[In Omnibus]

Originally Posted by MarkFL

It's my perception that not only has the quantity of forum users declined, but so has the quality. Years ago, users took it in stride when they had to investigate the forum software to discover how to make things happen. Now, users have trouble figuring out how to post and blame the site for being "unfriendly."

Back then, a user might ask what they needed to do on their end if the forum didn't display correctly in their browser. Now, users demand that the site be rewritten to accommodate their gadget of the day and their lackluster browsers.

Maybe I'm just an old fogie shaking my fist at the kids, telling them to get off my lawn, but that's the way I see how things have changed in the last 10 years.

It isn't only your perception. There once was a time when I knew precisely what made forums successful. There was a formula. I spent the last several years floundering with trying to help others become successful with their forums, only to realize everything has changed but me. I'm not doing it a different way because I've been doing it the same way since 1991 and this old dog isn't learning these new fangled millennial tricks.

Social media is the bane of my existence. I loathe it. It has created a lazy, entitled society whereby everyone expects everything immediately and with no work on their part. If they have to do more than click and type 140 characters of blather about themselves they have no interest. We're officially in the "Me" generation.

In a way I have adapted. I've abandoned all forums whose primary purpose is to get large (or even small) numbers of people to talk about unimportant nonsense. I now run a coding and programming forum for my own pleasure. I also have a full-time job so I don't have the time to run a forum, a facebook page, a twitter, an instagram, a youtube channel, etc. and even if I had the time I have no interest in gouging people for ad money every time they view content.

Perhaps I've lost my mind but I still believe that social media will run its course and people will begin looking for alternatives. Will those alternatives include a return to forums? It's impossible to say but if forum software developers figure out how to take what people like about social media and eliminate what they hate about social media I could easily see forums making a comeback.