Where have all the users gone?

[Erik1984]

I am a member of a lot of forums. They range in subjects from Shaving, Classic Volkwagens to Vaping and FOSS. They are all slowly dying a death. It is caused by the rise of platforms like Facebook and Reddit. It is how things go. Forums killed Newsgroups, you needed to setup a separate client to access newsgroups which required a certain about of know how and effort. Then you had to trawl through loads of different groups to find what you wanted. The forums came along and it was as easy as opening a browser and registering, but you would have to register at many forums to find what you wanted and a vibe you liked. Then Faceache and Reddit came along. All you have to do is register once and all of your mates will be there too.

I agree with this (and many other things said in the other posts) in the sense that I observe the same. I don't follow that many forums but what they have in common is mainly long time users posting and only a few new users at all. This forum still has plenty of new users but most of them don't come for the community as it seems.

Good to see many of the old names posting in this thread!

[pteryges]

Newer online spaces have taken over--reddit, Discord, and Slack among others--just as forums took over from Usenet groups and BBS.

[mohicann]

When I need an information, I can almost always find it on google. For those who are looking for social networking, there are still a lot of tools available on Internet (facebook groups, etc). These forums are very likely to have reached their goal in being very exhaustive as I dare someone not to find the information they was looking for on them.

[DougieFresh4U]

Great thread!
12 years ago this forum would really be 'hopping'.
I would love stopping in nightly and The Cafe would have
new threads/post all nite. Help was needed a lot more back then
but now that the majority of questions have been asked/answered
that a lot of people can just google for what they could have gotten here at the forum.
Remember most people were learning back in the day and help was so easy to get
whereas now some people have been run off and berated for not 'asking 'google'
or doing your 'research'.
Also not to make 'trouble' but the forum here has gotten a little stricter and less fun.
My thoughts.

[bodhin2]

i am hoping movng back to ubuntu will be a good thing and the knowledgeable support by good people is still here.

[oneleded]

I never would've thought this. After having a few threads closed there as duplicates, that weren't truly duplicates, I stopped using that site. A lot of Google searches lead me there for answers and I am thankful for that, but will never log in there again.

out of curiosity, what makes a post a duplicate? i added some to a thread i had marked as solved, more threads than once, but seemed to be related to the original problem. it was suggested not to duplicate posts.. i think i was multiplying a post. only been here a couple of years or so... roundabout.

[bodhin2]

i too had a mod say start a new thread when i was having a discussion and question about the relevant topic at hand. he also said the same thing to another person same thread. I thought it was proper to expand on or investigate the topic of he thread. made me feel like crawling under a rock. Many mods have been great help and extremely fair about directing a thread or commenting on people's participation. not sure where all that is coming from. but then again i am new here. haven't been around since ubuntu started. and yes that was a zoo in many ways. if i knew the answer i would not ask this stuff. if i was not so confused than i also would not ask.

[wildmanne39]

Hello bodhin2, if the thread in question is the one I asked you to start your own thread in, I will explain, we only allow one person and one topic per thread in the support sub-forums, we call it hijacking someone else's, thread the reason for that even though the symptoms may seem the same most of the time the cause is totally different and it takes away from the OP getting the help he needs and you yourself, you both deserve to get individual help, also when searchers are looking for solutions using there favorite search engine when they come across a thread marked solved we want them to actually find the answer to the thread relevant to there search.

We do not allow discussions in the support sub-forums they should take place in the cafe or Ubuntu, Linux and OS Chat. We also have a policy on keeping a thread on topic so please remember the title of this thread. You do not have to feel bad because I asked you to start a new thread that is how we learn, we were all new here at one time, I do recommend that you read the posting guidelines in my signature and also the CoC here:

https://ubuntuforums.org/misc.php?do=showrules

I was being helpful and doing my duty when I posted in the other thread as I am now, enjoy the forum and know we are all in this together. If you would like to communicate more with me please do so in a pm and instead of taking a thread off topic, yes I know it was already taken off topic and no need to feel bad about it as I said this is all a learning process.

Thanks

[bodhin2]

we are good. i just see both sides. thanks.

[1fallen]

I was being helpful and doing my duty when I posted in the other thread as I am now, enjoy the forum and know we are all in this together. If you would like to communicate more with me please do so in a pm and instead of taking a thread off topic, yes I know it was already taken off topic and no need to feel bad about it as I said this is all a learning process.

Thanks

+1 ^^^^^^^
I can't think of a nicer personality as far as a online presence>>bear in mind the staff use just matter of fact statements and are not meant to be taken personally. (If personal, it is "usually" handled via a PM)
They just try their best at keeping order here in our very friendly Forum.
The example wildmanne39 refers to>>>say in another forum would/could have been a lot more harsh.
Sorry I'm now off topic also.