Is the social networks killing forums idea flawed?

In the exact same way as the similar thought that mobile games are killing console games? Or in other words I think this is what people who claim forums are dying don't understand:

The people who join social networks and the people who join forums are not the same type of people. They're not the same audience. In fact, most people on social networks likely never joined a forum previously or had any interest in or reason to, so to claim they're somehow people forums 'could'/'should' have got it a bit like saying every instance of piracy/copyright infringement is a lost sale or that every Angry Birds player is someone who would have bought a Wii/PS3/Xbox 360, downright absurd.

Is this an accurate assement of why forums aren't dying off or losing their popularity to Facebook or Twitter? I mean, some might be in very certain areas, but generally I'd say the type of people who join and actively participate in forums are basically the internet equivalent to 'hardcore' gamers, a fairly small minority who don't reflect the general public as a whole.

 

Nothing is "killing" forums... the people who think that don't realize the real problem... There are MORE forums, which works out to more competition. If you can't offer your users something unique (that they want), they will move on to a site that can. That applies to all sites, not just forums.

 

Yep... when I started my forum in 2004, it was actually something I didn't really *want* to do... but more something we *had* to do because I needed a support venue for our existing customers/users. So we had a pre-existing userbase to draw on. It was set up as more than just a support forum of course, but at the same time, I remember thinking, "Why am I even going to try this? There are so many good, well established webmaster forums out there already." The big players back then were WebmasterWorld, SitePoint, Jim's World (not even around anymore), SEO Chat, etc.

We weren't setting out to be the biggest, but somehow it happened... but the real driving force behind it was that we were always innovating and giving users stuff they couldn't get anywhere else.

Some interesting facts for you...

I was the one that came up with the whole idea of "AdSense Revenue Sharing" in May 2004... as far as I know no one had ever done anything like that before. https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/now-get-paid-to-use-this-forum-no-joke.519/ Even Google adopted the idea a few years later: https://developers.google.com/adsense/host/revenuesharing

As far as I know I was the first one to allow users to feed in "Recent Blog Entries" to their profiles (back in 2004): https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/latest-blog-entry-in-signatures.2513/

The "spy" thing for any sort of forum was first done on Digital Point (in 2006): https://forums.digitalpoint.com/threads/digital-point-spy.101069/

We have the largest historical search engine rank tracking system (which actually started before the forum): https://tools.digitalpoint.com/tracker with about 100,000 users using it.

We made a system where users could track their stolen computers before anyone else was (discontinued now since things like Mac OS X have it built right into the operating system now): https://tools.digitalpoint.com/phone-home

We have a full blown advertising platform where site owners can sell ad space on a bidding system: https://advertising.digitalpoint.com/

Part of our XenForo rollout was a new digital goods marketplace, which I think will end up being fairly popular: https://marketplace.digitalpoint.com/

etc, etc...

the point is that if you aren't constantly doing something new/innovative, you are just another forum... which are a dime a dozen.

 

I think there are a couple issues with forums currently. Practically all of the software offerings out there are quickly getting outdated and jaded in terms of modern web design and usability (ehem, or are going of cliffs running in the wrong direction) and the speed of development is simply way too slow, because these software companies or open source teams are constantly fighting with so many mixes of environments. They just don't have the luxury of being able to test and develop for a fixed system with known variables like social networks can. So while social networks are busy pumping out really great features at a fast pace, forum software producers seem like they are dragging thier feet. Also, the fact none of them offer a decent common networking system nor a unified notification system means all the forums out there are basically little islands among huge continents of social network sites, Facebook being the granddaddy super continent of them all. Plus, forums are missing a lot of the fun, which social networks seem to be able to create. Social networking to me is more like entertainment. People sharing sometimes interesting, often funny stuff, which you tend to also want to share and like (or not). I'd say about 5-10% of what I read in social networks is actually useful information. Forums, on the other hand, are aimed to be much more purposeful and though they can get that purpose done more often than not, the fun factor gets a bit lost among that "main purpose" and I am afraid that is why forums are fighting for "air time". It is often, get in, get your information and get out. (or take 30 minutes to make posts like I do.... )

And Shawn and AWS are also correct. The number of forums out there is incredible and being able to stand out among the "noise" is getting harder and harder to do. For a forum to last it will have to be really specialized with a rich amount of good information or question solving and/or most likely will have to offer more than just a forum functionality. Shawn's site is a perfect example of doing more than just a forum by offering other services and being successful at it.

So, for me, it's not social networks killing forums, but more like forums are killing themselves in light of the strength in numbers some social networks are reaching. Forums need to change to still enhance knowledge and opinion sharing and at the same time raise the entertainment and "social networking like" levels. (I say "like" in there, because I don't believe pure social network functionality will even work in single forums.) The problem with this is also, when forums get too "social network like", many people might start screaming, "please don't be like Facebook!" Gee, how often have I heard that already..... The whole situation is quite a paradox.

Scott

 

Yes, but while social media excells at being fun, sites like stackexchange, wikipedia, disqus, answers, complete on modern information features and provide a better experience than forums.
Forums are not getting killed but are outdated in their current format.
I don't think that it's an issue that forums need to work on various platforms. I think the issue lies with the mindsets and imagination of the companies providing software.