Has Facebook Killed Discussion Forums?

[edd_jedi]

Although the trading forums are as busy as ever, I've noticed that over the last few months new posts seem to have dried up in all other sections of this site. General Chat used to have loads of discussion, now some days there are no new posts at all.

I am a member of a couple of Amiga Facebook groups that are really busy, but personally I consider Facebook only for throw away chat. Whatever you post is gone a few days (or even minutes) later, and thanks to Facebook's algorithms sometimes you don't even see posts at all. Sadly most people don't seem to realise that if you discover something interesting or want an on-going discussion, Facebook is not a good place to post it.

 

[Bryce]

I've never been on Facebook, so I can't really comment on the discussions there. However, the way I see it:

If you're interested in Amigas, go to an Amiga Forum.
If you're interested in Ataris, go to an Atari Forum.
If you are interested in cars, go to a car forum.
If your only interest is yourself, selfies and cat pictures, go to Facebook.

As an active member of several retro forums, I haven't seen a drop in discussion, in fact some forums (CPCWiki for example) has been expanding in content and members much faster in the last few years.

Bryce.

 

[edd_jedi]

Unfortunately there is so much content on Facebook now, that if you're not on it you're simply missing out. Yes there is a lot of vanity on there, but in all avenues of collecting I follow some truly amazing things have been shown there that do not appear on forums.

If you have no interest in the social side, I highly recommend you create a secret "fake account" with no friends just so you can follow the Amiga groups (or anything else you are interested in.)

 

[demolition]

It is also my experience that many former forum-related activities have moved to FB, including buying/selling of retro items. I have never used FB, and I know I am missing out on some stuff, but I don't like that I need to have an account to follow stuff. Most forums can be read without creating an account, including Amibay.

I just don't like the whole FB concept and don't want to support it.

 

[Bryce]

You also have no control of the content on FB. Here we can make things "sticky" if they are important enough. We (ie: members of this community) control and have ownership of the content and the database it's stored on. FB can move / delete / or just loose anything they feel like, and should they suddenly decide to change their business model, it could all be gone tomorrow. With a community run forum these issues are much less likely to happen.

I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not being on FB. If something is good enough to show, then it will be shown outside the walled garden.

Bryce.

 

[UberFreak]

Many forums I used to visit have dried up & eventually shut down due to inactivity, probably due to FB.
I'm not on FB and don't plan on ever having an account there.

 

[demolition]

I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not being on FB. If something is good enough to show, then it will be shown outside the walled garden.

I share that feeling - I usually learn about the important stuff eventually, but not necessarily as early as the ones on FB (I do have friends though who like to verbally relay important stuff that I might like to know about, so I am not completely in the dark ). If you're after bulk, i.e. really cheap, local deals, then being on FB is probably mandatory. But it is probably good that I am not able to join that race as a non-FB user as I don't have room for much more stuff anyway.

 

[commodorejohn]

I will never be on Facebook because A. I'm not going to let Mark Zuckerberg rifle through my underwear drawer, B. it's a catastrophic, disorganized mess of a way to hold discussions (I've seen my mother spend five minutes scrolling through hundreds of posts of random crap looking for the one thing she actually wanted to show me,) and C. it's a revolting attempt to commoditize human relationships in order to make them saleable. Screw that.

 

[supaduper]

Like most here not on FB ,find it too invasive and will never join , I agree totally with Bryce & CJ

 

[cugar124]

Im Not a Facebook fan but because my family are I have an account. Its funny in work I always get asked if I have one and could I add my work colleges my answer is its for family only! as for the Amiga items I follow a few of the Amiga ones and do find them sometimes good to be on but as has been said before its hard to keep up with unless you do nothing all day but check fb, "not sure about you guys but I work 72 hours a week and do not have time for that LOL" I wish people would come back to the bay and the discussions they were amazing. Maybe guys did not like the new format it seems to have been since then it has fallen away but maybe I am wrong.

 

[soviet9922]

The problem on facebook groups is that searching for information is almost imposible, also finding a usefull post having information like one search on google and find great threads or pepole in forums solving stuff is not posible. Like the information posted on facebook grups is lost forever.

 

[edd_jedi]

Completely agree with everything being said, however sadly none of these things are stopping people migrating to Facebook to the detriment of forums. What can be done to tempt people back?

 

[hese]

Many forums I used to visit have dried up & eventually shut down due to inactivity, probably due to FB.

I have noticed the same trend around here, people do not even bother bother replying to the threads anymore. But seeing how many people still attend to the Amibay sales thread, I wouldn't say the reason around here is only the Facebook but the general attitude. Eventually the forum will wither to a plain trading place if people do not bother to contribute anymore.

 

[Sardine]

I personally don't like facebook and refuse to use it (even for the free steam games)

I hate the fact that a lot of online competitions or being able to view some content you "MUST" (Like) a facebook page,, Bah! Humbug!!

to the "detriment to forums" I might possibly disagree there a little, many like the anonymity of forums a Username and an approximate location could be anyone, even your neighbour and you wouldn't know, with facebook your pressured into revealing you inner most details to share with all your friends etc. etc.

, as a Moderator I have seen just in the few years i've been helping a HUGE leap in daily signups, as Amibay becomes more "Famous" we also get targeted by a lot of bot signups. but when I started it was around 2 to 3 signups a day now it more like 15 to 20, as I type this the signup que is at 7 and these where cleared earlier by another moderator.

Amibay is loosing a bit of it's "General chat" and seems to lean more in the direction of trading but Amibay is a trading site.

 

[moggsie]

^^^ - Like the tinned fish said.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed that Amibay is a lot quieter these days. I don't know if it's because of FB or maybe it's just the loudest members have less time to spend on here than they used to (we're all getting older)!

Like some of you have already mentioned - I also do not use FB. I don't like the invasion of privacy (our Government does enough of that already) and I don't like the fact it feeds the narcissistic nature that so many people these days suffer from. I was talking to a work colleague about this just a few days ago - I was saying that FB, done right, can be a good thing. A good example is my own mother! She uses it to keep in touch with some family members in New Zealand and my Uncle who's in the army. That's fine.

It's the profiles that have hundreds, if not, thousands of 'friends' that I have a problem with. The reason they have that many? It's not because that actually have that many friends. No. It's because, to them, they aren't 'friends' they're 'FANS'. Yep, in their narrow minds FB has turned them into a minor celebrity and they believe these 'fans' want to know everything about them which is why they're usually the one's who put every single detail of their shallow existence on there for the fans to wallow in. It's absolutely pathetic. And it shows how shallow a society we've become.

Sad...

 

[Sardine]

^^ Excaclty

I do have FB but never post on it. my picture is an animal its all locked down and private (I think) it was created so my dad's sister in USA could keep in contact with us.

 

[Half-Saint]

Any kind of serious discussion on Facebook is very hard to follow (at least for me) especially with the nested replies. IMHO, FB is not a very suitable medium for that anyway and is unlikely to replace the forums in the near future.

 

[-Acid-]

FB is just a life stealer, lately i've been unfollowing so many people I know as they just post irrelevant crap day after day and it bogs you down trawling through it in case you miss something important. I tend to find there's not enough time in the day as it is so i'm attempting to cut back anything possible to stop me wasting time online.

 

[stephenfalken]

Never used FB and never will.

It has been the root cause of so many family feuds it is unbelievable! Ive lost count of the number of times I have visited my mother to be told that (for example) my sister had fallen out with my neice due to something one of them said on FB.

I also did a research study at Uni (where I attend as a very mature student) to analyse the amount of time people spend on FB and their reasons for doing so. Let's just say jealousy and keeping up with the jones's are some of the main reasons.

FB is also destroying as many relationships as it creates. Statements such as 'im off on holiday tomorrow' or 'just bought a new car' rarely cause your so-called friends to have happy feelings, instead invoke severe bouts of 'Facebook Envy' where the persons negative feelings towards you increase.

I also hate Mr Zuckerberg for bringing FB into our lives. I also hate the fact that even though I have never typed his name before, this new phone predicted what I was going to write.

Regards


Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

[RichyV]

FB is just a life stealer, lately i've been unfollowing so many people I know as they just post irrelevant crap day after day and it bogs you down trawling through it in case you miss something important. I tend to find there's not enough time in the day as it is so i'm attempting to cut back anything possible to stop me wasting time online.

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