The Future of Internet Forums

[Joe from the Carolinas]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
[*]What will the future bring to us all?

I'm quite curious to see what others will have to observe about the current health and membership of other forums out there. Personally, I enjoy the format of being able to pull up the forum on a large screen with a real keyboard and read.


As far as the future, I think until cellphones begin projecting large dynamic displays, any text based communication which requires visual processing is going to be more & more truncated, skimmed, disregarded, and not well internalized.

Many people have small screens which have even smaller keyboards. This increases typos, the time it takes to edit posts & add legible formatting, let alone to edit forum brackets / BB code and shorten quotes .


Additionally, smaller buttons and smaller screens mean that people will naturally overlook details, such as "Thanks" and "Quote"-- there is a very ergonomic component at play here that I am seeing influence quite a bit.


Case in point. Here is a slice of youtube's analytics for a youtube channel. The image compares devices used on that same youtube channel.

This is a 28 day time period. Notice that desktop & phones are nearly equal:




This is where we are headed. More people are sticking to mobile phones, but average view duration (how LONG people stay on any one thing) is the lowest out of all of the device types. This is startling to me.

Notice the larger the display (TV) the longer the view duration?

I'd be really curious to see similar analytics for more text-based formats, such as forums. I wonder if the same metrics would hold?


I think that future dynamic platforms that allow people to click less and type less will win the attention and TIME competition game that is happening online right now.

I do not think that forums will become a fossil, however I DO think that technology itself will CONDITION people into naturally putting less value in focus and concentration, and more into visual & thinking heuristics just to process everything that draws the eye.

[Denise/Dizi]

I believe there will ALWAYS be a place for sites like forums. If not a forum itself, something similar. There will always be people who use it for their social interactions. Right now the public is still being fed almost TOO MANY options for social contacts.. And I believe THAT is what is causing people to "Site shop"..

There are almost TOO MANY platforms and options coming out... And everyone is moving around in a frenzy to test out the next new thing.. They're not going away they're just morphing. "MySpace" was replaced by facebook... Skype, really moved aside a bit when apple came out with facetime.. etc.. it is a work in progress... The movement to other platforms will happen as our technology develops, but these sites keep popping up for one reason, PEOPLE WANT TO BE SOCIAL.. forums are unique. I do not think they will ever disappear, they too will just morph into a new format.. They're "Social" in a very specific way..

I believe the more people begin to work from home, the more they will rely on having a "Place" to go. facebook "Kind of" suits those needs, but most have gone to using that more on the lines of how they use Twitter and such. So I don't think that the future of the forum, is at risk. I think it is more WHO RUNS THEM, and how they do it, that is causing some to collapse from within.. Personally I think they will become more interactive as the technology develops, as this is what is happening in the gaming industry.. We may have avatars that interact in real time rather than PHOTOS, but it will still be a forum, or interactive site for interactions as we are sharing here now. We just may be using headsets, or having the data sent directly to our minds to "See"..

I love having real conversations with others, about issues of interests. And I am constantly amazed at the vast array of topics people discuss! From technology, to human behaviors, to favorite music, and even the evaluation of the platform itself. If manicured properly as the technology advances, the platform will change but the idea won't.. Just how we interact with it...

[ClearWater]

I started up a forum late last year, and simultaneously created a Twitter to share the articles I post on the forum.

There are about 600 followers on Twitter. I just checked, and over just the last 2 days the Twitter has had about 6,000 impressions, 83 likes, and 30 retweets. This is from only 1 tweet per day.

Twitter brings most of the activity to the forum, which averages around 250 visitors per day.

Only 35 members have joined the forum since its inception. About 90% of those who registered on the forum haven't logged in since they originally registered, and only a handful have ever submitted a single post. There have been 760 posts submitted, with over 650 of them coming from me, lol.

I realize this isn't a great example since it's a completely new forum, but I'm seeing something similar at the other forums I frequent. Much less activity on the forums, and more activity on social media.

Another big impact are Chat services like Skype and Discord. These are huge, and have replaced a lot of the conversations that used to happen on forums. The good thing about these is that they're more conversational. I fairly regularly see people have discussions that go on for an hour or more, which isn't really something that happens within a forum structure.

Personally, I love forums though. I find it to be a nice middle ground where there can be good discussion, and it can be organized in a way that's easy to refer back to even years later. I hope they make a comeback at some point, but I don't have high hopes.

[Spellbound]

Look at Usenet / Newsgroups. I was heavily involved with a few newsgroups from the late 90's to the mid 2000's....and today they are non-existent.

To Joe's point above....I will always be a desktop person. Not a big fan of surfing the internet by phone.

Dave - Toronto

[Rawhide68]

Short answer to Mr Ryan Survey
What's the current health and membership of other forums out there? - I dont know
What will the future bring to us all? -I dont know

[celticwarrior]

I am a member of 2 other forums. I post infrequently, but am an avid reader of just Avalon and one other. I love Avalon for it's diversity, and agree with a lot of the contributions on this and other threads.
For me a lot it boils down to time. I am in information overload, and simply don't have the time to write and contribute consistently to forums or other social media. My wife thinks I'm going deaf because I sleep with an iPod stuck in my ear. . I maybe download 6-12 hours of audio versions of youtube vids to listen to, then find out I'm zipping out the zeds after 1/2 an hour, and have to find the time somewhere else to relisten. By then of course I have another 6 or so I want to listen to. As for reading, I have I don't know how many books I've bought that are just gathering dust. Is it just me or is time just disappearing so fast?
My tuppence for whatever it is worth.
Keep up the good work Avalonians. I love it here

[Sunny-side-up]

To me Avalon is:
Heads up for important and interesting information,
jump point for follow up investigation,
Quality,
Family, friends
Avalon is a safe solid and trusted place.

I always come back here, even after passing through other great sites.

[greybeard]

First may I express my appreciation for Avalon.
I am not currently a member of any other forum.
I come here to converse with like minded people.
There is no one locally, that I know of, to discuss non-duality with.

I think unfortunately that forums will diminish in active membership.
There were in the past subjects that people good get their teeth into--not too many, but just enough major ones
Now, as in another thread mentioned, its overload--just too many events to get a focused attention.
A wealth of information on u tube---some may be true.
Also there is this desire to exhibit selfies--thats not a forum thing--its gone beyond sharing helpful information, though there is some of that--its mainly about me and my latest selfie.
If I want to know what my children are up to I would join face book.

Good forums like Avalon will survive--as long as there is enough income/donations to cover the costs.
We tend to expect "Something for nothing"
Please donate.
Chris

[Arcturian108]

Without consciously being aware of it, the Project Avalon Forum, and similar forums, are a Jesuit wet-dream.

Let me explain: The Roman Catholic Church had its hands full with the beginning of the Reformation. How to combat the wide availability of printed bibles suddenly available to the masses? One answer was to create, and promote, universities. And that’s what the Jesuits did, and they made sure that they trained the children of the elite. By which means although the bible might be taught according to their creed at such universities, the point was to create as many competing courses and disciplines as possible, so that fewer and fewer students would show any interest in studying the Bible, in order to absorb the knowledge available from so many other interesting courses. The Catholic Church created our secular society, and they are totally responsible for the development of it, even though they pretend otherwise.

Project Avalon Forum presents a plethora of ever expanding topics with no particular order emphasized. Thus the individual participant decides what is important, and thereby truly important threads get buried in the mix. My suggestion for how to improve Project Avalon would be to elevate, in a tier system, certain topics and/or certain contributors in a way that features their ongoing importance to the threats that we face now and in the coming years.

[OopsWrongPlanet?]

Hi all,

Thanks Bill for starting this thread. I have already learned a lot by reading (most of) the posts. I am deeply grateful for all that Avalon offers, and the great way in which it is run.

I am a member of two forums:

1. Avalon, for the last three years, in which it has been a bit overwhelming to try to get my 'feet under the table', but I have been trying - off and on. On the whole it has been a mine of insightful information and intelligent debate on stuff which is coming up in the world today. I find it especially helpful for keeping my own critical faculties sharpened eg on Blue Avian cult, subtle commercialising of exopolitics researchers etc. etc. I am trying to contribute, but it can feel challenging to say anything which feels relevant when there are so many opinions being voiced on most of the topics I am interested in.

2. Since a 'spiritual awakening' (hate that term, but it probably gets closest) a few years back, I founded Nonduality Forum ( link https://www.nondualityforum.com ) about 18 months ago, where we explore nonduality and awakening, and aim to accompany those who are in the early stages of waking up to the 'one continuous flow of Life'. Still in its infancy, it is a relatively small forum with at present less than 200 members but steadily growing, as folks ARE waking up and DO want help with this. We try to be experientially based, non-commercial, non-hierarchical, non-religious and non-dogmatic. Probably part of the reason that it is growing is that we offer 1-2-1 facilitating/enquiries.

In Nonduality Forum, the challenge - just as here in much better-established Project Avalon - is, in an internet world of spectators, lurkers and short attention spans, to get people engaged and participating. We are aiming to make and keep Video Meet-Ups central to what we offer, to build on the sense of community and face-to-face relationships, which is important to us.

Yes, it's been a problem trying to lure folks away from the hypnotic, manipulative world of Facebook, Twitter and the like, but we seem to be making some headway, at least so far. It will be really interesting to see how this plays out in the future, both in Nonduality Forum and here in the more established Project Avalon.

x

M

[Ernie Nemeth]

The way I have gathered information is four fold. I engage intelligent people in conversation and pick their brains. I watch TV shows and now utube for interesting data. I read books and magazines, and research at libraries for in depth knowledge. I also do non-formal apprenticeships for skills I want to learn.

Of these four I now only poke around a bit on the internet and I rely on Avalon to keep me informed and engaged.

My strength and my favorite type of learning is one on one conversations. I used to find the most intelligent people and we would brainstorm for long hours. My most memorable such conversations were with a person with an eidetic memory. She could open a book she had read in her mind and begin reading. It was uncanny. I picked her brain for months.

I also developed my own theories on every aspect of reality before I allowed myself to read up on those topics and research what others believed. This is how I learned to appreciate that logic is universal and that there seemed to be streams of knowledge out there that anyone could tap into. My theories were not much different than other people who were lauded as pioneers in their fields. This led to the understanding that there is a very good chance that we are either all latent mind readers or that we share the same mind. All of that work re-enforced my belief in god. Until I came here to Avalon.

To me Avalon has been a roller-coaster ride of information over-load, unheard of topics, and interacting with high-class members far beyond my level in different ways. So much conspiracy, so many fringe discussions, so many strange happenings. I lost my god in here. Then found my god, then lost it again. My mind churned with ideas I had never thought of and I even now believe in aliens, which I always thought were a made up story.

Although at one time I was brave and naïve and thundered through topics with my own discretion and discernment, I find I now do not believe anything until I check in here for verification. I understand that I am not in any position to uncover truth on my own. I rely on Avalon to keep my head screwed on straight.

Those new forms of communication that others seem to enjoy, I have never even tried, nor would I know how. I don't know what Twitter even is, or any of those types. I can't even access blogs, whatever that is. I find such communication far to shallow anyway. It is a form of sensationalism to me. Meme creation is easy when only memes are shared in little 200 character posts.

I know I am constantly under surveillance. And now having been woke up in the middle of the night because my phone over-rode its settings and issued a state-wide alert for a missing child, I know we have not much time left to uncover any truths before the entire system becomes policed and censored.

The entire internet, I believe, has been invented to continue the secret agenda of the controllers to dumb down society and to confuse and over-whelm the citizenry.

So what is the future of the internet? Control and meme sharing. Until everyone begins acting and thinking the same. It wont take very much longer...
I don't know anything about other forums but if other forums do not have in place a means to keep the 'signal to noise ratio' high, they will just become meme sharers.

[Dick]

hello all, I'm just a member here, don't post very often, but I'm reading a lot, and for me the Avalon forum is a sort of "check point" for the truth.
Over the years I have read a lot, which I think its totally nonsense, on other forums or website, and some are quite good.
When I feel the need to check things, then I do it right here. that's the Avalon forum for me: great people with a great knowledge

Dick.

[Chanie]

Young people don’t really use Facebook much. This might be true of forums as well. It could be a generational thing.

I do find that Twitter is a useful tool. There is a lot of drivel on it, but there are some worthy sites as well. Current events tend to move so quickly. The good Twitter accounts tend to be hours ahead of what is posted on Avalon so it is good in that regard. It is not unlike an office “grapevine” where you hear what’s happening behind the scenes long before the official announcement is made.

Avalon is like a good research library where you can drop by and spend as little or as much time as you want. There is a breadth and depth of information on a vast array of subjects. I have learnt a lot here and try to support it financially so it will keep going.

Although I use it mostly for the information, it’s also a family-community. It can take a new person time to figure that out and to navigate around all the personalities. Someone like Foxie Loxie was beloved because she was so warm and fuzzy. I’m pretty sure she was one reason why I was drawn to Avalon in the first place. She was the friendly face at the reception desk when you first walk in.

I’m not a great fan of squabbling and discord. I understand why it happens. Usually, I can see all the different perspectives, but I’m not going to jump into the fray. Real life has enough drama without me adding to it. In that sense, Avalon is an escape as well—an oasis where I can drop by and meditate on what really matters in life.

[TrumanCash]

I think that forums that trolls can't trash (i.e., sanely moderated forums like Avalon) will continue. I don't think this has been brought up yet but unlike SMS, threads on stable forums can appear on search engines.

[Flash]

Posted by Anchor (here)
People still write long posts. I read reddit a lot and some of the longer posts often have "TL;DR" (Too Long Didnt Read) summaries at the end, a sort of one or two sentence short form summary of the post, it is almost considered etiquette these days for posting longer posts and if you fail to provide one, say for a story you were trying to tell, you might get people pressuring you to add one!

I noticed some people use that form on this forum and there have been some threads also advising people to do it.

For example:
https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...er-of-a-thread.
What is interesting about that thread is that the OP (Original Poster) used a lot of acronyms in common use on social media form and got told off for it - including tl;dr

yes you are totally right.

Other questions we may ask to this forum members are those ones:

The numerous acronyms of social media differ from language to language. No way a French French will understand the American acronyms. When I see posts like Doazen's, in the thread you refer to, I cannot understand. So I pass my time on google trying, in English, to find the definition. To end up not reading, too cumbersome.

So question: do we want an international forum? When I got in, years ago, the forum was much more diverse than it is now. Not only was there people from all over the world, but the number of them (quantity) was more.

Other question: we are getting quite old, the gang of members here. Is the cross-generational misunderstanding the same as the cross-cultural? Is it a question of language, or values, ways of living, etc?

There is not doubt that it takes more time to read long posts, and no doubt that I am guilty of it, since I am always looking for words I do not find in my head (their English equivalent not readily available in my head), so I circumvent the problem by finding others words but using longer sentences.

One place where the forum is pretty balanced now but was not 10 years ago is the number of women/men. Good for us. Women's bullies have been quite successfully kept in check, or society may have changed on that aspect. But it makes a forum different in many ways.

[Flash]

Posted by Joe from the Carolinas (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
[*]What will the future bring to us all?

I'm quite curious to see what others will have to observe about the current health and membership of other forums out there. Personally, I enjoy the format of being able to pull up the forum on a large screen with a real keyboard and read.


As far as the future, I think until cellphones begin projecting large dynamic displays, any text based communication which requires visual processing is going to be more & more truncated, skimmed, disregarded, and not well internalized.

Many people have small screens which have even smaller keyboards. This increases typos, the time it takes to edit posts & add legible formatting, let alone to edit forum brackets / BB code and shorten quotes .


Additionally, smaller buttons and smaller screens mean that people will naturally overlook details, such as "Thanks" and "Quote"-- there is a very ergonomic component at play here that I am seeing influence quite a bit.


Case in point. Here is a slice of youtube's analytics for a youtube channel. The image compares devices used on that same youtube channel.

This is a 28 day time period. Notice that desktop & phones are nearly equal:




This is where we are headed. More people are sticking to mobile phones, but average view duration (how LONG people stay on any one thing) is the lowest out of all of the device types. This is startling to me.

Notice the larger the display (TV) the longer the view duration?

I'd be really curious to see similar analytics for more text-based formats, such as forums. I wonder if the same metrics would hold?


I think that future dynamic platforms that allow people to click less and type less will win the attention and TIME competition game that is happening online right now.

I do not think that forums will become a fossil, however I DO think that technology itself will CONDITION people into naturally putting less value in focus and concentration, and more into visual & thinking heuristics just to process everything that draws the eye.

Your comments are quite interesting Joe.

I always found the format of this forum cumbersome (and pretty much any other forum). It is not appropriate for short attention span nor for fast global understanding of any thread.

I did work quite a lot with mind mapping techniques. To me, forum built on this kind of framework would not only appeal to both, short/long attention span, but also to critical thinking and holistic grasping at the same time. Also, you can have small screens and use it or large screens for larger content. You can have written content, videos, anything you can link, as in a forum but visually much more handy. I have not seen any forum up to now using the powerful software abilities we now have. The forum platforms have to be redesigned if they want to remain successful.

[bogdan9310]

There are places like Quora that compete with traditional forums, I still find forums very usefull and interesting though. I think places like Quora don't offer the type of connection with people that forums do.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by Spellbound (here)
To Joe's point above....I will always be a desktop person.

I don't know if I'll always be a desktop person; I've only been one since the late 1970's, when I went from punched cards (80 column Hollerith) and line printers to an ADM 3A monochrome CRT (80 columns by 24 lines of text only). Before all that, I was on a wonderful (still have) K&E (Keuffel & Esser) mahogany slide rule and Friden mechanical adding machines.

Who knows what the future will bring. But if I fall into a manhole while walking down the street, it will more likely be because a lovely young lady walked by, than because I was texting on my mobile.

[ThePythonicCow]

Posted by greybeard (here)
A wealth of information on u tube---some may be true.

Ever the eternal optimist you are .

[greybeard]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by greybeard (here)
A wealth of information on u tube---some may be true.

Ever the eternal optimist you are .

Paul my tongue in cheek humour is an acquired taste Lol
I dont take life to seriously
Regards Chris