How I would make forums the social media killer

[Guest]

I would take the lessons learned from social media about smooth and fast functionality.

Users don't want to have to title a photo.... maybe they just want to post it?  

 

Comments need not be in some big box...with a huge profile photo next to each comment..... A link on their username is sufficient to lead to their profile page.

I would also make them "real-time" / "threaded" and "super-fast"  (basically showing when someone else is typing.... thereby keeping people online to wait for someone replying.

 

Some would reply that forum comments are "for the ages" and are somehow written "in stone" compared to social media..... (Baloney!!)

I can go back to posts on FB from 10 years ago and read comments the same way we do on forums.

OH... and these new comment systems can be made SEO friendly.    (Check out rt.com commenting system for example)

 

Video and audio chat are just add ons... for those companies trying to become infrastructure contenders.

 

One key component why forums aren't advancing against social media are the investment in apps by forums in general.

So basically... once all the above is done... AND THEN also offered in an APP... then I think forums would start to dominate again over time.

 

I should also add a comment about video as well.

Modern users of social media want to upload video directly to their "site" and have it play...

They don't want to worry about format.

They don't want it to be just a link for others to potentially play.

 

Facebook is now a VIDEO first company. Guess where the masses of people are spending their time as well?  Seen YouTube.com lately?

Forums could/should try to take on this area as well. We have the advantage of better organization. 

 

Google would not be able to relegate forum traffic to "internet drivel" as they like to currently. They would be forced to link to where the video is hosted. And in this case it would be on our forums and not on their YouTube.com