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I'm personally sick of making logins to things and the hurdles you have to go through to join some Forums. A lot of the forums I visit allow you to instantly s

I'm personally sick of making logins to things and the hurdles you have to go through to join some Forums. A lot of the forums I visit allow you to instantly sign-up and log in with Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Apple, just like any other service. You may get your first ten posts previewed before they go live, but that's a minor inconvenience for keeping spam down. It's a time investment. If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, and it's better off for everyone if you remain a lurker, anyway.

KajMagnus 4y ago
> If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, Sometimes the person wants to post a reply to help someone else, and then a minor time investment can be a big hurdle? So the people in the forum gets less help — they get help only from people who themselves are wondering about something, and so are willing to spend the time to sign up? I think it'd be nice with global identities that worked across all forums. And one could have many, per person. One for work, one for a hobby, another for another...
- layer8 4y ago
  The point of forums is that it shouldn’t be random strangers posting once only after they found some thread or post in a Google search result. It’s intended for topics that you want to follow regularly.
bnralt 4y ago
> If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, and it's better off for everyone if you remain a lurker, anyway. Yeah, I think friction actually makes some things better, since it weeds out the most disinterested individuals and shows the people involved have some desire beyond immediate gratification. Birthdays are a good example of this - in the past, someone who e-mailed you to wish you happy birthday was someone who had decided that you were important enough to them that they'd remember you're day of birth. The act meant something. But with Facebook, everyone gets sent a notification that it's someone's birthday, and many will send birthday wishes no matter how close they feel they are to the person. You come across profiles where it's obvious someone stopped using Facebook years ago, but every year on their birthday the same few people respond to a birthday notification and wish them a happy birthday, oblivious to the fact that they're no longer there. The interesting thing is, introducing an inferior option that has less friction often causes most people who used to be OK with the friction to now decide that it's too much of a hassle. Hence forums might be better, but people who used to use them will now opt for a worse Reddit sub if it's easier. Once Facebook started notifying people of birthdays, most people stopped trying to remember birthdays of people who weren't immediately around them even if those birthdays weren't listed on Facebook. I've read before that small changes in the friction in our environment can have big impacts on our behavior. It's interesting to see this in play, especially with many people choosing convenience over quality.
foresto 4y ago
> If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, The time investment only seems minor if you view it in isolation. I probably have hundreds of forum accounts scattered about the web, and at this point, every additional signup feels like such a nuisance that I seldom bother any more. Too many paper cuts. (Especially when it comes time to update my email address.) > then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, That logic breaks down when considering people who contribute high quality in low quantity. For example, when I go down a rabbit hole to solve a tricky problem, I might want to share the solution where others who need it are likely look for it. Sometimes that means a single post on a forum. Signup friction makes me less likely to share.

KajMagnus 4y ago

> If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, Sometimes the person wants to post a reply to help someone else, and then a minor time investment can be a big hurdle? So the people in the forum gets less help — they get help only from people who themselves are wondering about something, and so are willing to spend the time to sign up? I think it'd be nice with global identities that worked across all forums. And one could have many, per person. One for work, one for a hobby, another for another...

layer8 4y ago
The point of forums is that it shouldn’t be random strangers posting once only after they found some thread or post in a Google search result. It’s intended for topics that you want to follow regularly.

bnralt 4y ago

> If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, and it's better off for everyone if you remain a lurker, anyway. Yeah, I think friction actually makes some things better, since it weeds out the most disinterested individuals and shows the people involved have some desire beyond immediate gratification. Birthdays are a good example of this - in the past, someone who e-mailed you to wish you happy birthday was someone who had decided that you were important enough to them that they'd remember you're day of birth. The act meant something. But with Facebook, everyone gets sent a notification that it's someone's birthday, and many will send birthday wishes no matter how close they feel they are to the person. You come across profiles where it's obvious someone stopped using Facebook years ago, but every year on their birthday the same few people respond to a birthday notification and wish them a happy birthday, oblivious to the fact that they're no longer there. The interesting thing is, introducing an inferior option that has less friction often causes most people who used to be OK with the friction to now decide that it's too much of a hassle. Hence forums might be better, but people who used to use them will now opt for a worse Reddit sub if it's easier. Once Facebook started notifying people of birthdays, most people stopped trying to remember birthdays of people who weren't immediately around them even if those birthdays weren't listed on Facebook. I've read before that small changes in the friction in our environment can have big impacts on our behavior. It's interesting to see this in play, especially with many people choosing convenience over quality.

foresto 4y ago

> If you're not willing to put in the very minor time investment, The time investment only seems minor if you view it in isolation. I probably have hundreds of forum accounts scattered about the web, and at this point, every additional signup feels like such a nuisance that I seldom bother any more. Too many paper cuts. (Especially when it comes time to update my email address.) > then you probably don't have much to contribute to the community, That logic breaks down when considering people who contribute high quality in low quantity. For example, when I go down a rabbit hole to solve a tricky problem, I might want to share the solution where others who need it are likely look for it. Sometimes that means a single post on a forum. Signup friction makes me less likely to share.