Are there too many Internet forums?

Kester Pelagius · October 05, 2007, 06:20:46 PM

After setting up the Mis-en-Scene Crypt Discussion Board a day ago, which in my defense was an accident (I was trying to figure out the Yuku interface at 2 AM after a EZBoard I frequent switched over) the realization hit me. The only place to really advertise would be other forums. That got me to wondering. .

Are there too many internet forums?

What do you think?

RCMerchant · October 05, 2007, 06:27:46 PM

I don't think so. Forums give nobody shmucks like me a place to express my ideas and thoughts. I live in a VERY small town...and I don't know any movie fans at all. It's nice to meet and hang out with all you fellow movie buffs without people thinking I am some kinda geek!

Kester Pelagius · October 05, 2007, 06:36:38 PM

That's all well and good for established forums like this one but, as I was sitting there playing around with setting up discussion forums I couldn't help but think how it all seemed superfluous.

Snivelly · October 05, 2007, 06:44:15 PM

I hope there aren't too many as I'm in the process of setting up my own, for paranormal and related discussions.

I live in a fairly big town but I don't know many people, so I'm in the same boat as RC, I use these as part of my social interaction. And, if you feel that many message boards are superfluous, the trick is to attract the right people to get things going, have threads that people keep coming back to, and networking with sites where people with cross-over interests will be posting.

TheSinisterQuinn · October 05, 2007, 06:48:36 PM

Nah, I don't think there are too many. It's the internet, vast like the universe... there is always room.
With so many topics and cultures out there, it gives us nerds a chance to find our perfect "homes"

Jack · October 05, 2007, 07:52:40 PM

I think some of them could be gotten rid of and nobody would ever notice. Like about a million of them. Whenever I develop a new interest, I'll do a Google to find some forums, and I always seem to find these beautiful boards with a total of 18 posts, the last being three months ago.

CheezeFlixz · October 05, 2007, 08:50:50 PM

As the Grinch would say 'it's all the noise, noise, noise!' and so much of it is just noise. But you do find those rare gems were the average IQ is greater than a houseplant. (Such as this one.)

Torgo · October 05, 2007, 09:42:57 PM

I don't think that there could ever be too many forums. No matter how vague or questionable the topic, you'll always find people who will flock to it eventually.

Captain Tars Tarkas · October 06, 2007, 12:32:34 PM

There are not too many forums, but many forums are not destined to be big and that is really no big deal. The problem is when certain forums grow big that are just full of garbage posters. Most of the forums featured in Something Awful's Weekend Web would qualify as being too horrible to deserve to continue.

Kester Pelagius · October 08, 2007, 01:13:33 PM

Quote from: Tars Tarkas on October 06, 2007, 12:32:34 PMMost of the forums featured in Something Awful's Weekend Web would qualify as being too horrible to deserve to continue.

Linkage?

Captain Tars Tarkas · October 08, 2007, 10:41:06 PM

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/index.php

Some of them are truly disturbing

Allhallowsday · October 08, 2007, 11:15:23 PM

The only problem with all the boards out there is finding one with traffic, and regular posters tending to the threads, like pruning a garden... as noted by JACK, there were boards I visited but quickly found they were static... other boards, including great ones like SCIFILM.org, have shut their doors. For the record, this particular board is a damned fine forum.

Jason · October 10, 2007, 03:43:44 AM

I think that as long as there are enough intelligent people with differing opinions to keep topics fresh and interesting, and as long as they all share a common interest, any forum has the potential to be a great one. The board I used to co-admin was the forum for a fansite for a soccer management game that is hugely popular here in the UK, but has a somewhat limited appeal outside Europe.
I think we had about 2000 members, about 50 of which posted more than once daily, and about another 250 posters who could be considered regulars. The age range was pretty young, about 13-20, but discussion was pretty mature for the most part.
The point of that digression is that even though the user base was relatively small, because the discussion was so good, existing users stuck around, and new members joined in, and thus there was enough discussion to keep the board alive.

What irritates me is when you join a very small board (less than 20 regular posters) and try to get involved, but the users have formed a clique and don't seem to want to get involved with anyone that hasn't been there three years.

ER · June 16, 2022, 08:08:02 PM

Wow, check out this thread from a time when internet forums flourished.

ER · June 16, 2022, 08:09:20 PM

Quote from: Snivelly on October 05, 2007, 06:44:15 PM
I hope there aren't too many as I'm in the process of setting up my own, for paranormal and related discussions.

I live in a fairly big town but I don't know many people, so I'm in the same boat as RC, I use these as part of my social interaction. And, if you feel that many message boards are superfluous, the trick is to attract the right people to get things going, have threads that people keep coming back to, and networking with sites where people with cross-over interests will be posting.

Wonder if this person ever got the forum off the ground, and if it still exists?