The decline of forums. What happened?

[JoeCool6972]

I'm a member here and a few others. I've always loved forums as they're a good place to get information and share your own information with others. I've been a member of much larger ones than this one too, and this one has a LOT of members. I remember years ago, larger forums like this would get literally hundreds of posts daily, now there's barely any. You could post a question she get several answers within an hour. Some places you can post something now and not get anything for months, if ever! I know Reddit is one place that took some, but when it comes to cars, it's seems like it's 9 year old kid replying from his video game experience! Same goes for Google and YouTube. You might get a good answer, or you might get suggestions for lawnmower parts!

What do you think happened?

[VStar650CL]

One word answer: Facebook. People don't seem to realize that forums have certain intrinsic values which FB and similar platforms lack, namely searchability and posterity. Whether at some point those folks will get fed up with non-answers, bad answers, and ephemeral answers, your guess is as good as mine. One can hope.

[Grendeleve]

also so many forums and each time you have to make an account, gets tiresome after a while, i made an account cause i had to ask some questions haha. But reddit could solve it by having one account and many communities but it's mainly bots.

[Beancooker]

I think smartphones have a play in this. Now everyone goes online with their phone. Forums are cumbersome at best with a phone. 18 years ago when I joined this forum, you sure as s*** weren’t surfing the web on a phone. When you were sitting in front of a monitor and the internet was 1/1000th of what it is now, forums had a much larger audience.

[Bubba1]

All good points. I agree with VStar and Bean, I believe Facebook is the probably the biggest factor, mostly for it's ease of use, especially with a cellphone. Heck, even the Carlisle event staff uses FB for many of its communications. As us boomers annoyingly tend to say, "it is what it is". I think NICO is a special place, it's a knowledgeable, friendly group, who are more than happy to help or discuss Nissan/Infiniti/Datsun and general car guy stuff. I think once people find it, they'll like it. That said, while FB seems to both be dominating and deteriorating into a troll farm with it's inconsistent rules, moderation, and misinformation, using it to get the word out there about NICO as an excellent reference seems like a good strategy.

[darylzero]

Discord has been around almost 10 years now. I think a lot of people go to those now to discuss and find answers. Discord is more like a chat though. To search through posts and have a cohesive listing of what was being talked about is tough.
I still find forums very useful.

[TurboSauce]

When I first joined, forums were places where enthusiasts and Nala roamed...

J/k
No, a forum was home to people who owned their cars, maintained them and modified them.
They gave each other tips on dealers to avoid, or how to troubleshoot, test and enjoy ownership.

A lot has changed since then.

Newer cars aren't always user friendly, the mentalities on both sides have changed. Cars are increasingly disposable. People aren't modifying them as much. If they are, they turn to facebook/youtube.

Car meets have died down and changed form, people buy car parts of alibaba, amazon, ebay, and want to go viral.

Things are cookie cutter for mods. There's much less originality, because there's also much less need you can go buy your tomei exhaust and BC coils because you saw someone else have them.

Now, most people want to be the influencer, they want to seem like the expert. There is no one true reason that forums are dying.

Its many reasons.

[Jesda]

What do you think happened?

I still use them heavily for troubleshooting (cars, computers, etc) but I don't work on cars as much as I did 10-20 years ago.

Now I mostly use the internet and social media for streaming yacht rock, getting friends together to drink, and watching reruns of Law and Order.

Real talk -- Cars are kind of lame now and the sense of community isn't there. I skim my diagrams and repair guides and move on.

[Buzzman]

Real talk -- Cars are kind of lame now and the sense of community isn't there. I skim my diagrams and repair guides and move on.
[/quote]

Cookie cutter cars fit into that description, and the corresponding forums are very quiet.
I have a 2016 Lexus RX 350 SUV, and I joined the forum last year. It is pretty dead. I don't bother with it anymore.
Same for the 2017 Mazda I had. The forum is a little busier, but not much.
The exception is unicorn or limited edition cars.
I have my 2023 Kia Stinger, and the Stinger forum is very active and very informative. I'm on there almost every day.

[IanS]

Photobucket becoming internet Satan didn't help.

[AZhitman]

^ Ian nailed it.

But as was said before, FB is primarily to blame as well as the shift away from desktop PCs.

There's another factor: Laziness. Why use the search function when you can go on FB and fling poo on the wall? The problem that FB has always had, however, is simple: No one gets banned.

Someone pops off with inaccurate info here, or abusive replies, I've got 20 staff with the authority to vaporize their account and delete their useless post. We don't want anyone to be ashamed of asking a question, and we sure as hell don't want some troll misleading them and potentially costing them money (or their safety).

We've seen this forum go from one of the three largest automotive communities on the web, to being a massive repository of great information. There's certainly not as much conversation, but we still serve a useful function, and I'm proud of the fact that we're WAY more helpful than a random YT video or a Reddit thread.

We'll be here (for better or for worse) regardless of what happens elsewhere, and lest anyone think we're not "keeping up," we have some pretty cool cutting-edge tech coming down the pike this year.

[Hijacker]

Photobucket becoming internet Satan didn't help.

Photobucket destroyed a generation of information. May they rest in piss

[audtatious]

Photobucket becoming internet Satan didn't help.

Photobucket destroyed a generation of information. May they rest in piss

Yeah, the whole loss of images on the site and within articles was a major bummer.

[IanS]

There's certainly not as much conversation, but we still serve a useful function, and I'm proud of the fact that we're WAY more helpful than a random YT video or a Reddit thread.

We'll be here (for better or for worse) regardless of what happens elsewhere, and lest anyone think we're not "keeping up," we have some pretty cool cutting-edge tech coming down the pike this year.

I fear the day that Nasioc or Nico shuts down. I've had NASIOC tabs open forever as I work through my GD restomod. I don't use Nico as much these days as we've pushed the Z33 platform so far beyond design intent that there's not much out there that can help. I could probably teach a class on what these cars are capable of, but so much of the cars setup is proprietary to the team. Can't be giving away all the secrets.

[AZhitman]

^ There's that! I'd love a walkthrough of the chassis / suspension setup on the Z just for nerd purposes...

I'll have to pick your brain a bit on this S30 project (with the completely redesigned suspension). I have a feeling it's going to be edit after edit to make it capable but also street-friendly.

[Ozzie]

I miss the active forums.
Still the best place to find good information and connect with people who know what they are talking about....
The amount of misinformation I see on Facebook daily, makes my head hurt.

I'm one of the putzes on YouTube now, but I try not to act like I know everything. I just try to pass on what I know in the hopes it will help someone else out (much like my Nicoclub forum posts really)

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm one of the putzes on YouTube now, but I try not to act like I know everything.

Your channel is pretty good because you actually do some follow-up stuff.
I feel like a lot of build content (not just cars) on YT these days reminds me of a SEMA build... basically blast through it to make the content as quickly as possible, and then never talk about it again. Example - I'm always curious if that no prep rattle can paint job they did actually held up over a year or so, or if it started flaking and looking like trash.
A lot of times the devil is in the details, and I see a lot of short cuts being taken or improper/non-optimal hardware being used that I'm sure is fine for the duration of the film session, but might not stand up to normal use.

Forums seemed to be a LOT better about that sort of thing. A build thread is easier to resurrect and follow.

[AZhitman]

Yep. I may have said it before, but I've been burned one too many times by YT videos.

I can barely sit still long enough to watch one, and I really don't want to hear someone babble for 2 hours about a 15-minute task.

THEN, you get the ones where the person gets into the job, realizes they don't have the right part / tool, and they just bail out. Somehow, those don't get downvoted enough!

[IanS]

I'm one of the putzes on YouTube now, but I try not to act like I know everything. I just try to pass on what I know in the hopes it will help someone else out (much like my Nicoclub forum posts really)

On the subject, I rescued an NA8 MX5 two weeks ago. I am currently working through all its issues (it had only turned 1200 miles since 2015) and removing all of the evidence of rodent activity. As I am tinkering on it, my inner monologue often gains an Aussie accent and the cadence matching that of the intros of a certain video series. Not sure why, but It's your fault.

Tldr: STOP LIVING RENT FRE IN MY HEAD!!!

[Octane1Z]

I whole heartedly agree with all the facts from above!! I get alot of people that come up to me tinkering around with my 2014 QX60 in the parking lot and people are blown way that I take it upon myself to do maintenance (yes ctv's arent forever) and have 20+yrs wrenching and welding. Street racing was life in early 2000's and we lived on these things! Hence why im here now and cant find what I need for the stupid front radar problem.