this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2026
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Bring Back Crappy Forums: Web forums were rough around the edges and faded in relevance as seemingly better options emerged. But what if we had stuck with them? (tedium.co)
submitted 4 days ago by beep@piefed.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1234765/bring-back-crappy-forums-web-forums-were-rough-around-the-edges-and-faded-in-relevance-a

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

This is a moot question, because the only thing that matters is engagement.

Internet forums:

  • Are (mostly) specialized.

  • Don't have S&P 500-level advertising.

  • Don't constantly ping your phone by default.

  • Don't incorporate "dark patterns" in the UI.

  • Don't have AI-based algorithmic feeds.

  • Have rules for posting, which slows down posting.

People didn't give up on them; their attention got sucked away to other things. And nothing could have changed that, no matter how much they improved.

Not that I have any high horse to stand on.

For a few years, I've been telling myself I will become active in a few still-extant forums again (like DPReview and SpaceBattles). I never did.