I recently saw a post listing a number of forums, claiming that the old school platform was not dead yet. Well, my friends, forums are definitely alive and well. In fact, I’m confident that—in spite of the “old” technology they tend to employ—they remain far more alive than the fediverse. I guess that’s why I think it’s utterly ridiculous that some fedi folks pretend that they have any claim to the term “social web.” The social web is vast, and it should never be defined by a single protocol. Forums are part of the social web, imo.
Here are three more categories of forums that I didn’t see listed in that post.
I’ve been a member of three automotive forums: SubaruOutback.org (200.5k registered members), SubaruForester.org (197.5k members), and SiennaChat.org (100.3k members). That’s just three vehicle models that account for half a million users. Half a million! If you have a problem with a vehicle, go find the forum for your make and model. I bet someone there has some good advice for you. I joined the Sienna one last year when I was designing a microcamper layout for a hybrid Sienna; it was incredibly helpful (especially on obscure details even the dealership couldn’t tell me), even though we did not pull the trigger on the purchase and conversion.
Similarly, I’ve been a paid member of Sun Devil Source (or its predecessors) for well over 20 years. Nearly every major university has an active 247 Sports or Rivals forum community, accounting for hundreds of thousands (millions?) of additional users, many of whom spend a lot of time paying attention to the minutia of the team. Did I mention that these folks shell out $100 or more a year just to read and post on these forums?
Finally, I’ve been a member of the National Park Travelers Club and its forum since I first learned about the club while touring John Muir’s house in 2007. The Club maintains what is essentially the official list of people who have visited all the national park units, as well as the location of every national park passport stamp. And there’s also no better place to track soon-to-be-designated national park units than via the sleuths in its forums. Of course, this is just one example of the types of travel-related forums that are out there.
Each of these types of forums are still alive and prospering—even in the age of mega corporate “social” media networks that dominate most conversation about social media. In the end, the technological platform doesn’t matter nearly as much as the people each community attracts.