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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why some forums sort of ... grind to a halt?

214 replies

mytartanscarf · 30/12/2014 20:47

I used to be a member of a very busy forum. It was pretty nice as although it was busy there was a sense of community as well.

It isn't dead Grin but dying.

Then about 10 years ago when I did a PGCE I was a member of the TES forums and they used to be so busy; I've had a look for the first time in ages and ages and it's really quiet.

Will Mumsnet ever die? And what causes a forum death?

OP posts:
coolaschmoola · 30/12/2014 21:32

I was a CL on five IVillage Boards for years.... It died due, in the most part, to FB and an ill advised format change that barely anyone knew how to use. The US version is still very much alive though.

usualsuspect333 · 30/12/2014 21:35

I think a lot of forums end up with breakaway FB groups now. Which then kill smaller forums.

Mintyy · 30/12/2014 21:36

I think Mumsnet will grind to a halt sooner rather than later Grin. Oh how cheery I am!

There is only one other forum I frequent, which is just a local area forum, which used to be busy and lively and is also plodding along being very dull.

I don't know the answer to your question op. Perhaps it is because in the end we realise that we actually prefer interacting in rl with a small number of people we know and can speak to, rather than a vast number of random people we know nothing about?

Gatekeeper · 30/12/2014 21:36

I joined UKParents back in 2002 when pregnant with dd. Some great posters on there and still miss it as it was in it's heyday

AmandaTanen · 30/12/2014 21:36

I was on verity for a few years, tried to login recently and have forgotten my password. But the threads I could see weren't busy at all. There is a Facebook group now though.

thenightsky · 30/12/2014 21:38

I was on iVillage too.

Does anyone remember breathe.com forums?

JoanHickson · 30/12/2014 21:38

I was on Ivillage too every so often.

flumpysocks · 30/12/2014 21:41

I've been part of a forum with a real community spirit for years, but have stopped using it recently as it's petering out. A lot to do with it being strongly around parenting but everyone's kids being older now. It just doesn't have much to offer me any more nor I it.

PolarExpressionist · 30/12/2014 21:43

I met DH through AOL chat. Does it even exist anymore?!

MusicChatUK represent!

JenniferGovernment · 30/12/2014 21:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MrsDiesel · 30/12/2014 21:47

I was on a wedding forum when planning my wedding and some members broke away to form a private forum which I really enjoyed for awhile but then I stopped going on and can never remember the name of it to go back.

Vivacia · 30/12/2014 21:48

I think the TES forums were killed off by that "up-grade". Totally over-complicated and over-engineered them. They're like a graveyard now.

I think that social media such as Facebook and Twitter have replaced forums for many people.

AnnoyingOrange · 30/12/2014 21:48

Bad Mothers Club closed at the start of the year. A shame. We used to share their space sometimes when MN was down and vice versa

PinkSquash · 30/12/2014 21:48

I was on U75, but that seems to have gone full circle, still pop on occasionally but it's not as busy as it used to be.

The forum I met my now DH on died after they banned me. Coincidence? HmmWink

fluffyraggies · 30/12/2014 21:49

I met my DH on a forum. Not a dating site. Neither of us were 'looking'.

:)

Cubee · 30/12/2014 21:51

I was on the SANDs (stillbith and neonatal death) forum about 6 or7 years ago. It died a spectacular and devastating death overnight when it was revealed some key posters were actually just one person, who hadn't been affected by the death of a baby at all, and were stealing stories and pictures of other people's children, claiming they were their own dead child. It was so shocking and devastating for many. The forum was a big support to a lot of people and it was ripped away with no warning. (That's how i remember it anyway - but if anyone out there has more info i'd be interested to know!)

So sometimes they seem to go with a bang rather than peter out.

therockinghorseroll · 30/12/2014 21:53

Oooh coolaschmoola, which ivillage boards did you CL on?

Had pretty much forgotten about ivillage but remember getting great support when ttc my first dc, remembering now a lot of the stories, it was a real community.

usualsuspect333 · 30/12/2014 21:53

I used to chat in AOL chat. It's long gone.

I don't think there are that many chat rooms left.

TeenAndTween · 30/12/2014 21:53

I was on a forum and they 'improved' it and made it more or less unusable - giant blue bubbles, childish font, rubbish splitting into sub-boards.
It more or less killed it stone dead.
An alternate was eventually started up by disaffected users but it is harder to find for new people and doesn't get the traffic the old one got. I moved here instead.

darumafan · 30/12/2014 21:56

I used to use Raising Kids but it was bought out or taken over and disappeared. It had got a bit too 'hun' for me but it had been good for a while.

Vivacia · 30/12/2014 21:56

I think the first forums I posted on were the FreeServe forums. Late nineties I reckon.

NoArmaniNoPunani · 30/12/2014 21:59

The only other forum I used to frequent was closed by the owner due to him throwing a Hissy fit and generally being a bit of a bellend

Screenclean · 30/12/2014 21:59

Oh yes I was on a wedding one. Thing I'd, once you're married you're sort of 'done'.

I graduated to MN in 2007 from there.

The only other one I use is mse. I hate the format, but like the subject matter Grin

FigWig · 30/12/2014 22:00

I went on ivillage for years and made lots of great friends there that I'm still close to now.

Such a shame it went down the pan, it actually makes me feel quite sad.

thenightsky · 30/12/2014 22:04

I think breathe.com chat rooms were late 90s.

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