My theory on why forums are getting replaced by chats
Mar 27, 2020 4:18:19 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2020 4:18:19 GMT -5
No, it's not because modern people are stupid and can't handle anything longer than a tweet. It's because communication works best when it's a long series of short replies, not a short series of long replies.
Think about it. If we were to reenact a typical forum thread in real life, it would sound completely ridiculous. This is mainly because in real life nobody talks for long periods of time with no interruptions (and ones who try to do so are considered obnoxious self-important twats). In order for a pleasant conversation to occur everyone needs to have the ability to interject, to say "wait a second, can you clarify this point?", or "hold on, I don't think you're quite right here" or even simply "yeah, totally!". And it is absolutely vital that these interjections happen instantaneously, as that allows people to break down the conversation into small, easily digestible bits.
This is where forums completely fail. A typical long forum post contains so many premises and arguments, that by the time you're done reading it you have absolutely no idea how to even begin responding to all that. There are just too many things to tackle, they are overwhelming and they obscure the point that the poster is trying to make. It's too exhausting to engage in a discussion like that as it will just keep growing with more and more tangents that are impossible to wrap your head around. Also sometimes the whole post is based on a false assumption that would be immediately shot down in a live conversation, and yet you can't just disregard such a wall of text as that would seem impolite. And so threads keep getting messier to the point of complete chaos that nobody wants to participate in.
I think the DWmegawad Club threads are a good illustration of this. Despite the name, they don't evoke the feeling of a discussion club at all. Mostly it's just people taking turns, saying "here is my opinion", "now here is my opinion", "and here is mine". There is very little interaction, very few back-and-forths. People come to these threads just to say what's on their mind, not to engage with others. Or, even when they want to engage, they don't know how to deal with these walls of text. And from my experience this is true for the majority threads on the internet. They serve as simple collections of statements that have very little relation with each other.
Now, this doesn't mean that forums are completely useless. They still work well as an archive of opinions and essays, like these tutorials written by 40oz. And if you look at academic circles for example, you can see a clear proof that it is in fact possible to have fruitful conversations by writing lengthy replies. But let's be honest, most of us (most likely including me and you) don't really have the debate skills necessary for that to work. We don't know how to stick to the point, how to stay concise and write in an organized manner. We need the guidance of other listeners, we need to see their immediate reactions and adjust accordingly. This is why chats are taking over, and it's probably a good thing.
Think about it. If we were to reenact a typical forum thread in real life, it would sound completely ridiculous. This is mainly because in real life nobody talks for long periods of time with no interruptions (and ones who try to do so are considered obnoxious self-important twats). In order for a pleasant conversation to occur everyone needs to have the ability to interject, to say "wait a second, can you clarify this point?", or "hold on, I don't think you're quite right here" or even simply "yeah, totally!". And it is absolutely vital that these interjections happen instantaneously, as that allows people to break down the conversation into small, easily digestible bits.
This is where forums completely fail. A typical long forum post contains so many premises and arguments, that by the time you're done reading it you have absolutely no idea how to even begin responding to all that. There are just too many things to tackle, they are overwhelming and they obscure the point that the poster is trying to make. It's too exhausting to engage in a discussion like that as it will just keep growing with more and more tangents that are impossible to wrap your head around. Also sometimes the whole post is based on a false assumption that would be immediately shot down in a live conversation, and yet you can't just disregard such a wall of text as that would seem impolite. And so threads keep getting messier to the point of complete chaos that nobody wants to participate in.
I think the DWmegawad Club threads are a good illustration of this. Despite the name, they don't evoke the feeling of a discussion club at all. Mostly it's just people taking turns, saying "here is my opinion", "now here is my opinion", "and here is mine". There is very little interaction, very few back-and-forths. People come to these threads just to say what's on their mind, not to engage with others. Or, even when they want to engage, they don't know how to deal with these walls of text. And from my experience this is true for the majority threads on the internet. They serve as simple collections of statements that have very little relation with each other.
Now, this doesn't mean that forums are completely useless. They still work well as an archive of opinions and essays, like these tutorials written by 40oz. And if you look at academic circles for example, you can see a clear proof that it is in fact possible to have fruitful conversations by writing lengthy replies. But let's be honest, most of us (most likely including me and you) don't really have the debate skills necessary for that to work. We don't know how to stick to the point, how to stay concise and write in an organized manner. We need the guidance of other listeners, we need to see their immediate reactions and adjust accordingly. This is why chats are taking over, and it's probably a good thing.
