Forums are dead

angryonionangryonion Just some guy
edited June 2011 in Spurious Generalities
Ever wonder why this place gets no traffic let alone traction?
News flash people forums are dead.
http://www.ftw.net.au/lounge/9419-forums-dead.html
:D
All things pass.

Comments

  • edited June 2011
    CRY HARD 2:
    Cry harder
  • angryonionangryonion Just some guy
    edited June 2011
    Who's crying fuck nugget?,Not me I don't give a fuck.
  • SemSem Regular
    edited June 2011
    Perhaps, people generally tend to latch on to doomsayers and such no matter the situation or time.

    While forums may not be in the limelight as Facebook or Twitter are (although I think I heard some news of Twitter's popularity failing somewhat) there are still non-bandwagon jumping members that will populate the forums as there will still be bloggers and youtube posters, etc....

    With Totse.info I have noticed a drop in activity; course where I live it's so fucking hot it's putting me in an overall pessimistic mood so I could be wrong. Not to mention this site plays the occasional recruitment war with Zoklet, Totse2, and Totse3 which while I doubt is were we procure our members does make the site look small in comparison to the former.

    At the same time one of the reasons I migrated over here was the smaller user base.

    Gah, I'm rambling and haven't even begun drinking this evening.
  • fanglekaifanglekai Regular
    edited June 2011
    Sem wrote: »
    Perhaps, people generally tend to latch on to doomsayers and such no matter the situation or time.

    While forums may not be in the limelight as Facebook or Twitter are (although I think I heard some news of Twitter's popularity failing somewhat) there are still non-bandwagon jumping members that will populate the forums as there will still be bloggers and youtube posters, etc....

    With Totse.info I have noticed a drop in activity; course where I live it's so fucking hot it's putting me in an overall pessimistic mood so I could be wrong. Not to mention this site plays the occasional recruitment war with Zoklet, Totse2, and Totse3 which while I doubt is were we procure our members does make the site look small in comparison to the former.

    At the same time one of the reasons I migrated over here was the smaller user base.

    Gah, I'm rambling and haven't even begun drinking this evening.
    People spend all their time on facebook and twitter. few people post on forums now. sure there are still a few big specialty forums like thehighroad, bladeforums, head-fi, sciforums and the like, but most forums are pretty much dead or dying with maybe a few members left to circlejerk.

    totse is fucked because it fragmented and zoklet was a piece of shit. i was on totse for years and i thought zoklet was fucking retarded so i, like many others, pretty much said fuck it.

    this forum, like so many others, is probably not going to last that long. there aren't enough new members and no one posts.
  • PacoPaco me administrator
    edited June 2011
    It's true, forums are pretty much fucked nowadays :/
    Even if totse goes down I plan on keeping my IRC server up.

    Social networks are killing forums, Maybe in order to truely rebirth totse into the modern age of the interwebs we need to make a Totse Social Network.
  • SlartibartfastSlartibartfast Global Moderator -__-
    edited June 2011
    A more accurate statement would be that web forums are being squeezed out be the news aggregator sites like reddit.

    They are being replaced by the likes of reddit, not FB and twitter. FB only works for people you know and twitter is a glorified RSS reader.

    If it's any consolation those sites are probably going to shutdown soon, most of them are relying on VC money to pay the bills and that won't last forever.

    Then the web will be fragmented into more modular less bandwidth consuming chunks again.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2011
    This might be a long post so buckle up.

    Are forums Dead?
    Yes and no. Forums like the old Totse are gone. The forums you see now are just simple forums no aim and low traffic. They carter to a very specific group. It seems that every major website have their own forums and people tend to just register on them and then leave later on. I have seen it and done it many times myself. But you have to ask why are they going away.

    Well to put it simply forums aren't mobile friendly, they require more user interaction and delay. Plus, not many people know about forums. If someone in some school used forums and then got great marks, he might be able to get some users on to his forum but that doesn't happen./

    From TV shows to News Channels, you always hear about Social Networking websites.

    Why do Social Networking Websites work?
    Ease of use and large user base. Although if you join FB and start posting things on your wall no would bother with you unless you have real friends. When it comes to twitter it's a big clusterfuck of tweets. You have to very lucky to even get some mentions from famous people.

    The only reason Twitter gets some coverage is because Celebs use it and for FB it's been used in schools and colleges around the world.

    It's the ease of use. Although totse.info tries very hard to make things easier you just can't compete with Facebook in that regard.

    Reddit and Other Communities?
    Reddit is actually a very decent community but it's full of hardship. I have personally seen the worst of it. All it takes is one asshole and your accounts get deleted or marked off. Plus, reddit system doesn't allow full discussions. It's a hybrid of twitter (link submission) Facebook (friends and sending message) and forums (threads in comments). Plus, it's easy to use. Anyone can register without an account.

    But all those communties have one major flaw. Money, Facebook needs to tons of money to run, they're already going public in 2012. Twitter lacks a business model and currently works very hard to keep up. Reddit runs on users submissions, as it expands it will require more funding and thanks to recession it won't be able to keep up.

    The thing is, you can find tons of information on the Internet but when it comes forums you have always have a upper hand.


    What do we need to do?
    Stay patient and keep working hard? Yes but we need to expand and explore. We need to combine those socials elements and make it easier for people using mobiles, ipad and other things to use forums. They currently don't know how things work and no one bothers putting effort into something that doesn't work.



    What Totse needs to do?
    Actually tons of things. Some are already in progress others you will see in few weeks. I am sort of getting fucked by the weather and Power company otherwise we would be on VB4 and using different ease of use tools and getting things in order.

    I will complete this later power going out.
  • edited June 2011
    Sure, forums are dying out as a whole but that doesn't mean that we have to sit here and suffer in silence (alliteration FTW). Like you've all said, social networking is taking our place on the internet. As a forum, this will be something we both compete with and work alongside in a way. To be honest, there's not many forums like this one out there. You can argue that you've got your Rorta and Cocklet, and a bunch of underground ones too, but we do have quite a lot to offer. We're pretty unique, I'd say.

    Basically, don't fret if it seems like we're not terribly active. All that calls for is patience, additional content and some stuff to get some conversation rolling, even between the small userbase we have today. We've done a brilliant job so far and this is only the start, so keep at it and we will start to grow. Slowly but surely, we will get there.

    It's a shame that forums are dying and social networking is taking over, but I think we can use this as an advantage. The spirit of Totse is very unique, and we're carrying it on - every single one of us. This is enough to attract some attention, so keep it up!
  • GoldenVGoldenV Regular
    edited June 2011
    Maybe if you created a decent forum people might join, rather than being a place the outcasts from fucking Zoklet turn to.

    This place is like the special needs school that the regular school sends all its retarded kids to.
  • jewnosejewnose Regular
    edited June 2011
    Having retarded posters doesn't help us out much. Seriously.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2011
    jewnose wrote: »
    Having retarded posters doesn't help us out much. Seriously.

    Well, it's hard to find decent ones. Maybe someday they will just grow up or GTFO
  • jewnosejewnose Regular
    edited June 2011
    You're right, dfg. The thing is that the bad posters run off the good posters sometimes.
  • JestAJestA Regular
    edited June 2011
    Dfg wrote: »
    Well, it's hard to find decent ones. Maybe someday they will just grow up or GTFO

    Iv tried to post decent material but kidiots from Cocklet derail my threads or simply piss me of. ( looks at Goldenv,Fatty and box.)
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2011
    JestA wrote: »
    Iv tried to post decent material but kidiots from Cocklet derail my threads or simply piss me of. ( looks at Goldenv,Fatty and box.)

    Here is what I will do if I was in your position.
    A) If the Admin is open to talk and responds to everyone, I will just send him a PM and share some thoughts regarding this issue and give him some feedback.
    If I can't do that,

    I will just bitch at the user or call him an idiot for posting such a stupid reply.

    If the section has a mod, I will ask him to deal with this idiot. He will make the decision and dumb his posts away from the thread to trash can etc.

    If doing that doesn't stop, I will make a bitch thread and reference to that idiots posts and if enough users chip in, he will be taken care off by Global Mod and Admins.

    The reason you have to go through these channels is because the Admin and the mods have to be neutral and you have to give them convincing evidence so they can work things out. It's like a court system.

    Plus, you can open this discussion at any time and give some pointers to the Administration.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2011
    jewnose wrote: »
    You're right, dfg. The thing is that the bad posters run off the good posters sometimes.

    Well, the decent posters have to grow a pair or a thick skin. They won't last in future anyway.
  • edited June 2011
    ^ That's why you've got to ignore people who are here to troll and piss you off :thumbsup:
  • JestAJestA Regular
    edited June 2011
    i dont care about what they post honestly i try to ignore them, its the fact that the kidiots make good threads look like zoklet grade shit to potential new totseans.
  • blink182blink182 Acolyte
    edited June 2011
    Forums are dead because the people who originally inhabited them have grown up and new kids just rape Facebook and Google all day. Who needs forums when you can Google anything or use Yahoo answers? The internet is being monopolized just like the real world.

    As far as random bullshit smalltalk and general social interaction, people just play Xbox Live or MMOs.Thats why chat rooms are dead/dying also.
  • MayberryMayberry Regular
    edited June 2011
    This forum's been dead for centuries:

    12778686.jpg
  • jewnosejewnose Regular
    edited June 2011
    JestA wrote: »
    i dont care about what they post honestly i try to ignore them, its the fact that the kidiots make good threads look like zoklet grade shit to potential new totseans.

    Exactly. :angry:
  • edited June 2011
    There doesn't appear any reason why forums would be in serious decline. Social networking sites don't substitute the information-based and relatively indepth discourse that takes place on forums.
  • edited June 2011
    There doesn't appear any reason why forums would be in serious decline. Social networking sites don't substitute the information-based and relatively indepth discourse that takes place on forums.

    Social networks, like stimulants and television, breed apathy. Why bother actually learning things when you can just take duckface pictures of yourself and "like" things?

    The greatest decision I ever made was type "how to make a bomb" into google and hit enter. Without it, I wouldn't be as smart or tuff as I am today. I'd probably be about as tuff and smart as Mahmoud "I'm going to destroy the United States and Israel by sending monkeys into space 50 years after a bunch of communists sent a human being into space" Ahmadinejad
  • edited June 2011
    Social networks, like stimulants and television, breed apathy. Why bother actually learning things when you can just take duckface pictures of yourself and "like" things?

    Why bother with FB if you can actually be learning things? You have no grounds to assume such a relationship exists, either way.
  • edited June 2011
    Why bother with FB if you can actually be learning things? You have no grounds to assume such a relationship exists, either way.

    Facebook is the opiate of the masses, didn't you read Marx?

    Even DS can figure that one out :facepalm: and he can't differentiate between "your" and "you're"
  • edited June 2011
    It's a cool metaphor, but come wit evidence homie.
  • edited June 2011
    EVIDENCE:
    Typical facebook user(female):
    oKVwD.jpg
    Typical facebook user (male):
    bpbAz.jpg
    I rest my case.
  • edited June 2011
    EVIDENCE:
    Typical facebook user(female):
    oKVwD.jpg
    Typical facebook user (male):
    bpbAz.jpg
    I rest my case.
    Were those sorts using forums before social networking sites became de rigueur? Or have internet usage rates climbed, suggesting that the popularization of those sites has resulted from those people, new to the net, who never would have posted on a web forum anyway?
  • edited June 2011
    Were those sorts using forums before social networking sites became de rigueur? Or have internet usage rates climbed, suggesting that the popularization of those sites has resulted from those people, new to the net, who never would have posted on a web forum anyway?

    Here is the average forum user (male):
    PrhEg.png
    Average forum user (female) (tie):
    iyxOF.jpg
    6O7hf.jpg

    inb4 ludicrous accusations regarding my own appearance, as a member of ar15.com I look like a true OPERATOR at all times:
    grA43.jpg

    inb4 more excuses courtesy of Sandra, forums are dying, GET OVER IT.
  • thewandererthewanderer Regular
    edited June 2011
    It's only going to get worse. Accept it.
  • edited June 2011
    Or have internet usage rates climbed, suggesting that the popularization of those sites has resulted from those people, new to the net, who never would have posted on a web forum anyway?

    I'd say it has something to do with this as well. As more and more people start really using the internet, they just sit there on Facebook all the time instead of doing anything worthwhile. To them, the internet IS Facebook, and they'll never stumble across a place like this in a million years.

    It's sad :(
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