It seems like in the past year I've noticed several forums really take a dive. I know there are some that are still doing well, but many really seem empty compared to before.
Yeah, noticed same thing about some of my favorite forums but those are only few and we cant say that all forums are dying out or something.
I honestly never known much of a change either. But then again, there's many other places that people go on now like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and those places. It pretty much took away the traffic to forums I guess.
I've noticed some forums go downward in traffic and quality while other rise! It's all about what that forum is providing and whether there is a current need for that info or service.
Economy bad? No more free time due to lack of money to spend on forums? Going back to school? Just some things that might affect the general net.
Forums are old, sadly. I wish I could think of something new that's never been made, but I can't do that, lol.
I don't think forums are dying, but I think blogs are taking over! I remember one of my earlier sites in 2003 was made on a weblog script I made & I converted it to phpBB because it was preferred by the visitors.
Lot of times the owners move on to different things, letting the forum on mods only. I think DP was following the same route at certain point. Then this year they seem to get a hold of it again.
I agree; there are many factors that can cause to a forum's diminishing activity, one of which is loss of interest by the owner. I wouldn't say that forums are on their deathbed. Forums provide a unique resource full of information and interaction, that I believe they will be around for a while. Some people feel that social networks are taking over, but social networks and forums are two different animals.
And better yet, the new forum softwares seem to be trying to get some social vibe within the forum itself; with improved profile page, blog etc.
I think this is a niche-specific phenomena. In the older established niches then people like to have a go to see whether they can break in to the niche, then reality sets in and forums are abandoned. In fresh niches, forums still do very well.
I don't think so. Well, not now. But, some big forums are getting inactive but, smaller forums are on the rise.
yes... And i think the reason is FaceBook. Alot of people using facebook instead of their regular forums..As it becaume more popular.
I don't think it's due to the popularity of any particular site. Many people tend to think that instead of sharing their knowledge with other in a public forums, they'd better do something more "private" that would benefit them and not the members and owner of a forum
in my most humblest of opinions I think web forums are a relic of the late 90s that should've died out a LONG time ago -- they are such a horrible user interface and the information that is contained within them (which is def. a lot) is so hard to get to sometimes in comparision to other methods of communication the only reason we still have forums around is because they have been around forever and everyone knows how to use them so it's not like having to learn howto use a new website -- even older people (60+) are very comfortable using them