Bring Back Crappy Forums
The article discusses the decline of web forums and their potential benefits, including a sense of community that is often lacking in modern social media platforms. The author reflects on their favorite social network, a forum for news designers called Visual Editors, which was rough around the edges but had a strong community. The article also explores the history of web forums, including the early days of Usenet and the development of the first web-based forum software.
- ▪Web forums were once a popular way for people to connect and discuss topics online, but have largely been replaced by social media platforms.
- ▪The first web-based forum software, WWW Interactive Talk, was developed in 1994 by CERN's Ari Luotonen.
- ▪Usenet, a precursor to web forums, was a system of newsgroups that allowed users to discuss topics and share information.
- ▪The author believes that web forums had a unique sense of community that is often lacking in modern social media platforms.
- ▪The decline of web forums has been attributed to the rise of social media platforms and other online communication tools.
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Bring Back Crappy Forums Web forums were rough around the edges and faded in relevance as seemingly better options emerged. But what if we had stuck with them? By Ernie Smith • July 1, 2026 https://static.tedium.co/uploads/tedium070126.gif #web forums #social media #community #nostalgia #usenet #discussion boards Today in Tedium: Recently, I passed 20,000 followers on Bluesky, which I didn’t really say anything about. Sure, I thought about it, but then I had decided to myself, what’s the point? Soon, there will be another mark I can point to and feel weird about. The thing about social media these days is that the good stuff all too often pulls you in, but at the end of the day, you end up feeling hollow.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet..
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