More 90s/early 2000s but more classic forum structures (with sub-forums, linear reply chains) definitely give a different feel from a lot of more modern places
I never understood the point of subforums. When the sites I used to be on switched to phpbb3, it drove me nuts for a lot of reasons, and subforums was one of the biggest. All it seems to do is trigger a notification on the parent forum when stuff I don’t care about happens.
I also loathe threading. At least lobsters highlights new posts so you can find them more easily, but nothing beats just putting the new stuff at the end of the page, in order for easy reading.
Threading is definitely an outlier in sites designed for many users. Really the only mainstream site that has threading is Reddit (Slashdot, HN and this place are not mainstream by any means).
Facebook, Gmail and Twitter are essentially flat (but with threading here and there).
I love threading, but like deeply nested subfolders, it’s a not a general preference. Most people prefer a flat view.
An old forum my wife frequented (for moms and families) had threading, and there was endless confusion about how they worked from members there (not my wife though). Many wanted a flat view like “normal” forums.
Of course, people aren’t debating it in the abstract, only in the context of that site, and it’s possible the threaded view is awful there.
The move to mobile prioritises horisontal real estate - lobste.rs can be pretty dire in longer threads, and older Reddit apps such as Alien Blue failed to cope gracefully with deeply nested comment threads.
There was something else submitted here that was like a ring of old-school sites connnected together with lots of art and stuff. I think they had community guidelines, too. Just can’t remember name of it. It was unique, though.
I use email as social media. Mainly because my dad doesn’t see the point of anything else. His email server has an alias that delivers to him, my mom, my brother, and me. An email with a subject and single image attachment isn’t substantially different than an instagram post.
Ridiculous though it may be, it works pretty well. And since my brother lives in Beijing (16 hours ahead), email is actually better than something more synchronous like a group chat.
More 90s/early 2000s but more classic forum structures (with sub-forums, linear reply chains) definitely give a different feel from a lot of more modern places
I never understood the point of subforums. When the sites I used to be on switched to phpbb3, it drove me nuts for a lot of reasons, and subforums was one of the biggest. All it seems to do is trigger a notification on the parent forum when stuff I don’t care about happens.
I also loathe threading. At least lobsters highlights new posts so you can find them more easily, but nothing beats just putting the new stuff at the end of the page, in order for easy reading.
What more modern places are you referring to?
Threading is definitely an outlier in sites designed for many users. Really the only mainstream site that has threading is Reddit (Slashdot, HN and this place are not mainstream by any means).
Facebook, Gmail and Twitter are essentially flat (but with threading here and there).
I love threading, but like deeply nested subfolders, it’s a not a general preference. Most people prefer a flat view.
An old forum my wife frequented (for moms and families) had threading, and there was endless confusion about how they worked from members there (not my wife though). Many wanted a flat view like “normal” forums.
That’s no my experience. Do you have a reference for that?
Sadly, I do not. I wish I did!
I just have anecdotes - Reddit is, AFAIK, the only really large site with threads by default.
(I am woefully unfamiliar with these kinds of sites in countries other than US/UK and Sweden, though!)
DPreview.com has an option to switch between the 2 views.
Here’s a self-reported poll from one of their subforums:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/61303768
Here’s a complaint that the view defaults to threaded:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4173249
Of course, people aren’t debating it in the abstract, only in the context of that site, and it’s possible the threaded view is awful there.
The move to mobile prioritises horisontal real estate - lobste.rs can be pretty dire in longer threads, and older Reddit apps such as Alien Blue failed to cope gracefully with deeply nested comment threads.
Edit entirely incorrect paste fixed.
You might find Scuttlebutt interesting with its principle-driven approach. Story on it.
There was something else submitted here that was like a ring of old-school sites connnected together with lots of art and stuff. I think they had community guidelines, too. Just can’t remember name of it. It was unique, though.
I use email as social media. Mainly because my dad doesn’t see the point of anything else. His email server has an alias that delivers to him, my mom, my brother, and me. An email with a subject and single image attachment isn’t substantially different than an instagram post.
Ridiculous though it may be, it works pretty well. And since my brother lives in Beijing (16 hours ahead), email is actually better than something more synchronous like a group chat.
Cool. Are there any security measures in place that make sure that not some random sender can spam you all?
Nope! Just complete and utter obscurity. My dad’s email server isn’t exactly highly trafficked.