Question Social Media and Forums

[HushSarah]

I was just curious what you guys all think of the big wave of social media that's been going on for the past several years now.

I signed onto this site way before Twitter/Facebook/Instragram/Tumblr and other sites teenagers now use (even adults) blew up and changed everything for fandoms.

I feel like these forums, great ones, popular forums, have died out and it's all because of the over abundance of social media. I have a twitter and a tumblr but it's not the same as when you log onto a forums and just chat. (livejournal and xanga were cool enough but forums were the main places we all talked on) There are other ways to talk online and I feel like just foundations like forums have taken a back seat and it sucks.

What do you guys think of this? I still go on forums and chat but I noticed now how many are disappearing because of the other options. And those options are never regulated at all. Meaning you could say whatever you want, be a bully and sort of get away with it. I remember James Marsters once said he went online and read stuff about him and the show and he never did it again because it messed with his head. Not everyone had their own web site and could afford it, most fans had a free site and would post pictures and random stuff. Now, it's like everyone has to have a window where they get to say anything they want, wherever they want to. It's crazy.

I miss the days where there were all these communities when we would just come on and talk to each other. We are still doing that but it feels like it's less these days, do you guys think so too?

 

[EVIL UU]

I haven't noticed it personally but that's probably just me. In a way I'm sort of a 90s person, I do not reveal any personal information online unless it's absolutely necessary to buy things or receive payments and such. I do not use and have never used a big social media site - no Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr account and so on. So nothing's really changed for me though I mostly read stuff these days. Buffy-Boards and an odd post on some anonymous image board or blog is the entirety of what I put on the web these days.

Anyway, I would not worry about traditional forums. There will always be people seeking quality discussion that cannot be found on a social media site.

 

[Still a Scoobie]

I couldn't imagine using Facebook or Twitter to talk Buffy. I don't know how I got through my days before I discovered this site.

 

[HushSarah]

Pretty much, I'm glad forums like these are still here when everything else got closed.

 

[BuffyElevated]

I definitely agree that ever since social media got really popular, and sites like MySpace/Facebook/Twitter came along, the traditional forums like this have kinda died out. I like using Facebook, but I wouldn't want to use it to talk about BtVS or any other show I'm into. Partly because I like the organization and ease of use that a forum provides me, but also because I'm partly embarassed to be such a fangirl at the age of 32. LOL

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Youtube, Twitter and Facebook are set to merge. The combined entity will be known as YouTwitFace. 😀

I am on Linked In which is more of a professional network than a social network but I am not on Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr. I don't see a need to keep everyone I know abreast of what I had for lunch or any of the other inane things that show up there.

Some human resources departments demand that you show them your Facebook page and will disqualify you for a job if you refuse or don't have one. They can make you open your page (although they will let you retain privacy of your password... maybe). If you don't have one, you are considered antisocial.

Facebook has been known to change privacy settings without notice. What you think is just among your friends will be available to others. Hopefully, it will go the way of MySpace.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

Sites like Facebook are terrible for group discussion, unless you only want to talk to a small group of your close friends who probably already share all your knowledge and opinions. If you want to have interesting debates and learn new things, forums are still the best.

I'm actually kind of grateful for the social media sites, though, because they're the trendy thing now so the trolls tend to gravitate there and leave these old-fashioned message boards alone.

 

[HushSarah]

I think Facebook got worse for people who reveal everything about their lives. Internet trolls often lurk wherever is popular. Thank god they don't come here.

 

[Aimee]

I recently gave up Facebook. I have more fun here on Buffy Boards than I did on Facebook where it was just a whole lot of bad picture quotes with spelling errors and status updates from friends saying "feeling blessed" then gushing over their kids.
Yeah. Bored now.
I'm still on Twitter and I'm on Goodreads, but I love this forum.

 

[sk]

I've no doubts that all these social media sites have taken traffic from regular forums.
But I don't think forums will die a slow death or something like that.

I'm convinced that internet is big enough for both forums and social media sites.
They serve very different purposes and both has their use.

The thing is that you only have so much time to spend on internet during a day.
So people have spread out doing different things.

Personally I still prefer forums. Overall it's just so much more fun to see all these different views and opinions from people all over the world.

Facebook is very limited in comparison imho.
It's a great tool to help me keep in touch with family and friends though. Helps me see that they are still alive and well (or not).

/SK

 

[Nowhere]

I love forums, because they are the best way to get in depth on a particular topic. As a music fan, I used to be a regular on several band forums, which have unfortunately started to die as of late, and I too have made the connection with the increased popularity of general social media sites. On my own part, I will admit that especially consuming Youtube content has taken a larger and larger part of the time I spend on the Internet, which makes it harder to be active on many message boards.

I'm actually very happy as a new fan and user user to find a Buffy forum as active as this one is! Here's hoping for many more good years for this place.

 

[Kean]

I gave up Facebook 2 years ago and I'm on Twitter, albeit less and less. I also have a Tumblr and an LJ. I use Tumblr solely to create a collection of pretty pictures and gifs. It doesn't create a worthwhile space to discuss shows or characters. LJ on the other hand has a very specific use for me now, it's where a small group of my fandom friends hang out and we use it more as a spot to han out and chat together than to participate in fandom in any real or meaningful way. Apart from the occasional squeefest 😉

All in all, I prefer forums or rather, I prefer this forum. I've joined others and just never lasted. Buffy is the only show I want to have discussions about so this suits me well.

 

[Doppelgang]

It's become a case of LCD, lowest common denominator, over much of the internet, as it is with everything else. Let people have their trivial lives and make their trivial comments about what they ate today if it makes them feel better. There is no need to participate in it if you don't want to. It is good to have the choice out there, you just have to learn to pick and choose amongst it wisely, and not get drawn into the more trivial things. It was good, for instance, to see sarah michelle gellar finally have her own genuine twitter page, I assume everyone else here is aware of that. Though I rarely look on twitter now, I play a few games on facebook, but don't engage in the conversation stuff. I did get hooked on you tube at one point, but I have since learned to dial it down. It is refreshing now to be able to come back to a place like this where there are higher standards, and I am sure that will be the way many people will see it. It can continue to have its own niche here, but largely thanks to the efforts of some of the long-time members on here who keep the standards up, so we have to be grateful that we have that on here 🙂

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Some musicians and entertainers have voluntarily eliminated their forums in favour of a Facebook page. This is likely to happen if the forum becomes unruly or the traffic is only from a few people.

A forum is a double-edged sword - if it takes off, it reflects well on the owner. But one forum generated a total of about 100 posts in six months, half of which were from the owner/subject. She took it down to avoid showing how small her fan base was. Another had over 2000 members but towards the end, there were maybe a half dozen of us who accounted for half of the traffic. She took it down and switched over to a Facebook page.

I was also on both years of the Rockstar INXS and Rockstar Supernova forums and the MSN forum that succeeded the INXS one and another independent forum plus another troll-free invitation-only board because the original boards were filled with wild accusations and bitter flame wars. One accusation was that one of the posters was having an affair with another - but the man was in Mississauga about ten miles west of Toronto and the woman was a single mother in Auckland NZ. Not exactly a situation where they could sneak off for a quickie.

It is not clear to me what the legal issues are with a forum - is the forum owner responsible for any of the content? Can the forum owner be charged with a crime for any reason due to the content? Facebook pages face the same issues.

Before the internet, there were "bulletin boards" that worked like the Yahoo groups today. One guy, as a joke, decided that the login word would be "killthepresident". He got a visit in his apartment in Toronto, Canada from the FBI asking him to change the word because their own software that checked for subversive messages was being overloaded by his bulletin board. And now, if this forum crashes, you can recover a copy from the FBI because you will now be on a list. 🙄

 

[brinkster130]

Social Media is interesting. Lots of good and fun to be had with it but also a lot of ugly. I have FB but never post anything or interact with people on it. I love twitter and check it a couple times each day but I really only use it to follow a bunch of sports and news sources; I rarely tweet and never discuss shows or entertainment. IMO, those social media sites (tumblr too) aren't great for having in depth conversations that involve numerous people and because of that you'll still see forums around.

I personally really like forums (the format and community aspect) but have only ever joined two, this and a women's basketball one....I don't feel the need to join any others but I like knowing they are out there.

 

[Airam]

I've had facebook pretty much since it started... almost 10 years... back when it was only open to college students, you literally had to have an edu email to register... so its just habit at this point, i wont be giving it up. Its a perfect way to keep in touch and be in the know of friends and family you dont interact with on a daily basis because of distance, etc. I dont accept randoms on my fb, I have to know you.

Twitter I have but hardly ever ever use. Tumblr dont even know how it works. Myspace was hardcore about at its boom but clearly its now just a distant memory. Instagram & Pinterest are my only other vices. This is the only forum i visit and will ever... its not because social networking sites have consumed my time from trying other forums... its just a matter of limited time... I only have time for one forum and BB has won that spot 😀

 

[bespangeled]

I have a FB as a good way to keep abreast of family and distant friends - and also a way of watching my former students grow up. Montessori UE includes grades 4-6, and when you know a kid that well for 3 years it's nice to see how their story unfolds.

I have an LJ which I started in order to get access to good fanfic, and in the process made some good friends. Even though my friends are (or were) Buffy fans, we tend not to talk much about Buffy.

I joined BB recently because I have so many questions that I am dying to discuss. No other place exists where I can do that. I was kinda worried because BB has a reputation of eating Spike fans alive and then burning the bones. Instead I've found an amazingly well run forum where we can all talk, all be heard, there's no flaming, and even if someone disagrees with you they usually show respect for you as part of the board. (Funny, because the Spike forum doesn't seem to have as much balance, nor does it seem as open to various opinions).

And I have a tumblr because...pretty pictures.