I wish they wouldn't have, at least in the narrow sense that they have died (plenty are still thriving!).
Forums seemed to give way to blogs which then gave way to Facebook and short-form media (X, for X-ample). It's harder to establish newer sites and communities because increasingly, people aren't looking to Google or other search engines for where to spend their time online — they start and finish on social media.
And then there's the inevitable commercialization of everything. I seem to recall there being numerous amazing FOSS message boards back in the 2000s, but now, looking at alternatives to phpBB, the lion's share of it is for-profit. Even open source darling WordPress is undergoing tumultuous uncertainty at the hands of a capitalist… (And as goes WordPress, so goes forum software like bbPress.)
Message boards also aren't frictionless, involving users to create new accounts and manage yet another set of credentials and potential endless email notifications, etc.
I'd love to see a decentralized form of log-in that isn't tied to Google, Facebook, Apple, et al. that gives you full control over your info on a forum — register for a phpBB site over here, some other board over there, etc. etc., and if they all use that decentralized service, your profile remains yours, maybe even allowing you to update your info from off-site, see a list of every board you're a member of, etc.
That may not be practical or even possible, I dunno — I'm not a dev — but it would go a long way toward fighting forum rot. (For example, if I sign up for five different boards at different times using that service, get really into one, forget all about a couple, and only post once on another, I'd still see them in my central list and perhaps even always know when I get replies on my posts.
Or short answer, message boards are dying because everything inevitably is made worse.
Forums seemed to give way to blogs which then gave way to Facebook and short-form media (X, for X-ample). It's harder to establish newer sites and communities because increasingly, people aren't looking to Google or other search engines for where to spend their time online — they start and finish on social media.
And then there's the inevitable commercialization of everything. I seem to recall there being numerous amazing FOSS message boards back in the 2000s, but now, looking at alternatives to phpBB, the lion's share of it is for-profit. Even open source darling WordPress is undergoing tumultuous uncertainty at the hands of a capitalist… (And as goes WordPress, so goes forum software like bbPress.)
Message boards also aren't frictionless, involving users to create new accounts and manage yet another set of credentials and potential endless email notifications, etc.
I'd love to see a decentralized form of log-in that isn't tied to Google, Facebook, Apple, et al. that gives you full control over your info on a forum — register for a phpBB site over here, some other board over there, etc. etc., and if they all use that decentralized service, your profile remains yours, maybe even allowing you to update your info from off-site, see a list of every board you're a member of, etc.
That may not be practical or even possible, I dunno — I'm not a dev — but it would go a long way toward fighting forum rot. (For example, if I sign up for five different boards at different times using that service, get really into one, forget all about a couple, and only post once on another, I'd still see them in my central list and perhaps even always know when I get replies on my posts.
Or short answer, message boards are dying because everything inevitably is made worse.
Statistics: Posted by romans1423 — Tue Jan 14, 2025 6:54 pm