Originally Posted by
SamirD
This has been an issue for forum owners worldwide as the convenience of social media gains a lot of traction. But in the end, I've found in my own personal experience and of those that peruse both forums and social media, that the quality of information is firmly in forums.
Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Yes, but these legacy BB-type forums with subject focuses tend to be most valuable because of the aging contributors whose accumulated knowledge and focus in the area have made the BB-type forums a rich place to get, mine and develop knowledge in the subject matter. These BBs' aging base and struggles with attracting a younger base has consequences for the longer-term utility of subject-matter-focused BB-type forums. But it's not easy to change the trend and develop and maintain an active and contributing younger base when trying to "wiki-ize" or "curate" at the expense of encouraging social exchanges among a fresher group that has way more options around for more penetrative online social engagement than was the case when FT was younger.
I prefer the forum format because of the stricter standards on conduct, topic drift, no politics, etc. If the same standards were to be applied on a social media group, people who disagree would simply leave and form their own group on the same platform. On a forum such as this one, people can certainly try to start a competing forum, but they won't be successful as they wouldn't be on the same platform, and won't have the same reach, so they're "forced to behave" while they're here, if they want to continue using the forum as a resource for information.