Are forums dead?

[Jerlene]

With it being 2018 and social media dominating the web more than ever, have forums become a thing of the past? Do you think forum owners can get through this dry spell? Or should they just shut down?

[o-o]

I do not think so; however, the traffic is now smaller.

We should do something to incentive people to come back in forums; it's a really good social tool.

[Jerlene]

I agree! I love forums and will take being apart of a forum over being apart of a blog. I rather talk to people in real time, or like this in topics that we create ourselves.

[MegaphoneStallone]

Forums are a great and I think they should always have a place and are in fact better that stalker media.

But alas, I'm afraid we'll be in our tailspin very soon. 😞

[italianmunchiez]

Depends on the forum. It's the people that decide to keep it up basically. This one is 100% live and active.

[Shortie861]

I wouldn't say they are dying if I am honest but I would say they are struggling. I have found over the years that many people would rather be in one place over being in numerous different places for different things. With Facebook you have communities, games, family, friends and everything all in one place, many people would rather be in the communities on Facebook than go to a forum away from there. I myself still prefer the forum experience, I feel communities are a lot more positive and close knit with forums whereas Facebook you can't really get a close knit community as there are millions using Facebook.

[Jerlene]

I prefer this to anything. A lot of people these days are just using forums for support. Tech forums still get lots of activity because they give quick support and you're not waiting on one person, there's a whole community that can help you. Same goes for a lot of other niches. It just depends on your niche I guess. General discussion boards are the ones dying more than other forums though.

[mont86]

I hope not because I just joined..

[killamch89]

I do agree with some of the posts here that the traffic to forums has decreased and forums do need to change their approach to maintain an active community. One thing they could add is contests...like on this forum and other events which gives forum members an incentive to socialize. 

[Alyxx]

Not entirely dead but definitely less active.

[Steerminator]

Ohhhh..... So that's why forums seem so vacant lately... ;_;

[The Blackangel]

I've owned several forums, and still own a couple, and they're all dead. People have quit posting and after a year or so I deleted all inactive content and accounts that hadn't been logged into. So mine are blank except for my account.

[killamch89]

2 hours ago, Steerminator said:

Ohhhh..... So that's why forums seem so vacant lately... ;_;

Yeah - Most forums are dying a slow and painful death and it has to do with the fact that there are now chatrooms. You can instantly get replies and converse much more than on forums.

[DC]

It's primarily due to alternative forms of social media and interaction like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, heck just about anywhere. But the primary reasons for forums dying are Facebook Groups and Discord. With that being said, there are many great forums still around (like VGR) and forums are here to stay, especially if they offer mobile access and compatibility.