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blitzkrieg
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07 Sep 2023, 2:35 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Gayspie wrote:
Interesting insight. If we could turn back time, what features/methodologies do you think traditional online forums should have adopted to stay more relevant in the age of social media/facebook groups?


'Liking' posts or 'hearting' them would be a decent feature, though 'like farming' might be an issue then, as it is with social media content creators who tailor their messages to receive 'likes' rather than simply communicating normally.

An instant messenger would be good, instead of private messages, which on this forum is more like sending an email.


If we have likes, we should also have dislikes.

Unfortunately some folks really struggle with being made aware their positions are unpopular so I don't see it happening.


Yeah.

With regards to the last part of your post, popular social media platforms like Facebook have never had a dislike button, and YouTube got rid of theirs, so that people can be blissfully unaware of bad content. :roll:



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08 Sep 2023, 1:49 pm

I like forums because they have moderators which keep people in order. Twitter and Facebook have proved that a free-for-all of everyone shouting at once with no standards of decent behaviour quickly goes very badly.


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PhosphorusDecree
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08 Sep 2023, 2:06 pm

One major advantage of forums is the organisation - you can find a conversation again after weeks or months, and actively look for a conversation on a particular topic. Neither of these is at all easy in the information firehose of a social media site. So my guess is a forum is more likely to stay active if it's specialised, and / or caters to a crowd who value continuity over the dopamine buzz of likes and retweets.


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KitLily
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08 Sep 2023, 2:17 pm

PhosphorusDecree wrote:
One major advantage of forums is the organisation - you can find a conversation again after weeks or months, and actively look for a conversation on a particular topic. Neither of these is at all easy in the information firehose of a social media site. So my guess is a forum is more likely to stay active if it's specialised, and / or caters to a crowd who value continuity over the dopamine buzz of likes and retweets.


You hit the nail right on the head there, that's exactly right.


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Mona Pereth
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09 Sep 2023, 4:21 pm

blitzkrieg wrote:
Landline numbers have recently been phased out in the area where I live.

Even as part of a cable Internet package?

These days, at least in many places here in the U.S.A., landline phone service is offered by cable Internet providers, rather than as a standalone service. Is that not the case where you live?


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blitzkrieg
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09 Sep 2023, 4:28 pm

Mona Pereth wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Landline numbers have recently been phased out in the area where I live.

Even as part of a cable Internet package?

These days, at least in many places here in the U.S.A., landline phone service is offered by cable Internet providers, rather than as a standalone service. Is that not the case where you live?


Yep.

Landlines are being phased out completely in the UK and this is set to be achieved by 2025.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58233766



CarlM
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09 Sep 2023, 8:08 pm

blitzkrieg wrote:
Mona Pereth wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Landline numbers have recently been phased out in the area where I live.

Even as part of a cable Internet package?

These days, at least in many places here in the U.S.A., landline phone service is offered by cable Internet providers, rather than as a standalone service. Is that not the case where you live?


Yep.

Landlines are being phased out completely in the UK and this is set to be achieved by 2025.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58233766


Mona and Blitzkrieg, you are talking about the same thing. Both countries are going to VoIP phone service instead of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). The USA doesn't have a deadline to eliminate POTS though.


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KitLily
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10 Sep 2023, 3:18 am

blitzkrieg wrote:

Landlines are being phased out completely in the UK and this is set to be achieved by 2025.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58233766


I didn't know that!! ! Thanks. I don't like the idea of that. How will old people manage without landlines? What if mobile phones technology stops working? Hmm...


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Kitty4670
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13 Sep 2023, 5:50 pm

uncommondenominator wrote:
One reason they are falling out of favor is lack of a mobile version that works better with phones and pads, since that's what many people use these days. I've tried reading WP on my phone. It was awful.

Another reason is social media sites like Facebook or Reddit which can house many interest groups under one banner. Rather than going to 7 different forums for 7 different hobbies or interests, people can just go to YouTwitFace or w/e and join 7 different groups on the one site.

A third reason would be sites (like WP) that effectively become abandonware, and no longer receive active updates or support, whereas the larger social media monsters offer security and feature updates fairly regularly.

It's also probably easier to start and maintain a facebook or reddit page than it is to start and maintain a forum.

Some forums persist despite this. Dedicated user bases, complex topics that wouldn't fit in the facebook twitter character limit, various reasons why some survive longer than others.



I went on WP on my phone years ago, my iPad wasn’t working, I didn’t like it, my phone was too small to look at WP.

I still like going on websites, I’m old fashion, I go on Walmart on the website & other shopping on the website too. I love it when things are like the old days.



blitzkrieg
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13 Sep 2023, 6:09 pm

KitLily wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:

Landlines are being phased out completely in the UK and this is set to be achieved by 2025.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58233766


I didn't know that!! ! Thanks. I don't like the idea of that. How will old people manage without landlines? What if mobile phones technology stops working? Hmm...


Yeah, it has only been recently announced. My internet provider informed me that they were effectively replacing the landline with a digital alternative a few months ago and the transition has already occurred for me.

Basically, the replacement system has a person plug their traditional landline phone into their router, instead of a modem socket on the wall and it only works when the internet is active, as opposed to being a separate line.



blitzkrieg
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13 Sep 2023, 6:10 pm

Kitty4670 wrote:
uncommondenominator wrote:
One reason they are falling out of favor is lack of a mobile version that works better with phones and pads, since that's what many people use these days. I've tried reading WP on my phone. It was awful.

Another reason is social media sites like Facebook or Reddit which can house many interest groups under one banner. Rather than going to 7 different forums for 7 different hobbies or interests, people can just go to YouTwitFace or w/e and join 7 different groups on the one site.

A third reason would be sites (like WP) that effectively become abandonware, and no longer receive active updates or support, whereas the larger social media monsters offer security and feature updates fairly regularly.

It's also probably easier to start and maintain a facebook or reddit page than it is to start and maintain a forum.

Some forums persist despite this. Dedicated user bases, complex topics that wouldn't fit in the facebook twitter character limit, various reasons why some survive longer than others.



I went on WP on my phone years ago, my iPad wasn’t working, I didn’t like it, my phone was too small to look at WP.

I still like going on websites, I’m old fashion, I go on Walmart on the website & other shopping on the website too. I love it when things are like the old days.


Old fashioned, if that means visiting a website on a PC, is actually superior to modern alternatives, such as using phone friendly websites with a virtual keyboard, or using iPads or other tablets.



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13 Sep 2023, 11:36 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Gayspie wrote:
Interesting insight. If we could turn back time, what features/methodologies do you think traditional online forums should have adopted to stay more relevant in the age of social media/facebook groups?


'Liking' posts or 'hearting' them would be a decent feature, though 'like farming' might be an issue then, as it is with social media content creators who tailor their messages to receive 'likes' rather than simply communicating normally.

An instant messenger would be good, instead of private messages, which on this forum is more like sending an email.


If we have likes, we should also have dislikes.

Unfortunately some folks really struggle with being made aware their positions are unpopular so I don't see it happening.


I didn’t understand what you were saying.



Kitty4670
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13 Sep 2023, 11:50 pm

blitzkrieg wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Gayspie wrote:
Interesting insight. If we could turn back time, what features/methodologies do you think traditional online forums should have adopted to stay more relevant in the age of social media/facebook groups?


'Liking' posts or 'hearting' them would be a decent feature, though 'like farming' might be an issue then, as it is with social media content creators who tailor their messages to receive 'likes' rather than simply communicating normally.

An instant messenger would be good, instead of private messages, which on this forum is more like sending an email.


If we have likes, we should also have dislikes.

Unfortunately some folks really struggle with being made aware their positions are unpopular so I don't see it happening.


Yeah.

With regards to the last part of your post, popular social media platforms like Facebook have never had a dislike button, and YouTube got rid of theirs, so that people can be blissfully unaware of bad content. :roll:


I don’t like YouTube, everytime I go on YouTube, something very heartbreaking have to shown without watching the video.



funeralxempire
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14 Sep 2023, 12:04 am

Kitty4670 wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
If we have likes, we should also have dislikes.

Unfortunately some folks really struggle with being made aware their positions are unpopular so I don't see it happening.


I didn’t understand what you were saying.


People often seem sensitive to disagreement, especially if it's something they're emotionally invested in.

We've had people ragequit because their opinions became unpopular over time. Seeing actual dislikes would probably trigger those sensitivities even more, especially if there's way more than there are active participants in the discussion.

If there's 5 people having a debate and one of them sees their post got 16 dislikes and 2 likes they're going to wonder just how many people disagree and from there begin into the dysphoric cycle that triggers for them.


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mistysprinkles
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14 Sep 2023, 12:45 am

Personally I think reddit killed forums and is a much more evil company than FB. :roll:



Mona Pereth
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30 Sep 2023, 7:30 pm

CarlM wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Mona Pereth wrote:
blitzkrieg wrote:
Landline numbers have recently been phased out in the area where I live.

Even as part of a cable Internet package?

These days, at least in many places here in the U.S.A., landline phone service is offered by cable Internet providers, rather than as a standalone service. Is that not the case where you live?


Yep.

Landlines are being phased out completely in the UK and this is set to be achieved by 2025.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58233766


Mona and Blitzkrieg, you are talking about the same thing. Both countries are going to VoIP phone service instead of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). The USA doesn't have a deadline to eliminate POTS though.

But VoIP is effectively a land line if provided by a cable TV or fiber optic Internet provider. Most land lines these days have been transferred from POTS to VoIP via cable. They are still "land lines" in the sense that the signal still goes through a cable, even though the protocol is different.


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