I don't know about dead, but they've been in decline since 2013. The U.S. Presidential election in 2016 accelerated it. Most news outlets killed their comments

I don't know about dead, but they've been in decline since 2013. The U.S. Presidential election in 2016 accelerated it. Most news outlets killed their comments sections around this time.[1] It's certainly less fun to discuss things if you're liable to get into an argument. And arguments degrade the readability of discussions for others. The transition to mobile phones certainly could be a factor, and the related Eternal September concept.[2] The increase in monetization is a factor, since advertiers don't want to be associated with objectionable comments. I think comment voting, though it has some benefits, is ultimately pretty toxic as well. But all these are proximal causes. This is a long-term cultural trend affecting forums, wikipedia contributions, office politics, and everything else. Anthropologists would say political fractionalization is increasing. People increasingly don't want to collaborate with those they disagree with on an expanding list of isuses. But even this is a proximal cause. What drives political fractionalization? What drives culture to be increasingly morbid?[3] I think the fundamental cause is that the energy gradient powering civilization is in decline. It's a Peak Oil -type idea, but focused on EROI instead of oil production.[4][5] In their heyday, forums were amazing.[6] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comments_section#Closing_of_comments_sections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comments_section#Closing_of_co... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_September [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32166902 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32166902 [4] https://twitter.com/clumma/status/593890418028253185 https://twitter.com/clumma/status/593890418028253185 [5] https://gist.github.com/clumma/4c5016f808adde034a575f1dd7d401a8 https://gist.github.com/clumma/4c5016f808adde034a575f1dd7d40... [6] https://twitter.com/clumma/status/1538934712743231488 https://twitter.com/clumma/status/1538934712743231488