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Rant Forums - Dying out, or staying relevant ?

Discussion in 'General' started by MT. Mods, 7 May 2017.

  1. C4B12

    C4B12 Minimalistic PC's

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    I will keep posting to forums as long as they are around. But yes, social media have taken over a big part yes, sadly. :)
     
  2. Dr. Coin

    Dr. Coin Multimodder

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    I am a minority in living in North America, having had access to the internet since the early 90s, I have never opened a face book account or any other social media account, unless you count ICQ (and I'll ask for your forgiveness I was a teen and the cute girl in class gave me her ID). I use my smart phone for phone calls, some texting, GPS, and games (only if not linked Google/Apple's game services and no game that requires me to add friends). I will use the mobile browser but only if I have no other option. In short I'm a computer loving social Media Luddite.

    As such I will continue to use internet forums until they are no longer available or I'm unable to use a computer.

    [Side Rant]
    As for the arduous task of posting a project to multiple logs, well that is a burden sponsored builders must endure. That might be partly why I'm not a fan of most sponsored build logs as they don't show a lot of process, review design decisions, or show problem solving. As a result they give the appearance of flawless, effortless construction. That and many sponsored build logs do not follow the site picture size rules. If you must post large high quality pictures use a thumbnail link! And then there is is excessive pictures or hardware/material before modding starts.[/Side Rant]
     
  3. Kronos

    Kronos Multimodder

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    I feel this forum seems to have lost it's vibrancy. Questions seem to get few answers nowadays, whether people have moved on to other forums or just got bored I have no idea.
     
  4. javaman

    javaman May irritate Eyes

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    I wonder how much that's to do with how toxic the internet can be at times. While Forums overall tend not to be as toxic with the exception of a few threads, I know I've started typing replies and after finishing not posting. Especially if it's the same as someone else has already said or I feel I'll end up having to defend myself.
    I remember a few years ago being contacted on another forum and having to rewrite a post (saying the same thing using different words) because someone read too far into it and misinterpreted what I said. After that I tend to spend longer crafting posts but still have had occasions where something read by one person means something different to other people.

    I wonder as well how much of it has to do with AMD's poor performance and generally PC performance in general. Most decisions involving hardware have been pretty straight forward with most threads that ask what should I upgrade returning the answer "SSD". I also saw a trend for "streaming builds" that never really seemed to appear on bit-tech compared to other random non computer related forums. I've also seen a decrease in advice for builds for this purpose.
    With progress in Monitors and competition from AMD, I wonder if we will see a bit more activity.
     
  5. Brooxy

    Brooxy Loser of the Game

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    Since I mainly lurk these days, I'm probably part of the problem but...

    I can't see Facebook and it's like destroying forums anytime soon - sure there has been a noticeable decline, but forums have one key thing over social media, which is visibility to search engines.

    For instance, this is a search I did earlier:

    A simple Google search...

    It's a simple 'how do I?' search - click it and take a look at the addresses of all the search results and you'll notice that they are all forum based. Getting useful information for out of Facebook is like getting blood out of a stone - In fact I just tried looking for the same thing on one of the larger groups for a MK5 Golf GTI and came back with nothing.

    Facebook has it's place - mainly along the lines of showing what you've got / ended up with after a lot of work ETC, but for decent guides and looking up common questions on a given subject, it's a bit naff really. Sure you can pose the question and you'll probably get an answer, but it's not the same.

    Also for a decent project log or guide, nothing really comes close to forums at the moment.
     
  6. Xlog

    Xlog Minimodder

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    People keep complaining about problems accessing forum on mobile devices, am I the only one who has zero problems and actually hates RWD?
     
  7. Byron C

    Byron C Multimodder

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    It's not so much accessing, but using. Posting an image here is a great example: doing that on a mobile would be a damn nightmare. You'd have to either try and navigate the forum photo album on a small screen, or upload it to a third-party like imgur and copy a link from one app to another. If you had a "one click" upload facility when you're posting it would make things a million times easier. Hell, that would even be better on the desktop.
     
  8. Behemoth

    Behemoth Timelord in training

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    I prefer to browse forums on my PC at work or home or Laptop. Its not so bad on my iPad but never really bothered about browsing on my phone.
     
  9. Maki role

    Maki role Dale you're on a roll... Lover of bit-tech

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    Tbh I'm sort of the opposite, when I'm at my PC I tend to be doing other things that require my PC like image editing, CAD or just gaming. Most of the time I'll post normal replies from my phone and browse logs etc. on the go, more interesting to me to do on the bus than a mobile game usually.

    Anybody else noticing that the majority of people saying they wont die off are people who don't use social media? I mean I wonder if forums will go the way of Vinyl i.e. largely be replaced but then see a small resurgence as their niche becomes more stable? I sort of feel like those saying they won't be replaced are like those who said CDs or MP3s won't replace the previous standards... They certainly didn't eradicate them, but I doubt you could disagree that they didn't replace them in the eyes of most people.
     
  10. Behemoth

    Behemoth Timelord in training

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    Its all down to preference at the end of the day. I can imagine looking at a forum on my phone a very uncomfortable experience. Whilst my phone has a 5.2 inch screen its still not the best for reading text in detail for example. Much easier on my iPad but still a bit of chore when you have limited screen space to work with.
     
  11. Elton

    Elton Officially a Whisky Nerd

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    Certainly reddit has taken and absorbed a lot of forum content.

    Even so, forums are nice in that returning to a forum is generally welcoming. Like me for example!
     
  12. .//TuNdRa

    .//TuNdRa Resident Bulldozer Guru

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    Forums will potentially migrate more towards Niche communities, but any forum that manages above a certain population level will continue, fall too low and you'll eventually just hit a tiny group using only in-references and jokes, but, barring our obsession with Cheesecake, I think we're safe from that here.

    I do think Reddit, in recent years, really has gobbled down general forums, specialist enthusiast ones continue, but for general discourse; I honestly believe Reddit has just absorbed them all into it's large, somewhat fuzzy mass.

    I doubt Bit will die any time soon, not from a lack of users, lack of income perhaps, because advertising revenue continues to go through the floor and everyone is running adblockers. (Understandably, considering all of the grief over ads doing things they really should not)
     
  13. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    This so much.
     
  14. Jumeira_Johnny

    Jumeira_Johnny 16032 - High plains drifter

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    I can't see facebook catering to niche interests. I tried a closed watch group and it was....bad. Facebook stays as a way to keep up with old and geographically separated friends.

    But as someone who is part of beekeeping, brewing, blacksmithing, computer, tool and car restoring, shooting, and watch forums; the archived and balanced information will never be matched on social media. Project logs, stickies, and intro how-tos are really only found in this format. Add to that the ability to layout pictures in chronographic order with an odd video clip, it's almost unbeatable.
     
  15. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    You mentioned beekeeping, brewing, metalwork and computers? :D
     
  16. Jumeira_Johnny

    Jumeira_Johnny 16032 - High plains drifter

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    Indeed.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  17. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Beekeeper, metalworker and computer geek myself. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. :D
     
  18. Mr_Mistoffelees

    Mr_Mistoffelees The Bit-Tech Cat. New Improved Version.

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    Perhaps we should take over and absorb: https://able2know.org/forum/cheesecake/ :D
     
  19. Xir

    Xir Modder

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    Let's continue this conversation on IRC, shall we? :D (or better yet: uk.comp.homebuilt) :naughty:

    That said, are you continuing your catalina blog? ;)

    I was on vacation without WLAN....you shut up two weeks and people think you're dead :rolleyes:

    I personally don't get Facebook...I was coaxed into an account (some old friends told me they had my pictures on there), and frankly, I can't find **** on Facebook.
    Listening to American podcasts, some people have online shops, but no website, via Facebook.
    How the find and organise anything is beyond me.
     
  20. Jumeira_Johnny

    Jumeira_Johnny 16032 - High plains drifter

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    She hasn't been getting the attention she needs, you are right there. I need to make a plan and see how it fits into our finances.
     

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