It's difficult to assess, but "groups" I know that engage in "meaningful" discussions are moving away from FB and the likes (the one exception I know of is Discord)
I'm not expecting a resurgence. More just wondering whether people feel there is indeed a stable niche demand for forums as a form of online discussion.Random American wrote: ↑Tue Dec 22, 2020 6:54 pm With social media to contend with, unfortunately forums like phpBB will probably not have a resurgence any time soon.
Social media is sort of like a sieve, where people have to ask the same questions over and over because old conversations get washed away in the torrent of updates. I think this is where forums are competitive. To my mind, I would think the long-form format, its very organised structure, and its Google-friendliness would be difficult to match anywhere, including on Facebook. That's why I'm kind of baffled to see even very established forums dwindle in activity and then dissolve as the years go by.
Thanks for sharing. So why hasn't the forum migrated to a FB group? Are younger generations signing up, or is the site mostly incubating an older, forum-familiar crowd?bikeridr wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:02 pm I run one forum as owner/adm. It is a 15-year-old motorcycle forum (all Norwegian) which I've taken over and run. Although probably 80% of the registered users are inactive, we are still a decent "click" of users who are active and keeps the forum very much alive.
I'm also member of a couple of international "niche" forums where users prefer to be instead of all those fast-pacing over-cluttered "social media". Those are also quite active and alive, though even being international, the traffic is not much bigger than on the pure-Norwegian board I run.
So yes, I miss the "good ole days" with nice traffic and active alive dedicated forums.
That said, the "active click" of forum users in Norway often plans and goes on motorcycle trips together and many of us have met in person, thanks to the forum.
We are just "old geezers"Theonardo wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:41 pmThanks for sharing. So why hasn't the forum migrated to a FB group? Are younger generations signing up, or is the site mostly incubating an older, forum-familiar crowd?bikeridr wrote: ↑Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:02 pm I run one forum as owner/adm. It is a 15-year-old motorcycle forum (all Norwegian) which I've taken over and run. Although probably 80% of the registered users are inactive, we are still a decent "click" of users who are active and keeps the forum very much alive.
I'm also member of a couple of international "niche" forums where users prefer to be instead of all those fast-pacing over-cluttered "social media". Those are also quite active and alive, though even being international, the traffic is not much bigger than on the pure-Norwegian board I run.
So yes, I miss the "good ole days" with nice traffic and active alive dedicated forums.
That said, the "active click" of forum users in Norway often plans and goes on motorcycle trips together and many of us have met in person, thanks to the forum.
However, with all the conspiracy and hate speech filling sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the law is being looked at to hold sites such as those liable for not policing the content on the site.When the most consequential law governing speech on the internet was created in 1996, Google.com didn’t exist and Mark Zuckerberg was 11 years old.
The federal law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, has helped Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and countless other internet companies flourish.
But Section 230’s liability protection also extends to fringe sites known for hosting hate speech, anti-Semitic content and racist tropes like 8chan, the internet message board where the suspect in the El Paso shooting massacre posted his manifesto.
The First Amendment protects free speech, including hate speech, but Section 230 shields websites from liability for content created by their users. It permits internet companies to moderate their sites without being on the hook legally for everything they host. It does not provide blanket protection from legal responsibility for some criminal acts, like posting child pornography or violations of intellectual property.
As scrutiny of big technology companies has intensified in Washington over a wide variety of issues, including how they handle the spread of disinformation or police hate speech, Section 230 has faced new focus.
Section 230 has allowed the modern internet to flourish. Sites can moderate content — set their own rules for what is and what is not allowed — without being liable for everything posted by visitors.
Whenever there is discussion of repealing or modifying the statute, its defenders, including many technology companies, argue that any alteration could cripple online discussion.