Why You Should Have A Forum

In this day and age, people tend to communicate on platforms like Facebook and even Discord. Forums are still online and aren't as popular as they once were, but they're still a crucial part of the internet world and you should move your Discord servers or Facebook groups over to a standalone forum and this is why.

Forums are still the most organized way of sharing information with other like minded individuals and they are a great way to archive important posts. Platforms like Reddit are indeed a bit more organized than a Discord server or a Facebook group, however you still have to go through a few threads before finding exactly what you need. Discord is great for those wanting a place to quickly chat among friends like in the old AIM and Yahoo Messenger days, but isn't a viable option for research communities. These servers are never archived on the Wayback machine, so your conversations will get lost in time. Plus you cannot simply make a search for specific keywords, which again makes it hard to locate important messages unless they're pinned or a screenshot was taken of the post. You may be asking yourself still "why would I need a forum when I don't really care about if my posts are never archived or I don't really care about locating specific posts."


While having a community on a platform like Reddit, Facebook or Discord, you have a chance of losing your community. You are bound to their Terms of Service and a few bad apples can easily cause your community to disappear. These platforms can even go offline one day if the developers or admins don't care to work on the project anymore and all your posts, threads, etc. will be lost to the sands of time. Plus when you own your own community, you are in control. You can set rules and guidelines that your members need to follow. There's also the matter of free speech. If a platform you rely on doesn't like the content you're hosting, they can pull the plug on your community and then you would be forced to move and start over from scratch. This is why forums are still important to this day and are still needed.


You also don't have to worry about the toxic posts on social media! We all know doom scrolling and interacting with negative posts are not good for your mental health or your physical health. Forums are more laid back and rarely have toxic posts to deal with. Plus you don't get stuck doom scrolling on a forum, you can easily find content to interact with and make new friends along the way. So why just have a subreddit? Why not join the forum world today and share your information with the world! In this day and age where people are need a place to voice their opinions with no criticism, forums are the best way to have a central platform for your ideals, knowledge, etc.

Comments 1

  • I have always felt forums to be a friendly bunch. You can find what you want easier. Newbies' intros are not pushed down due to another topic overtaking it. Everything can be organized into boards.
    Yet when those from Social Media come over, they get intimidated by how big a forum looks. It's not. It just looks that way because you have it all at a glance & not have to scroll through countless posts. Some of which are, to be frank, needless! We have actual conversations going on. We develop friendships.

    We may not have 10,000 members but we have GOOD members. :)