I’ve been on internet forums since the 90s when they first started being a thing… I’ve seen and been on so many, seen the evolution of them… and am kind of sad that they appear to be going by the wayside for the “kids” that prefer what I consider more “temporary” solutions such as Discord, and comments sections on webpages.
It makes me sad, because you can search old forums, and even “necro” old posts to bring back up an old conversation… but you can’t do that with many of these modern systems. This kind of “instantaneous” and “throw away” attitude towards user content it… it just doesn’t help build a community.
Community requires shared stories, shared references, shared culture. And you can’t have that when your stories and references disappear with the poof of a server wipe, or get pushed down by the lack of a “thread”!