I couldn't help but notice the vast majority of the forum is business, technology and marketing oriented with only a small, less active, gen chat category. Was DP intended to focus on those areas with the general chat added as a bonus, or was that a result of the forum changing over time?
I checked both digitalpoint.com and the forum on web.archive.org and looks like it has always been a service catering to webmasters: https://web.archive.org/web/20041230090322/http://www.digitalpoint.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20041230023808/http://forums.digitalpoint.com/ You'll have to ask @digitalpoint what it was like when it first started.
There was a forum called SEO chat that was very popular. It was sold and the new owners munted it. Those of us on dial-up could barely access the site. This one was started and the most active members jumped ship and came here. Edit: the funny thing about dialup - my 22yo remembers the dial-up sound, my 20yo doesn't. I can't believe it's been that long since we got ADSL and now fibre.
General chat has always been the most active room. In good old days forums like Google was extremely popular.
Hi. I am under the impression that yes. It is a marketing forum. General chats/forum areas are usually implemented in an attempt to salvage a forum from declining member posts. Or general chat is used as a simple catch-all category. I did not notice much technology talk or discussion on here but I am new and have yet to delve in deeply into the forum. I like topic-themed forums though. It keeps things orderly and contained. You build character upon the theme of the topics. This forum must be very popular for a reason. If out of anything - this internet web forum does have web presence for sure. I am interested in several aspects of internet marketing though. Perhaps maybe not you. This forum seems a bit disorganized to me however, but it does go with the theme of web development. No matter where or how - people try to turn everything into a marketplace. I stick to the discussion forums and keep it light; and hopefully we will all grow on here. :0) The discussion content is what should drive a forum - not sales. But once implemented in a website sales pages are seldom removed - so they remain. And some use them. But not all.
Yep a webmaster forum. No way it would have gotten as popular as it has if it was a place just for "general chat". This sub-forum is always added to niche forums as a way for members to discuss stuff not relevant to other sub-forums.
Sadly, it seems the gen chat social forums of the 2000s don't exist anymore. Stomped out by facebook twitter and instagram.