Forums are losing attention due Social Networks ?

[YoshiGM]

Hi all,
I have opened this topic because I would like to know your opinion about the current situation of the forums in general.

I have come across a lot of people where I tell them about being part of a forum, but most of them back off because they prefer faster and easier places, where it doesn't take them long to reply to a message or comment.. Social networks like Discord, Twitter or even Facebook, fall into this category.

So, my question is ... Do people currently do not like forums because they are lazy? Or What do you think is the reason why people do not want to be part of a forum?

And also.. How do you recommend to people that a forum is also a good option to talk about everything that they are passionate about?

[Derri]

Honestly, for most people they prefer quicker engagements. Discord and Facebook in particular provide these spaces, especially through the use of groups feature on Facebook. Discord let's you join communities your passionate about and very specific.

It's not because people are lazy.

The problem with forums isn't that they're unattractive as such but most popular forum communities don't look like this anymore.

The most popular forum communities are run on much more advanced software such as XenForo. Forumotion forums I hate to say look like they were built about 17 years ago. Obviously social media has had a reduction but the problem is, the days of forums being run on phpbb software is long gone.

People aren't lazy, it's just about time and how much energy people want to invest in a community. Plus the technology isn't very good here anymore.

[skouliki]

well i think the social networks have it all in one
the Facebook platform for example has groups to talk and pages ( instead of forums or blogs )
also FB provides for the owner all the necessary options about who can see or not the posts and has the ability to manger the account exactly as he wants 

For a forum to run the owner must have some CSS or HTML knowledge or else we will have a basic forum that looks kind of old

Forumclubs project did not work as you can see yourself and we all can understand why

[Jucarese]

We have options to social networks if you want to respond quickly to a message, I use the PWA application that I quickly have access to the forum at any time, allowing notifications in real time you are aware of all content. If you want something like the social networks, active your chat with channels for different groups, or install something like what we leave our friend Ange tuteur the forumotion-edge. I have a clear thing, social networks are a focus of very important privacy traffic, which The forums do not, and this should know the people. They have a lot of damage to the forums, but users should know that their data is not safe in them, and although laws in Europe protect us, this networks do what they want, because the fines are always lower than the dances that are going to get our data selling.

[YoshiGM]

O, your points of view are very interesting.

@Derri: You have a good point there.. The phpBB system that forumotion uses is very old. I don't know how XenForo works, but i think that is the reason that they're developing more versions like AwesomeBB.

@skouliki: Yep, for those people that needs to talk instantly, prefers places like Facebook groups and of course, you should have knowledge of CSS and HTML if you want to create a good appearance of the forum.

@jucarese : That's the same anwser you gave me in the SSF... People don't know that they can add the forum as a native aplication without using the browser.

Why the people prefers to use any social network if they social steals his personal information ?

[Jucarese]

Why the people prefers to use any social network if they social steals his personal information ?

Because they are not aware of what is happening,Information is power and personal data cash,also social networks are at the point of sight of hackers to steal accounts.

[Derri]

Even AeesomeBb doesn't look like what a modern forum looks like these days. Honestly watch a tutorial on like of XenForo and you'll see the difference. You also don't require java or css knowledge.

I mean if you basically want any real advanced options on FM you need to know these.

Social media also provides the same as forums but in a shorter format. Facebook groups does the same thing essentially but in a shorter format.

[YoshiGM]

Hmm ok. I'll check that.

Social media also provides the same as forums but in a shorter format. Facebook groups does the same thing essentially but in a shorter format.

I think this other the reasons that other people prefers to stay in a social network instead a forum.

Because they are not aware of what is happening,Information is power and personal data cash,also social networks are at the point of sight of hackers to steal accounts.

Yes, some social networks are the principal sight, but if you take care of what sites your enter and where you login, and of course, if you activate the 2 factor authorization, you'll have a secure account.

[Terminator44]

I have also noticed more people moving over to Facebook from my interest.

What I like about forums is that it's much easier to navigate topics as it all stays within the forum. But with Facebook it's much easier to increase the audience because of access to share content.

I submitted a suggestion here: https://help.forumotion.com/t160970-url-link-article-to-include-title-date-and-picture-when-posting-an-article
This would put us closer to being inline with Facebook's platform.
No interest in this suggestion.
Perhaps it can't be done, or maybe legal issues are involved.

In my opinion in order to benefit from gaining more attention via forums, we need to add things that are similar to what Facebook offers.
But if it's not possible to accomplish, that is beyond our control.

[Derri]

I have also noticed more people moving over to Facebook from my interest.

What I like about forums is that it's much easier to navigate topics as it all stays within the forum. But with Facebook it's much easier to increase the audience because of access to share content.

I submitted a suggestion here: https://help.forumotion.com/t160970-url-link-article-to-include-title-date-and-picture-when-posting-an-article
This would put us closer to being inline with Facebook's platform.
No interest in this suggestion.
Perhaps it can't be done, or maybe legal issues are involved.

In my opinion in order to benefit from gaining more attention via forums, we need to add things that are similar to what Facebook offers.
But if it's not possible to accomplish, that is beyond our control.

To be fair the platform also needs to be modern as well. I mean look at Ubisoft, they moved from having a vbulletin forum to something a lot more modern and engaging as they noticed that traditional forums were dying.

https://discussions.ubisoft.com/?lang=en-US

We need far better design, integration and just they need to be modernised.

[YoshiGM]

@Terminator44 : We have the SEO Tools, where you can personalize which image, title, etc will be showed up in the social networks.

---

Thanks for your replies guys.

Another reason of this topic it was because i'm losing audience in my forum since some years ago and i'm very worried about it...

[Mihai]

Thanks for your replies guys.

Another reason of this topic it was because i'm losing audience in my forum since some years ago and i'm very worried about it...

its because of the year, forumotion was populated in the past... and now not so much... things changes, platforms changes, people changes... everything changes, everything comes to an end

i miss yahoo! messenger soo much, now yahoo is owned by verizon media... Google+ was not so much succes, inbox by gmail is gone also... skype for business

[YoshiGM]

Thanks for your replies guys.

Another reason of this topic it was because i'm losing audience in my forum since some years ago and i'm very worried about it...

its because of the year, forumotion was populated in the past... and now not so much... things changes, platforms changes, people changes... everything changes, everything comes to an end

i miss yahoo! messenger soo much, now yahoo is owned by verizon media... Google+ was not so much succes, inbox by gmail is gone also... skype for business

You're right... Forumotion's best years were between 2009-2014.
I remember to see too many forums with a lot of replies, new topics and new users.

We must do anything to fight against social networks and keep forums alive

[Alex99]

space

[Beryn Lightbright]

At least with forums information can be organized...to many use discord now, such a pain if you are trouble shooting

[BlackScorpion]

At least with forums information can be organized...to many use discord now, such a pain if you are trouble shooting

Totally agree , discord is useful but a pain to deal with.

[Mihai]

At least with forums information can be organized...to many use discord now, such a pain if you are trouble shooting

Personally i like discord very much, but i hate skype... its too damn old, discord was taking place of skype...

microsoft was trying to buy discord, with alot of money, but discord rejected them

[YoshiGM]

At least with forums information can be organized...to many use discord now, such a pain if you are trouble shooting

Yup, Discord it's a great place to talk but it's a pain to deal with it.

[JennyorAlice]

@YoshiGM I think a forum is more organized that talking on skype/discord/etc. Or they can be more organized if the owner and admin display everything right.

Skype/discord or whatever people are using these days are okay for having a discussion in the moment but you can do the same thing with a chat box on your forum. Some people may prefer to use skype/discord because they can have a more private discussion (unless I'm mistaken) by just inviting certain people into the discussion. Example........if you are the owner of a forum and you want to have a private discussion with just your staff where the general public can't see. Then you can do so on places like skype/discord/etc.

[Guest]

Yes, social networks are dominating for years and they will continue to do so. Reason for it is that they found a way to get attention of the user in a manner they can get plenty of information in few seconds. Everything is scroll related (fingers) and all interaction is based on quick decisions. Forums on the other hand require some time to read, to put some time into it before you give a meaningful reply.

Therefore, modern generations doesn't have concentration to do things slowly and the result of it is usage of social networks. I am not young and forums are perfect for me.

[Beyonder]

Forumotion does amazing when it comes to updating/upgrading! we just got to advertise more and more!!!

[Guest]

Man, I wish I can go back to days when Forumotion was on its peak. So many forums, so much fun happening. I recall two Serbian forums that had same purpose as help.forumotion. There I met many people and visited their forums. It was so nice. Now, forumotion forums died out. I say this because I can't find any popular or active. Forums in generally die. It's sad for me, when I think of it.

[skouliki]

hi

we had discussed it here the same issue https://help.forumotion.com/t161000-forums-are-losing-attention-due-social-networks

[SLGray]

Man, I wish I can go back to days when Forumotion was on its peak. So many forums, so much fun happening. I recall two Serbian forums that had same purpose as help.forumotion. There I met many people and visited their forums. It was so nice. Now, forumotion forums died out. I say this because I can't find any popular or active. Forums in generally die. It's sad for me, when I think of it.  

hi

we had discussed it here the same issue https://help.forumotion.com/t161000-forums-are-losing-attention-due-social-networks

Topics Merged

[Nemesis Prime]

i was talking to a few co-workers on this subject and i believe the road block forums face in today's social media, are, mobile devices (soo many of them), "live time" engagement (such as chats or heh even twitter one can have what feels like real time covo), and of course, memes & trolls lol

the mobile aspect forumotion has a good handle on.
"live time" engagement can be done as well (several levels)
soooo i'm left with memes & trolls. at least on my forum, while i do have a 'game' section for spamming/forum games, straight up posting of BS across the board is a no go

other than that, i dunno. as i rebuild the site, i constantly ask current and new members what they like/dont like etc.. still waiting lol

[SLGray]

Well, it seems that social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, seems to be having issue now.

[Guest]

For me, forums will always be number one. I wish there are more forums to hang out with people OR few forums but really, really active. Sadly, I dont know any.

[SLGray]

For me, forums will always be number one. I wish there are more forums to hang out with people OR few forums but really, really active. Sadly, I dont know any.

Have you tried ForumClub?

[Guest]

For me, forums will always be number one. I wish there are more forums to hang out with people OR few forums but really, really active. Sadly, I dont know any.

Have you tried ForumClub?

I don't know how forum club works? I am confused. I checked it and I am like: "How this works, it is not like a common forums". Can you explain?

[skouliki]

check this https://help.forumotion.com/t157397-discover-forumsclub-forumotion-s-new-community-site-for-building-advanced-collaborative-communities?highlight=forumsclub