So before you come right out of the gate with #OKBoomer, know I am a Xennial and proud of it! I would actually also be proud if you did call me a boomer.
And hey, look at this, a much younger generation agrees too that forums are an important asset, look at Discord adding "threads" even they are starting to look more like a forum.
All that said, this is why I personally can't let forums die...
"It has that 'stay overnight in a random hostile while making random lasting friendships with strangers and meaningful interactions on a eu trip', and I miss that most of all."
First off, I love to write out my thoughts, take some time to think on them, and then post them in a form longer than is capable on any platform such as discord, twitter, etc. And because of that long form I enjoy giving people time to absorb the information I have presented to reply in kind. I actually really disliked when forums added the "like" button. It made it so instead of responding in kind and giving you true feedback and dopamine, you just got a tiny hit, but unaware why the person hit the like button. To me the like button is similar to overusing "I love you", if you don't know WHY someone felt inclined to say "I love you", it loses its meaning quickly. There is a reason the French don't say "I love you" as much as American culture.
Discord (and arguably social media as a whole) has single-handedly killed forums and it is honestly really sad, because so much good information is now locked behind a proprietary program/platform that is nearly impossible to search using conventional means.
I am really upset about Discord. While I find it extremely useful for being in touch and coordinating, I find it extremely backwards for any sort of tutorials, long form communication, bug reporting, and the like. It is a horrid way to keep things archived too and you lose so much good info, to never ending scrolling conversation, so everyone is always asking the same questions. "pinning" a message is not as good as searching a website or forum. Plus there is no Google SEO on Discord.
I have had entire communities killed by discord and for the worse. It plays into the whole no delayed gratification thing and hurts so many communities in the long run. The whole "instant gratification" attitude that has been bred from such programs is maddening. I don't know that there's any getting away from it at this point.
I know there are a few initiatives out there to archive even Discord, but a lot of these servers are such a mismanaged mess, I don't know that it would even be useful at this point. So what can I do? I can take what I know and what is still available to me, forums. I can spend time writing out this article. Instead of posting it to discord in a snippet of cut up blurbs, or making a wordpress "news" article, share it to this community, in the hopes that like minded people will see it and go... ya know what, I feel the same way and that is a place I want to be. This is a place I want to come when I am in need of a place to unwind and chat with other like minded people. And I don't believe it is a generation thing, I think it is a "industry" thing.
But the best part about industry is as we are the consumers, we dictate in the long run which industries are successful. How? By actions. And my actions are to keep this community alive via a forum. A so called "dead medium". You can't have a "non niche" community anymore. Well I beg to differ. I have seen it thrive. I have seen it grow. And I have built lasting and important relationships through it all.
This also plays into the "accountability" aspect of the community Crafting Worlds has created. You cannot "hide" your internet anonymity harassment as well on a forum as you can is a discord chat that is scrolling off the page every second. Your post is here for good. And that to me is a great thing. It keeps us accountable. It keeps us engaged. And it allows others to see what we are all about, not just by "activity" but the body, the soul, the meat and potatoes of our posts.
So I hope to entice a few of you with these ideals that, sure "forums are dead", but only for those who also are OK accepting that, like a tweet, where you censor your own creativity and expression to fit into the character limit. If we the consumers, show the industry that we appreciate what the convenience of programs like Discord and short form communication methods, and voice chat, etc... but we want it to enhance our experiences of Community, not detract from it. We want it to build on the blocks we have had for many years, proven to be advantageous to more than just a dopamine hit. Perhaps then, we can get the industry to design for us and not the other way around, dictating that we don't want a headphone jack, or we are OK with "Surprise, this is the new piece of tech this year, that actually just incrementally moves forward and most likely you don't need it", but because we allow for the cloak and dagger development cycles which push "Hype" we also cripple ourselves in being able to give feedback during the process and being able to tell industry: "We don't actually want that".
So forums to me are a way for us to tell all these other mediums: We want a sense of LASTING community. But we also want to use your awesome tools to enhance it. But we refuse to replace it, as it is similar to replacing the engine of a car with a boat motor. Two completely different things, and they do not play well together. It doesn't have to be one or the other, "Apple vs Android", it can be a unity, allowing for our minds to expand and utilize technology of all types to bring it all together for a wonderful harmony.
And that is my rant.
And hey, look at this, a much younger generation agrees too that forums are an important asset, look at Discord adding "threads" even they are starting to look more like a forum.
All that said, this is why I personally can't let forums die...
"It has that 'stay overnight in a random hostile while making random lasting friendships with strangers and meaningful interactions on a eu trip', and I miss that most of all."
First off, I love to write out my thoughts, take some time to think on them, and then post them in a form longer than is capable on any platform such as discord, twitter, etc. And because of that long form I enjoy giving people time to absorb the information I have presented to reply in kind. I actually really disliked when forums added the "like" button. It made it so instead of responding in kind and giving you true feedback and dopamine, you just got a tiny hit, but unaware why the person hit the like button. To me the like button is similar to overusing "I love you", if you don't know WHY someone felt inclined to say "I love you", it loses its meaning quickly. There is a reason the French don't say "I love you" as much as American culture.
Discord (and arguably social media as a whole) has single-handedly killed forums and it is honestly really sad, because so much good information is now locked behind a proprietary program/platform that is nearly impossible to search using conventional means.
I am really upset about Discord. While I find it extremely useful for being in touch and coordinating, I find it extremely backwards for any sort of tutorials, long form communication, bug reporting, and the like. It is a horrid way to keep things archived too and you lose so much good info, to never ending scrolling conversation, so everyone is always asking the same questions. "pinning" a message is not as good as searching a website or forum. Plus there is no Google SEO on Discord.
I have had entire communities killed by discord and for the worse. It plays into the whole no delayed gratification thing and hurts so many communities in the long run. The whole "instant gratification" attitude that has been bred from such programs is maddening. I don't know that there's any getting away from it at this point.
I know there are a few initiatives out there to archive even Discord, but a lot of these servers are such a mismanaged mess, I don't know that it would even be useful at this point. So what can I do? I can take what I know and what is still available to me, forums. I can spend time writing out this article. Instead of posting it to discord in a snippet of cut up blurbs, or making a wordpress "news" article, share it to this community, in the hopes that like minded people will see it and go... ya know what, I feel the same way and that is a place I want to be. This is a place I want to come when I am in need of a place to unwind and chat with other like minded people. And I don't believe it is a generation thing, I think it is a "industry" thing.
But the best part about industry is as we are the consumers, we dictate in the long run which industries are successful. How? By actions. And my actions are to keep this community alive via a forum. A so called "dead medium". You can't have a "non niche" community anymore. Well I beg to differ. I have seen it thrive. I have seen it grow. And I have built lasting and important relationships through it all.
This also plays into the "accountability" aspect of the community Crafting Worlds has created. You cannot "hide" your internet anonymity harassment as well on a forum as you can is a discord chat that is scrolling off the page every second. Your post is here for good. And that to me is a great thing. It keeps us accountable. It keeps us engaged. And it allows others to see what we are all about, not just by "activity" but the body, the soul, the meat and potatoes of our posts.
So I hope to entice a few of you with these ideals that, sure "forums are dead", but only for those who also are OK accepting that, like a tweet, where you censor your own creativity and expression to fit into the character limit. If we the consumers, show the industry that we appreciate what the convenience of programs like Discord and short form communication methods, and voice chat, etc... but we want it to enhance our experiences of Community, not detract from it. We want it to build on the blocks we have had for many years, proven to be advantageous to more than just a dopamine hit. Perhaps then, we can get the industry to design for us and not the other way around, dictating that we don't want a headphone jack, or we are OK with "Surprise, this is the new piece of tech this year, that actually just incrementally moves forward and most likely you don't need it", but because we allow for the cloak and dagger development cycles which push "Hype" we also cripple ourselves in being able to give feedback during the process and being able to tell industry: "We don't actually want that".
So forums to me are a way for us to tell all these other mediums: We want a sense of LASTING community. But we also want to use your awesome tools to enhance it. But we refuse to replace it, as it is similar to replacing the engine of a car with a boat motor. Two completely different things, and they do not play well together. It doesn't have to be one or the other, "Apple vs Android", it can be a unity, allowing for our minds to expand and utilize technology of all types to bring it all together for a wonderful harmony.
And that is my rant.
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