A forum is a place where you can post your thoughts and opinions, create new topics to discuss with other people, or even find solutions for problems. If you are looking for a way to share knowledge with others or just want an outlet to vent about something that has been bothering you, then the web forum is perfect for this!
People can come forums to discuss topics of common interest. The goal of a forum is for visitors to get advice, share personal experiences or simply have a discussion about an issue that they are passionate about. Web forums also provide a place for people with similar interests and backgrounds to meet others who share their views on certain subjects and issues.
Forums vary in features but most offer the ability for members (those registered) to post messages either as text or as links (“posts”), make use of message boards which categorize posts into threads, create topical categories called “forums” so members may keep discussions separate from one another, search archives through different fields such as date range or keyword searches, send private messages to other members, and use an email-style inbox for incoming messages.
The terms “forum” or “message board”, generically, have come to refer to a website which facilitates online discussions in the form of bulletin boards with topical categories.
Are forums dead?
Forums have been around for a long time and they are still used by different people around the world, but it does seem that forums may be dying out in favor of other types of discussion websites such as Facebook or Twitter.
Many users who participate on web forums also have social media profiles which may reduce their need to go onto a platform like a forum where they can interact with others from within their own feed rather than having to search through topical threads themselves.
Others just never learned how — many younger users don’t know what “forum” means at all! And some people find that running into spammy advertisements or difficult searches make it not worth the hassle anymore either; there’s no shortage of opinions about why forums are slowly going extinct.