Is Facebook killing forums?

[Fiona1964]

I don`t think Facebook is killing forum

For me Facebook has been a great help in finding authors who I then ask if they want to be interviewed for my forum and some of then have joined so facebook has helped me

 

[Wizza]

I don't believe so. There is one forum I have been a member of since 2002 and my level of activity has never change.

I find a forum sometimes feels more 'community' engaged rather than a few friends talking (which I can do over the phone).

 

[Nuke]

Tumblr is probably killing forums, too, if you guys go into other contributing factors.

Tumblr is a blog network. Their community, from what I've seen personally, avidly despises users of forums. Hell, I even had someone from there get all of her Tumblr friends and attack my forum and myself in order to eliminate me. Why? Because they think that forums are a threat to Tumblr's increasing popularity, and wanted to destroy mine to start a war on forums.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I actually stopped them right then and there by trolling them.

 

[IAAM Radio]

@Nuke

That is so immature of them, I mean who has time to do that kind of stuff. Glad you stopped them from harming your site.

 

[Migi]

In a sense, yes, In fact I was told by several people to use social networks like Facebook's groups instead of forum if I want to build a community. But forums over lots more than what those social networks can. So yes, it is indeed a threat. Forums themselves are not much threat for social networks, but the opposite effect is so bad.

In my personal experience, though, Facebook group helps to bring in more people to my forum actually. Some members started from Facebook group, then I 'pestered' them to come to the forum by constantly posting links and contacting them to ask them to visit the forum. So I suppose... with proper approach you can block the bad effect of social networks...? Not yet sure on that, to be honest, but it's worth a try. If you can't stop it from killing your site, then use it in every way possible to bring advantages to your forum instead.

 

[Nuke]

@Taz:
Yeah. The unfortunate thing is that such mindsets as that take up about 90% of Tumblr. I've met some good people that use that site, but they're like three out of a hundred.

@Aethereal:
I see what you mean. I get more members by actually talking IRL than that, though. And even then, they won't post! So I stopped doing that. (Then again, I've stopped advertising in general as of late.)

 

[Aysriel]

I don't think that Facebook is hurting my forum, actually I believe it is helping us get off the ground. I am able to post my updates and information to a page on Facebook and the more active I am on Facebook the more members that filter in. I found that even allowing a user to sign in with Facebook account actually helps me in the long run because certain content shows up on their Facebook wall and gets their friends curious. So I guess I just utilized what I knew was already successful for my own personal gain.

 

[SpeakWhatsReal]

All social media sites are killing forums 🙁

Facebook/twitter/G+/tumblr/etc/etc/etceverything... 🙁

 

[Eternal]

Facebook is to dam overrated, its not the greatest thing in the world. Yeah maybe for connecting with family and friends its a nice thing to have, but other than that. No.

If you want to be part of a community, that is actually having discussions, not just hitting a "Like" button, then forums are the way to go. I prefer forums over facebook. Like I said, facebook is for your private life, forums are for active communities, with people all over the place having conversations in which people enjoy.

 

[iPhonefreak]

I don't think facebook is killing forums, but it's not help thing them any!

 

[MyEDMforum]

In my opinion they are two different beast. The like button is just one way to advertise to new people.

 

[Fait]

there two different things facebook will never kill forums freinds on facebook are in real life and forums are from the internet.

 

[cpvr]

Of course it is. Facebook has already killed most social networks and I think people need to stop pretending that anything can stop it and make new better ones. I think there is still a little life in forums but everyone uses Facebook. Just like Bing and Google. Everyone uses Google because they always have and Facebook offers so much with little work (you hardly ever load a page, all done with jQuery and AJAX etc etc) to do. So yes, it is.

See my post above, because your current statements are stupid. How long have you been a forum owner? Have you actually seen your users leave to Facebook? I highly doubt it. It fact, it embraces your community, you can drive members to your forums through the use of Facebook. It's just another means of networking - just like boasting your rankings on Google.

If you really think Facebook is smashing forums, you need to look at the bigger picture and see how many forums are still striving. Forums came before facebook and any other social networking site, so what I see is, more forum developers adapting the social networking features, thus; making online communities even better. :great:

 

[SpeakWhatsReal]

Of course it is. Facebook has already killed most social networks and I think people need to stop pretending that anything can stop it and make new better ones. I think there is still a little life in forums but everyone uses Facebook. Just like Bing and Google. Everyone uses Google because they always have and Facebook offers so much with little work (you hardly ever load a page, all done with jQuery and AJAX etc etc) to do. So yes, it is.

See my post above, because your current statements are stupid. How long have you been a forum owner? Have you actually seen your users leave to Facebook? I highly doubt it. It fact, it embraces your community, you can drive members to your forums through the use of Facebook. It's just another means of networking - just like boasting your rankings on Google.

If you really think Facebook is smashing forums, you need to look at the bigger picture and see how many forums are still striving. Forums came before facebook and any other social networking site, so what I see is, more forum developers adapting the social networking features, thus; making online communities even better. :great:

I disagree, not alot of forums are active anymore as compared 5-10years ago...

 

[Luigi1632]

I think FB actually helps in a way,because most of the low-quality members that are on there aren't spamming up or "infecting" our forums.

I'm pretty much referring to the "jerkasses",Farmville/Znyga addicts and any other breeds of low-quality users.

Normally, we'd have to deal with that part of the crowd, but thanks to the FB "pasture", most of those users are too busy to join a forum.

I also can't deny the benefits too, even though I haven't advertised on FB much.

 

[Richard Hayes]

I think it is more of a case of forums have had their day, in terms of being the most popular platform to connect with other people. This is not to say forums are dying as there will always be a need for forums but the successful ones these days are those that have been established for a while and/or have a dedicated subject that will attract fans of said subject.

Gone are the days of people starting up a GD forum or a general forum of a particular subject like gaming and becoming successful. Those forums now are few and far between and require a heck of work to make it happen.

Facebook has just taken the old people who might have joined a forum and visited one in a blue moon. As they can discuss any subject and air their views without the need to join a forum anymore.

 

[froggyboy604]

I think forums these days are still superior with certain types of topics like technical support forum for software, hardware, computer and other topics.

If you don't have any tech savvy friends on Facebook then possibly no one on your FB friend list can help you with a complex computer problem you are having compared to a computer help forum which might have thousands or more active members who can help you out with a PC problem in a timely manner.

 

[Hotspot]

I wouldn't say it is killing forums, if anything it is injuring forums. Not to mention, Myspace has also been around for a much longer time too. There was always one thing or another, if anything it just weeds out the undesirables and maybe some desirable people that could be great members.

 

[SpeakWhatsReal]

I wouldn't say it is killing forums, if anything it is injuring forums. Not to mention, Myspace has also been around for a much longer time too. There was always one thing or another, if anything it just weeds out the undesirables and maybe some desirable people that could be great members.

It's not killing it but injuring it? 😛

Isn't that the same thing?

 

[Hotspot]

I wouldn't say it is killing forums, if anything it is injuring forums. Not to mention, Myspace has also been around for a much longer time too. There was always one thing or another, if anything it just weeds out the undesirables and maybe some desirable people that could be great members.

It's not killing it but injuring it? 😛

Isn't that the same thing?

Not really, or at least not from my perspective. Killing a forum, would mean that the members left because of facebook (or another forum if we were to be extremely general about it).
But injuring it would just be stealing some members from it if not all of them.
At least that is how I see it.