Do you still use online forums?

I don't use them anymore, I used to enjoy online forums but rarely go to them now. I hope yours does well though. :)

I do think there is still potential for them though.

I only use a few forums. One is specifically for Pastors' Wives and the format there is pretty easy to get around. Other forums I find can be bulky, and can take a lot of time to keep up with. I do use the EntreCard forum from time to time to search for answers to questions I might have or to ask my own question. But that's about it.

I use a few online forums several times a week. They are indispensable clusters of information. I often discover new ones when I search techincal terms when I have computer or coding problems. I am thankful for forums, old and new!

I used to be active in forums I joined 3-4 years ago. Now, I only peep a few times a week. There are new forums I joined which I didn't even bother read nor make a post.

Occasionally I will use a forum for a discussion site. But for a blog, doubtful. (Though I still love your blog!)

Glad you're making the forums a bit more public Ben :)

I use the EC forums when I think about them. I'm not a good groupie type. Most groups I join get annoyed about my lack of participation in group activities, like forums.

Hi Ben - I must admit, I used to use forums more than anything else on the Internet. Also, I used to moderate at http://www.wdwinfo.com.

I think a forum is a good idea for your blog. I know they take a lot of effort to get going and a lot of the big forum webmasters say that they have to make up their own posts at first, to encourage folk to join in.

But I'm guessing the hard work pays off. Steve Pavlina's blog has definitely benefitted from it.

I'm kind of tiring with blog comments. Some folk do comment to become part of the community but other just do it because they want traffic back to their blog. At least in a forum, most of the folk there are generally interested in the topic.
Let me know when you start it and I'll definitely drop by.

Now I feel incredibly stupid - you have actually launched the forum already - it didn't register. I'm checking it out.

I still do use forums. Not as much as I used to, but that it more due to the fact that I generally have less time to spend online, not because I find them less useful.
I am one of the people who believe that forums and blog are two completely different things, with different uses, that in some areas overlap, but are distinct enough that none will completely displace the other. Social networks are the third on the list. I had people tell me that soon no one will even use blogs anymore. I don't believe it for a minute.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I hope to see you all at my new forums soon. :)

i do, but i favor blog commenting still, for the variety. also, it bums me out sometimes when there isn't that much interaction on a particular forum thread. people post their take, but don't respond to each other sometimes. but i guess that's common on the different conversation venues.

I would say that the use of online forums has reduced in recent times. I use certain forums to look for key bits of information, but sites that update regularly have come into play for this feature as well.