There is a lot of debate out there in other forums as well as spaces where website owners like to grumble to each other about the lastest problems they are facing. And one common thing they all state is how Facebook is killing forums! Well, it isn't.. And I will explain why... Internet forums today are very much as they were 10 years ago. You create a username, select an avatar and post comments and what not behind a slim veil of anonymity (I say slim because people in law enforcement can track any poster whether it be on a forum or a blog). Forum posters though, have the luxury to post things in a public arena without worrying how people might view their posts and shared content, wheras on Facebook this is not the case. On Facebook you do not hide your identity, therefore things you post or share will represent you as a person. This is one of the great things about forums. There are forums out there for people who are perhaps sharing very intimate details about themselves whilst keeping enough back so as not to disclose their true identities. This can be found very evident on some of the sex related forums out on the web (I mean the advice forums and not the porn forums, but I guess the same is also true there too). But then this same rule of thumb applies to users of this website as well. Sure, there are some of us who are quite public about who we are (I have no problems letting people know who I am for instance) but so many like to be able to ask very personal questions knowing they will never be judged. This just cannot happen on Facebook.... However, social networks such as Facebook offer up something forums just cannot provide. A link that spans the globe and links us directly with family and friends from overseas! I often see friends post pictures of their children to the approval of their family who are miles away. This is very true with some of you guys who are friends of mine on Facebook, as well as some of my own family. Facebook is also now going into the realm of social sharing, so when I listen to a song on Spotify, my friends know this and can listen to the same song. Likewise, if I like a YouTube video it will now flag up on my Facebook stream to allow friends to see what it was that I liked. Thankfully, I can control this sharing. There are options to amend what I share and who I share it with. For instance, if I like a Mikey Bustos video I can designate it for the attention of my Filipino friends (which I have under a list I call Filipino Peeps). Likewise, if I like a video of some MMA fight, I can share it just with my MMA peeps... But again, I would never ask my friends on Facebook how to go about getting a visa to the Philippines or anything like that. For one, that information is usually best supplied from people I meet through this site, people that find this site through a common interest. Something Facebook lacks! Yes, you can find small niche groups on Facebook, but as a beginner it is impossible to ease yourself into a group with the anonymity a forum provides. So, forums have their space on the web and social networks have their space on the web. Each offering something different for everybody.
Forums, in my mind, do provide a service and exchange of information, which social networks don't really do. And if they did, it would be just superficial as opposed to the indepth information that one could garner from a dedicated forum. Stuff like Facebook, Myspace and what have you, are ok to keep in daily touch with friends and relatives, but at the same time, one runs the risk of posting too much info about oneself, thus creating avoidable risks, methinks....
Flickr is a cross between a forum and a social network, it has features of both and has always been a really nice format in my view. But mostly I tend to be a member of specialist forums, a couple of car related ones, a flying one, photo ones and of course this one
