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I unironically miss forums. It was a completely different experience from post/comment based sites because everything was one thread, but the biggest thing I mi
by wjsetzer 6y ago
I unironically miss forums. It was a completely different experience from post/comment based sites because everything was one thread, but the biggest thing I miss is that forums were usually pretty well moderated, smaller, and devoted to one topic.
Reddit is the de facto site for making a community on, but there's something to be said for the focused insular forums of just a few years ago.
- koheripbal 6y agoI hate time-ordered subs. They are so inefficient. You end up being forced to read hundreds of "me too" comments with zero substance. Voting, for all its problems of bias and agenda driven voting, eliminates 99% of the chaff that makes chrono-forums unreadable.
- hombre_fatal 6y agoIt's a trade-off. The Reddit/HN format makes everything time sensitive. If the post falls off the front-page, nobody will even see your comment, the discussion immediately dies. It's completely unfit for longer form discussion over time. Sometimes you want a forum for discussion, not just a comments section of highlight reel one-liners.
- fakedang 6y agoIs there an algorithm that would facilitate discussion though? Regardless of time sensitivity?
- cogman10 6y agoThe issue with voting based forums is they tend to cater to low quality mass appeal comments. More often than not an informative comment, while maybe not being downvoted, won't be the top comment. Instead, you'll see really low effort "zingers" which make it to the top. Those are further piled on with a flood of comments trying to one up each other. So, you end up often needing really strict moderation to curtail this problem. Chrono ordering suffers the same issue, somewhat, though it doesn't have the pile on problem (not to the same extent).
- heavyset_go 6y agoDisagree entirely. Trading chronological sort for whatever drives the most ad impressions and engagements is responsible for the destruction of otherwise decent services.
- stjohnswarts 6y agoI agree, I can't stand them. That's why I won't use arstechnica comment section. I might look at the first few. I much prefer reddit and hackernews style
- fakedang 6y agoBut that allows for discussion bubbles to form in this case. Contrarian views are downvoted to oblivion. Not much of an issue in HN, as it is in reddit.
- tomc1985 6y agoThis boils down to the community you are a part of. One of the games I like to play has its own forums and they are still the best source of info compared to reddit. Discussions are surprisingly readable, though that may have something to do with the older target audience.
- novok 6y agoYou can add like buttons to posts with out it effecting the time ordering and absorb a bunch of me too comments that way.
- bshanks 6y agoAnother solution to this is discussion wikis.
- verylittlemeat 6y agoOriginally I was more in favor of phpbb style forums and anti likes/favorites/upvotes but I've abandoned that attitude. I really think it's the same as it ever was. If you want to find quality you need to start with your interests and then find a community from there. Discovering a huge community and being frustrated or upset that it's not catered to your preferences is a mistake. The lower the barrier to entry, the lower the quality of the forum will be. And it's important to remember barrier to entry isn't just technical knowledge. Barrier to entry could be something as obvious but unspoken as writing style. Even as I'm typing this comment I'm aware that using my "hacker news voice" with all of the attendant style rules that make it fit with the community. *edit: also I'm sorry to see that you are being downvoted because I get your sentiment