I guess it depends on your demographics and the information you need. Sure, I'm going to assume most of your guys' sites don't need massive posts with pictures and such...but mine does and the only way to get that information is to go to my site. You can't find it on fb or twitter, it doesn't exist there. So my site is actually doing better since Twitter and FB have come out and I know others' who have seen the same thing as I have.
I dont know anything about your website, but lets use Skyrim for example. Say you wanted to chat with others about Skyrim, guess what there is a facebook page.
But here's the thing... I have Skyrim (not allowed to play it til Christmas though pressie from the kids!) but even when I will play it, the last place I'll be lurking is a facebook page. If I want to talk about the game, I'll go looking for a forum.
Which you're limited in what you can discuss. Using your Skyrim example, due to how new it is most posts are going to be telling people to get it and how good it is, but you will also have gameplay videos and images, and many reviews and guides. None of which you can really do successfully on Facebook. Facebook and Twitter do not kill forums, poor management and low quality content do.
Not to mention Facebook has killed the discussion parts of their pages, so you have to trawl through statuses on the page to find what you're looking for.
I think you guys are missing my point here, sure you cant go in depth conversations on facebook. But thats not what there using facebook for anyway. There making status updates. example "Hey guys I just bought Skyrim is such a great game" example friend "Hey I just bought it too!" There isnt any indepth conversation going on. People like us are not the norm. Which is why forums are seeing such a rapid decline in activity.
So you go to fb to find guides on how to beat Skyrim?! SHOW ME WHERE THAT IS! Because damn, I've not seen anything on fb like the information we provide on our site. We aren't a discussion site about games, we teach people how to do things with games. Good luck finding all that information on fb other than being shared via our fb page.
I don't agree with whats going on either, but facts are facts. I would love to see forums on the rise again.
There not trying to find guides, besides myself I don't know of a single person who uses a guide. They either figure it out on their own or give up and go back to Call of Duty.
If that is what your forum is made up of, you have bigger issues than Facebook/Twitter. Again, Facebook and Twitter cannot kill a forum that has quality content. As long as you can keep discussions going (that are little more than 2-3 sentences) your site isn't going to die due to social networking. Many people use guides. Its why IGN is such a large site.
Plenty of people still use guides to find things (I'm not a Skyrim fan so Idk much about the game). But assuming it's like a lot of games out there, there are things that are pretty well hidden and there is a large group of people who would rather go straight to it than walk around needlessly for an hour. Just because you don't do it, doesn't mean others don't as well. I've built my site based upon showing people how to do things (whether it's walk throughs, glitching, modding, or other various discussions). While you may not use it, I have over 50,000 unique visitors each day that do.
I use guides occasionally, if I get seriously stuck on something. I think you misunderstood me.. I'm disagreeing with your statement - I don't think forums are on the decline because of Facebook/Twitter etc. I think people are becoming more particular about the forums they're joining and the information/interaction they're looking for on them.
Guys I am not trying to argue the fact that people use guides. Because in fact some people still do. But if this was 5+ years ago you may be seeing 150k unique a day instead of 50k.
I am not blaming facebook or twitter either. I just think for a lot of people they have lost interest in carrying on indepth conversations on forums. I just visited the official skyrim forum and there are only 711 people online. When Oblivion was releases there were 2k+ people on during peak time.
Facebook and twitter are only used by those who are not looking for anything in specific. They just want to brag to their friends about all of the dumbshit they do. Forums are for specific things and yes there are fan pages but u won't find the content that a forum can provide.
I like 3.2. Leaps and bounds have been made since 3.1. They have a way to go in some areas sure, but they'll get there and the issues to me are minor.
Now the XF has a working WordPress bridge, I'll be purchasing a license and begin the long tedious process of testing and developing a new look for our site. As for IPB 3.2, the removal of certain features caused me to sit up and start looking for a new solution. Their changes to the forums cemented that decision.
We've had a few discussions like this and it boils down to people not wanting their ideas challenged. With Facebook, people tend to group just with their friends, who most likely have the same ideals and mindset. A good chunk of Facebook users don't care about opposing viewpoints or debating issues. And Facebook allows them to express those views and remove anyone who disagrees. This isn't Facebook's fault. It's a symptom of a much bigger problem within society.
