Quote Originally Posted by Pokemon Trainer Sarah View Post
I totally agree with both of you! Forums are great for having actual in-depth discussions and actually making friends. I also really like the anonymity of forums because you can be whoever you want. I don't really like putting my real name to things and I never really posted on Facebook because of that, even when I did use it.

I did go on Reddit a fair bit (recently quit that too for similar reasons to Facebook xD) but I find the anonymity on Reddit goes a bit too far and people often act overly silly/troll because of it. It doesn't feel like you get to know people or have a real community. Like I never even paid attention to usernames there.

I read all these things about people being lonely and wanting to connect and I still feel like forums are an ideal place for that and it makes me sad that most people will never get to experience what it's like to have these real amazing connections without even having to know someone's real name. I think discord has become a replacement to an extent, as in, it attracts the crowd that would have been on forums back in the day, but it's way more limited than forums because you can only really have brief conversations and people have to be online at the same time to even do that. I often don't feel like chatting in real time and much prefer to leave a message and reply again when I feel like it. Whereas instant messaging requires more small talk which I'm not good at. xD

Ahh I'm getting all nostalgic now xD I still hope forums make a come back some day in some form. Who knows!
I miss the glory days of forums too, they were great when I was younger and wanted to meet people who were into the same stuff as I was.

I'm very much active on Discord now because it's largely replaced forums like you said, but yeah, something isn't quite the same about it, it's like an instant messenger crossed with a forum and that takes part of the charm out of it, I think. Either way, still a great place to be, and my username is the same on Discord as it is here. Blaquaza#1347, for anyone interested. :D

Reddit's also kinda similar, but generally a lot more negative and a bit too anonymous in comparison to forums because it's so broad. Smaller subreddits where you recognise usernames are my favourites, even though a lot of the times they're the ones I lurk in rather than posting.