Sphinn - Where Do Forums Fit on a Social Network Driven Internet?

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Where Do Forums Fit on a Social Network Driven Internet?

Went Hot: November 15, 2007 - 11:29 pm
Posted By: cre8pc 335 days ago
Topic Type: News Story (Jump to http://cre8pc.com)
Category: Social Media

Is there something wrong with Internet forums? Is talking about discussions outside the room with outsiders kind of like gossip? Is the ability to cross link and weave forum threads in and out of other web sites simply part of the social aspect of the Internet?

9 Comments

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from Jill 335 days ago #

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As a forum admin, I've thought of this myself many times as well. But I really don't see forums as all that different from blogs that allow commenting.

The major difference is in the fact that anyone can start a post and ask a question on a forum, which they may not be able to do on a blog.

Not every site will want that, but there's still a basic need for a place where people can ask their questions, so I don't see forums going away anywhere soon.

from bwelford 333 days ago #

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If you want a discussion with like-minded people, then a forum is the place to go. Social media sites like Digg, or even Sphinn, are like a whitewater river. There is little time to stop and look around. That isn't at all the nature of a successful forum.

from Nunney 333 days ago #

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Integration is the key to making a site work (always has been I think). Integration of blog posts, social voting, bookmarking, comments, forums, profiles and whatever it is a site is selling and a participant is buying. I've yet to see a site integrate it all.

I think it's very easy for SEOers thoughts about big subjects like the future of marketing and the internet to be skewed by whatever is currently bringing results in our small world.

from rotatedspectrum 332 days ago #

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Ohhhh....this is an interesting topic because, as we speak, some of the forum software developers are bringing common SN aspects into the 'forum world' by including photo sharing, blogs, SN style profiles, etc...into their basic software packages.

Kind of makes me think...

from yogeshsarkar 332 days ago #

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I for one don't see forum disappearing and blogs and other web 2.0 communities taking over. However I do will that at some stage the forums will evolve and wouldn’t just be about threads and posts as they right now.

from cre8pc 332 days ago #

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I find it interesting when I go back to the early days of the Internet, like when I started out with AOL and joined their chat groups. At that time, people were more likely to not use their real name to identify themselves. I remember being dreadfully shy and learned to be very dependent on how well someone wrote, to determine if I would join the conversion or not.

Later, as people learned more about how the Internet works and what they're comfortable with, they started to switch over to their real name to ID themselves. More ways to find each other came about, new software, new ways to discuss topics. Early marketers used newsgroups to teach skills, which helped with branding (this is where I "met" Fantomaster and Black Knight, btw.)

For years Internet users were still meeting each other and learning how to type. We had to wait for other people to get computers and get online.

Now, we're at the stage where an enormous number of people around the globe are online, even during work hours. We have IM and Twitter. There's really no way to disconnect unless you purposely refuse to get on board the tech wagon or go somewhere where there's way to connect.

I think the explosion in SM is due to the next step we're in. We've evolved. Whatever the reasons for what's driving this, we who converse online have developed trust and confidence, despite the security issues we also face. We play together. Photos and games, like at Facebook, are ways to get to know each other, similar to when people gather at their homes to play Trivial Pursuit or family gatherings where the photo albums come out. Some people argue and banter with one another, like family. The only somewhat odd part is that we all read it because it's done out in the open rather than off-Net.

It fascinates me to know end, how we keep evolving. I wanted to know where we stood in our opinions on forums because I'm not ready to stop all this fun and growing. Plus, it never hurts to ask what our visitors want :)

from iBrian 332 days ago #

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Forums are so under-rated for their social aspect - and too many PR companies have no idea how to engage them.

What forums have over blogs and similar is the democracy over how to direct the conversation. That means they are less open to overt manipulated, and more accessible to honest information.

Of course, there are the usual hazards - while the US upholds free speech, UK forums are very vulnerable to defamation issues. Currently dealing with yet another defamation claim against one of my forums today (Sigh).

from g1smd 329 days ago #

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Forums are still a great way to find information.

The oldest SEO and SEM forums now have almost a decade of postings archived. That's a huge amount of knowledge.

from dannysullivan 329 days ago #

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Forums are social networks. They just lack some of the standard things you often see with social networks, the ability to connect with friends or vote. Sphinn to me IS a forum. We have a huge amount of discussion that goes on here. And if you look at a "regular" forum, discussions often start off someone reading an article. I just think much of the forum software out there needs to step up with more social networking tools, so that forums don't seem to some as if they are somehow dated.