a modernised twist. What traditional vBulletin boards like this and many others need is to keep evolving.

 

SF seems to work because it has an active community of regulars; that's what is at the heart of every successful internet community.

 

I'd expand on that and say there are plenty of regulars but no cliques. One forum I used to visit was busy one week, dead the next. A member fell out with management, left (not banned) and the rest of clique joined him. As a result it wasn't as busy so finge members drifted away too. very sad.

[the_bloke]

Forums will eventually go the way of newsgroups; an archive of useful material but the only active ones are those of a specialist nature.

[999tigger]

Tbh I think SF activity levels have declined dramatically. no idea what traffic they get, but these semm to be dominated by a few subjects and a few posters. There are other firums that have a far better knowledge base if thats your thing and others which have more variety and open mindedness. I think its at its best when its talking about local issues.