[Christos Teriakis]

Originally Posted by ozzy47

Yeah member participation has dropped somewhat, but that is probably due to XenForo and the fact that their is so many sites out there that offer vBulletin support now, so alot of members choose to go there rather than here.

I don't believe that xenForo is a reason ... or the forum competition at all. Most people prefer to use FB instead forums. And you know something? Not because FB is something so nice. For me is nothing. But is easier to use and (most important), easier to access it with smartphones. I'm seeing it everyday with my daughter and my niece. Don't know if it's a local service or international but the access 0.facebook.com which is free of mobile charges. All the day are connected there. The same person they connect to FB very rarelly from their laptops. So, the problem is how easy can access the news on nowadays.

Don't know how old are you but maybe you have heard for Usenet Newsgroups. Were so popular 15+ years ago. Now who knows them or who uses them?

I do have a feeling that in some years only some very big and/or unique forums will be alive. Maybe using vB, or xF or IPB has no sense. Should be few only.