Are webmaster forums dying niche?

I see old webmaster forums (like for eg. DP) is getting much less traffic/ visitors/postings than before. Or webmaster forums no longer profitable niche? What are top webmaster forums now ?

 

I visit DP regularly and occasionally warriorforum. I don't think there's anything better for webmasters (except stackoverflow) out there.

 

Thanks
I come across stackoverflow especially when looking for solutions to tech issues.
But I see is mainly developer, coder, technical forum without buy sell marketplace

 

Didn't know about Warrior Forum. Thanks for the heads up!

I often visit The Admin Zone and DP, although I'm mostly a lurker. They're great resources.

I think as long as there's interest in the topic, such communities will work and thrive.

 

A few years ago, when I had a problem with a code I visit forums and ask for help...(I grew up in one of those forums by the way.) now I just google it and almost every time I have a solution on the first 3 search results. Some Facebook groups got popular, but now they are dying too... The best community at the moment is on StackOverflow I think.

 

I think some of it is where people have moved over to using "Question & Answer" type sites like StackOverflow when they just want an answer to whatever their problem is. There's probably a fair chance that whatever their problem is with their coding, that a Google search will give them the answer that they're looking for without the need to sign up for or log-in to a site

 

I have been here for a while and often miss the good old days. Discussions used to be buzzing and always some interesting business opportunities to get into. Unfortunately, many forums took a hit when FB grew strong. Then again some forums ruined it for themselves. There are still some great niche forums out there which are very busy. It all depends on your interests and needs.

 

Honestly I think the problem is that people no longer want or can "stomach" actual public discourse. They look for echo-chambers of like-minded head-bobbers. It's why "developer conferences" stamp out dissension, why forum moderators oft do the same, and why many retreat to social media where all they talk to is immediate friends or like-minded people shoveled at them by Facebook algorythms.

For example if you support the orange cheeto, your FB feed will be flooded by Fox News, Infowars, and so forth... whilst If you're against the mouth-breathing inarticulate half-tweet you're going to be force-fed Daily Kos and its kin/kine. It creates an "illusion of truth" that maintains your own personal status quo, not questioning "is any of this right".

We see this with the cult-like behavior of the framework fanboys, who when you DARE to criticize the halfwitted steaming pile of manure that is bootcrap, where it's OBVIOUSLY created and maintained by people unqualified to write a single damned line of HTML, make up every damned lame excuse on the planet, cannot actually form a rational defense of it, and shut-down any attempt at convincing them that it's not the greatest thing ever. 100% pure cognitive dissonance, rooted in the BALD FACED LIES they've been spoon fed, and common fallacies that people everywhere fall for.

See the "but millions of developers use it" fallacy. If everyone else is running off a cliff... billions of people think there's a magical man in the sky who will send us to eternal torment because "he loves us" -- doesn't mean they're not all full of shit.

... and as much as other forums would get their panties in a knot over the religion comparison, it's an apt one. Religions, political groups, and organized scams all share in common the peddling of half-truths if not outright lies (best place to hide a lie is between two truths!) through the seven core propaganda techniques, using a mix of fear and ignorance to prey on the feeble minded, establishing the all-important echo-chamber of like-minded individuals.

Once you establish that echo chamber as the majority, it is shockingly easy to paint dissenters as "the enemy". ESPECIALLY if they start saying anything that contradicts the established narrative of outright LIES!

Lemme give you an example, almost this time last year I got banned from a fairly new-ish web development site for posting this:

THAT was considered "too confrontational", "insulting" and worthy of a moderator swinging the ban-hammer. A LOT of web development forums now have this attitude towards posts like that... and it's why I've given up entirely on being polite on the topic. Again, it's all about maintaining that echo-chamber of like-minded morons, and is how dens of suck-ups and sycophants like Hashnode, SitePoint, and so forth sit around circle-jerking themselves.

In that environment is it any wonder half the most talented developers I knew -- like Dan, Aaron, Tim, and Ian -- went to early graves? Whislt the other half have walked away from this industry of sleazy scam peddling dirtbags to go mow lawns and flip burgers for a living? No joke, one of the best developers I knew gave up, started his own burger joint... and is opening his third location this month... because to quote him, "F*** web development"

We have an industry of lies, filled with people who don't want to learn and instead just want to blindly copy-pasta crap code from crappier frameworks, with ZERO interest in doing anything correctly, accessibly, or in a manner that's ACTUALLY easier for future developers to work with. ALL of that is basically "at risk" in places where actual public discourse takes place, so naturally all the namby-pamby suckers who've been duped have retreated from the public eye. Something that alienates anyone and everyone who actually gives a shit.

 

Places like Digital Point will always be needed