Why Forums?

Written by: Paul Omer

FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace, and countless other social networks have stormed the internet over the past few years, becoming the most widely used forms of internet communication. For every day use, E-Mail has become a thing of the past, as people prefer the "right now" side of social networks. They have become so popular that "FaceBook" was the most spoken word in 2009, with "Twitter" being third, and why wouldn't they be popular? They're fast, easy to use, and a great way to find long lost friends all the while finding new ones to chat with, but how versatile are they really, and just how efficient are theyreally when it comes to discussion and growing closer together?

A downside to social networks
The typical person on FaceBook will get up in the morning, or whenever they are bored, and send a quick text to a buddy of theirs, usually consisting of the words, "Sup?". The friend will reply with, "Eating". Another scenario would be for someone to get up in the morning and try to get in touch with 10 different friends in 10 - 15 minutes. This process continues until the extra time has passed away, and nothing has been accomplished, and nothing has been learned. The two people know nothing more about one another, but has simply used the other to pass the time while getting ready to go to work/school. They have nothing stimulating their mind, and nothing to comprehend throughout the work/school day. This is of course not all that social networks have to offer, as said before, these sites have some wonderful upsides to them, but have you ever stopped to consider that there might be abetter way to talk and stay in touch with friends?

You could ask ten people on the side of the street if they knew what a "forum" was, and at least nine of them would say "no". Forums (at least for some age groups) are unknown to most, considering they've never been presented with such an idea. Social networks are all they know, and therefore all they use. When you stop to consider however, all of the possibilities with a forum, social networks begin to fade away in terms of usability and versatility. When you get right down to it, the only thing that social networks provide that forums don't, is the ability to search someone, and find an old classmate or friend that moved away. All the mean while, social networks lack so much that forums have to offer. You may be asking, what do forums have to offer that's so special? Let's look at it.

Discussion is the forum's most prominent feature
Forums offer that unmatchable ability to create tight-knit communities that can last years. This is created by the openness that they have when it comes to discussion. Unlike E-Mail or social networks, forums are generally used to discuss things in the open for the other members to see. This of course encourages said members to become interested, and respond themselves, thus making the discussion even more deep and interesting. Forums can be about anything, and I mean anything. You can have a forum on one specific topic, or have one that covers everything under the sun. Some forums are small, while others are large.

Addition features are plentiful
To leave it at that and say that forums are only good for open conversation would be unfair. Because forums have so much potential, there have been hundreds of modifications made for forums. The modifications can be installed right into the forum, giving it a whole new feature that causes the forum to function better, and helps make the forum more appealing to passer bys. Modifications can be anything. Some people use their social network to play minigames and such with their friends and earn rewards. This is also possible through forums. Arcade modifications are quite popular, and there are thousands of games to choose from, giving your community endless fun.

Privacy and security
To some this makes no difference, but there's always the privacy issue to consider with social networks. At one point, 29,000 sex offenders were found on MySpace. You can hide your information for the most part, but when it comes to privacy and security, forums are the way to go. With extensive permission settings, forums can be completely out in the open, or so hidden it's simply impossible to do anything on them, IF you can even find them.
Ever wonder how Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines find websites? It's all made possible through Bots (also known as Spiders), that "crawl" around your site or forum finding content. A Bot that comes from Google will bring back content from your site, so that when keywords matching your forum are searched, your forum can then be found more easily. The Bots however can be turned off at any time. Causing all information and content to remain hidden, making it impossible for anyone surfing on a search engine to find your forum.

Real life instances and scenarios
Versatility is a key word when talking about forums. The possibilities are endless with them. Whereas social networks are good for pretty much only one or two things, forums can be used for many different scenarios. Here's a couple of examples of real people effectively using forums.

I have had a forum for nearly 2 years now. My friends and I have varying schedules, so it is a nice place to communicate where we can all chat without actually being online at the same time.

So I have to do a project for school, that I have to do to graduate. The basic idea of it is that it has to benefit the community or the school. I was thinking of ideas, and one of them was to suggest the idea that each teacher in the school keep their own forum, so that kids could ask about homework and such while they're doing it, and don't have to wait until school the next day to ask. The general idea would be that each teacher keep their own forum, which they're admin at, and each class that they teach has a section, and all their students could join the forum.

Of couse this has been done for colleges as well, and is just as effective. The process is quick, effective, and organized. This is something that the typical social network could never do to the same degree.

There for the save
Forums can also contribute to internet surfers in need of a quick answer. How many times have you searched for some info on something on Google, and a forum was picked up that was at the time discussing the exact question you asked? I would say many, maybe even more than you realize. Forums have that knowledge base side to them. They can range from anything, from fish, to astronomy, to origami even. Searching for some info on new TVs may land you in a forum all about TVs, and the upsides and downsides to various models, with other people's opinions all right there in the same location. Social networks simply can not do this.

Stepping back and looking at all the aspects from a distance, you can easily begin to see how forums are one of the greatest things the internet has ever known. Sharing photos, playing games, talking to friends (privately as well through the use of Private Messages, and instantly by use of Chatboxes), in-depth discussions, and a path to finding a quick answer, forums are extremely useful to to the tech geek and to the average Joe. It doesn't matter who you are, a forum can be a very useful tool, with a touch of fun mixed in. Some may think I am pounding on social networks and calling them useless, that's not at all true. I am forever grateful for social networks. I became so when I found a long lost friend by searching for them on Google, and finding their Twitter account. We were able to once again be in contact with one another. This isn't hard to believe, social networks are great for that kind of thing. Just don't let the advantages of a forum slip your mind.