I think we can all agree that if Reddit’s recent bullshit ends up meaning people go back to running old school forums it’ll be the absolute funniest possible outcome
@leigh Ultimately, online communities are communities. You can have an online community flourishing on old message boards the same way you can have a good party with friends in a basement with smelly old sofas.
@leigh It has been interesting watching them come to grips with the fact that most of the communities they host are only there because they're more convenient than running your own nonsense. Reddit got a big pool of attention to market by paying wages in hosting. Turns out if you start asking your workers to instead pay you for the privilege of hanging around the factory, they stop doing it.
@ramsey@leigh@eaton No joke, I have honestly thought about installing a phpBB forum on my website but I didn't find any way for mobile users to conveniently browse it.
@ramsey@leigh@eaton The one I was looking at did not have app integration that would notify users of new replies etc. akin to, say, the Discord app. And I think that is needed for mobile only or mobile first users to engage.
@AimeeMaroux@leigh@eaton Ah, yes. I wasn’t thinking about notifications. I guess you would need a dedicated app with push notification functionality for that.
@ramsey@leigh@eaton That is very reasonable pricing indeed and as I understand it, it works on mobile without having to install an app? 👀
The board owner would be me, so that wouldn't be a problem 😁
@AimeeMaroux@leigh@eaton That’s what it looks like. It appears to use the built-in browser notifications system (on both desktop and mobile). I’ve never seen notifications from a mobile browser, though, so I’m not sure how well it works.
@ramsey@leigh@eaton I just tested it. I can enable it on desktop but it doesn't work for me on mobile. Might be my browser or settings but the option to enable browser notifications just doesn't show up at all, not even in desktop mode.
@eaton@leigh this made me laugh so hard. I ran one of these for a Robot Chicken fan site....until my stupid ass couldn't figure out how to wipe the spam attack on it so I just gave up and deleted the whole thing.
@leigh@eaton oh man. It was the worst. I was at a point where it had spread out of control and users were miserable and I apologized one last time and said I was in over my head and then ≈BLIP≈ Gone.
@leigh I wonder if Reddit starts deleting posts by mods linking to their new forums (if they decide to move somewhere else) in similar way birdsite doesn't like when you link to other platforms
@leigh@ramsey Advocating to my clients they should run their own forums is often met with skepticism, doubtful this kerfuffle will change anything. Unfortunate.
@leigh ... As a moderator and admin of a long-running traditional forum, I can assure you that they haven't disappeared because of reddit appearing as a platform, nor diminished in the wealth of knowledge they can provide... assuming that's what users are looking for.
And to those who expect it to be perfectly frictionless... no, they generally aren't served up by an app. So yeah, you need to make an effort.
100% of the connected world can join a forum without needing a phone at all.
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