hanecco
Hoppip Appreciator
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2019
- Messages
- 672
- Reaction score
- 843
Disclaimer: If you use social media, this article (piece of writing? post?) is not accusing you of being stupid or spiteful or anything; this is aimed at the social media platform in general. By social media, I mean tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
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Are forums dead?
... I mean, we all know they are dead in comparison to Twitter or tumblr. They're not a popular form of communication any more. I myself wasn't around to see the golden age of forums - in fact, I only began participating on forums in 2019, although I was a lurker for several years before.
Anyway, I like forums more than social media. Forums tend to have a friendly small-town feel. It's very different to, say, Twitter, where you're thrown into an ever-changing sea of people and have to seek out other people/communities yourself. Other forum users welcome you when you're new, and there's a whole community waiting for you to join. You get to know the mods and talk with them as if they were just another user, rather than having faceless algorithms or company representatives to speak to. And if the mods are doing their jobs, the forum will have focused, civil conversation. The slow speed of discussion also suits me better than something like a live chat, but that's just my preference (and it seems to be a rare one; probably why most people prefer to use Discord to hang out with other fans.)
That's quite a rose-tinted view, of course - whether or not a forum fosters a welcoming culture is up to whoever is managing and moderating it. The thing is that spaces such as tumblr, Twitter, and other social media don't even try to foster anything. Anything other than the optimisation of ad revenue, that is, which leads to all sorts of ill effects on the communities using them. Fandoms being ousted because their content is "inappropriate" and doesn't turn a profit, algorithms promoting divisive, extremist content because it gets more views and clicks, the rise of cancel culture and people living in fear of being the next victim of the hivemind... you know the drill. I would use social media more if they bothered to prevent their communities from devolving into situations like that.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
===
Are forums dead?
... I mean, we all know they are dead in comparison to Twitter or tumblr. They're not a popular form of communication any more. I myself wasn't around to see the golden age of forums - in fact, I only began participating on forums in 2019, although I was a lurker for several years before.
Anyway, I like forums more than social media. Forums tend to have a friendly small-town feel. It's very different to, say, Twitter, where you're thrown into an ever-changing sea of people and have to seek out other people/communities yourself. Other forum users welcome you when you're new, and there's a whole community waiting for you to join. You get to know the mods and talk with them as if they were just another user, rather than having faceless algorithms or company representatives to speak to. And if the mods are doing their jobs, the forum will have focused, civil conversation. The slow speed of discussion also suits me better than something like a live chat, but that's just my preference (and it seems to be a rare one; probably why most people prefer to use Discord to hang out with other fans.)
That's quite a rose-tinted view, of course - whether or not a forum fosters a welcoming culture is up to whoever is managing and moderating it. The thing is that spaces such as tumblr, Twitter, and other social media don't even try to foster anything. Anything other than the optimisation of ad revenue, that is, which leads to all sorts of ill effects on the communities using them. Fandoms being ousted because their content is "inappropriate" and doesn't turn a profit, algorithms promoting divisive, extremist content because it gets more views and clicks, the rise of cancel culture and people living in fear of being the next victim of the hivemind... you know the drill. I would use social media more if they bothered to prevent their communities from devolving into situations like that.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.