Are Facebook, VK and other social nets killing your forums?

olsserik · Post by **olsserik** » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:31 am

It would be interesting to see some stats from e.g Phpbb on downloads or likewise.

"The death of Forums" due to Facebook is a well established sentence in my niche. Extremely sad, not only for us who likes and runs forums. It is a spiral downwards; stop posting on forums -> less info to index by search engines -> people do not find what they looking for -> starts a group on FB.

Here are some more info: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2215216

Willoughby_wx · Post by **Willoughby_wx** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:41 am

For us - yes. But people know we're a great source of good information and they come back.

Variations mainly due to severe winter weather impact, but you get the idea...

newsbee · Post by **newsbee** » Sun Feb 04, 2018 12:41 pm

I agree with the logical portrayal of forums as libraries and FB etc. as daily papers.

Theoretically, you go to a library to look for whatever you need to know, but, according to my experience with the forum vs social net, people tend to ask same questions again and again in the daily newspaper, rather than go to the library i.e. forum. So there is no need to scroll down to find a story that was published six months ago - you just repeat your question and get a new answer, often from new people and sometimes a better answer than six months ago.

I've lost one huge discussion board to a social network group that I myself set up to promote the board in the first place, and now amstruggling to keep going a smaller version of the same board, by adding lots of off-topic forums to make it more attractive. It does attract lots of spammers, but Facebook users do not return.

In my opinion, people have changed along with the social networks. All they want is to post their stuff, get a couple of likes and continue posting.

Besides, even with niche subjects, you do not need to go a forum with your question, the Internet now has all the answerss, just Google.

No?

tojag · Post by **tojag** » Thu Mar 08, 2018 11:58 am

It is known that the forum will exist if there are users and new posts. Then, ads can be displayed that will keep the forum alive. Because people now prefer applications on the phone more than opening a browser, we may need a new idea. We need a universal application for Android and iOS, based on GPL or OpenSource, similar to TapTalk, but allowing the user to connect only their own forum. Only then will the income from ads in this application keep the forum alive and not on the basis of the TapTalk account.
It's a big undertaking. We would need a team of people who know how to program applications and watch over its development.
But it's probably a far-fetched idea

Maybe a kind of browser that only displays the owner's forum and nothing more? Of course, any external link would then open an external browser.
I wrote on this forum in another topic:
PWA (Progressive Web Apps) websites are a much more interesting thing, thanks to which mobile browsers treat it as an application.
https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/
For the owners of phpbb sites, PWA would be an interesting option because the forum would be like an independent application. I think it can go in this direction because now Chrome, FF, Opera support it. But this is a completely different topic than AMP.

Regards

AmigoJack · Post by **AmigoJack** » Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 pm

An app which starts the browser (by invoking the board's URI) maybe? If either today's smartphone users are too stupid to use favorites or today's smartphone OSes are too stupid to allow URIs as shortcuts with a configurable icon then yes: sounds good. But then again: why expect smartphone users to do anything more than swiping and liking?

tojag · Post by **tojag** » Thu Mar 08, 2018 4:36 pm

AmigoJack you're right

That's why the +1 idea in this forum is so popular and not just only here.
Users want to make things easier, they want to have notifications on the phone right away if someone answers their question without waiting for an email. They want large icons, fonts and finger swiping, copy-paste, copy-paste, etc. This is reality. Maybe it is not optimistic for board like this. We must look for new ideas even if they look crazy.

warmweer · Post by **warmweer** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 10:22 am

AmigoJack wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 pm ... But then again: why expect smartphone users to do anything more than swiping and liking?

with your permission, I'm saving this one in memory and I'll be sure to use it soon

canonknipser · Post by **canonknipser** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:24 am

AmigoJack wrote: ↑Thu Mar 08, 2018 1:53 pm ... today's smartphone users are too stupid ...

Why should users be smart when their phone is smart?

AmigoJack · Post by **AmigoJack** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:33 am

By default, everyone can quote me. Single phrases or sentences are free to be copied without quoting/providing a source (although I like everything being referenced).

I mean: I consider mobile device board visitors to be consuming/read only instead of inputting text. Sure everybody wants to be notified immediately for a reply, but from where should replies come if nobody submits texts anymore?

tojag · Post by **tojag** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 6:42 pm

It's not exactly like that. Why FB or Inst is so popular? Because their easy to use. See how many forum applications in the google play store, eg. XDA, AndroidForum, Nielsen, OnePlus, Xiaomi, and more, more...
Why ForumApp is better than website on the smartphone?
Because it can start automatically when you turn on your smartphone and you're already logged in - the website does not.
Because the application can have access to the functions of the smartphone, e.g. notifications and you immediately know what's new in your topics - the website does not.
Because you can use sharing your phone resources like photos, files, links etc. directly into your forum application with one click Share It. - the website does not have such possibilities.
And probably something more. All this is the convenience of the user of the smartphone.
Youth sets development directions and is inevitable. Fortunately, my phpbb-based forum is mostly used by people over 40 years of age and older.
I am looking forward to the development of Progressive Web Apps, maybe it will be a significant improvement for websites.
Personally, I send many posts straight from the smartphone but usually they do not contain photos. I don't know why. Maybe i'm lazy?
I use the forum application of one of the phone manufacturers myself. In the application I have the same forum resources as through the website but it is easier to use the application than the websites on the smartphone.
But do not worry about my thoughts, it's just my subjective opinion. Maybe I am wrong.
Regards

**My CDB Contributions** · Post by **HiFiKabin** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 7:20 pm

IMHO the reason FaceAche and the like are so popular is...

... you don't have to think. Just click the "Like" and move on. To take part in a forum discussion, you actually have to take part.

Also, why would anyone actually WANT to use Facebook?

https://gizmodo.com/facebook-figured-ou ... 1797696163

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/data- ... -1.4259677

I never have and never will.

david63 · Post by **david63** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 10:10 pm

Noi need to worry about FB - based on a report I read a few weeks ago FB is now in decline

tojag · Post by **tojag** » Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:37 pm

I am happy with this information

I have never had FB and I do not plan to have it. However, I am watching young people. They are on FB. Hence, I share some of the concerns of the author of the first post because I can see how young people are looking for information - not on forums but on the group on FB. In some areas of life this may be a big competition for forums.
Regards

Holger · Post by **Holger** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 12:09 pm

Seems like we just have to sit back and wait ...

Lumpy Burgertushie · Post by **Lumpy Burgertushie** » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:07 pm

david63 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 09, 2018 10:10 pm Noi need to worry about FB - based on a report I read a few weeks ago FB is now in decline

facebook-loses-70-billion-in-10-days