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I never understood why companies use chat to build community. Isn’t this what forums are for (Eg your home private “HN” of sorts)

anderspitman 4y ago
If you can only have one I would vote for forums, since they're flexible enough to handle a lot of chat and even wiki use cases. But I think realtime comms are different enough that it's worth having a dedicated chat app.
thecosmicfrog 4y ago
It seems to be a recent (last 5-7 years?) trend from what I can tell. I agree that forums are much better and more organised for community discussions, but generations seem to drive these things. I'm in some Discord communities, but just get lost amongst all the channels and regularly miss "big" announcements and news. Discord seems to require a lot more of your active attention, versus forums permitting passive "check ins" every few hours or days.
hombre_fatal 4y ago
A large part of forums was basically refreshing the page to see if anybody responded to the threads you commented in. It was basically slow and more annoying chat thus easily replaced by rich chat platforms like Discord. Frankly, real time chat is a big way to get to know people. It’s basically conversation. Meanwhile 10 years on HN and I don’t know a single person. Forums are good for lots of things, but don’t discount chat.
- alberth 4y ago
  > Frankly, real time chat is a big way to get to know people. It’s basically conversation. Meanwhile 10 years on HN and I don’t know a single person. How many chat channels/DM/etc do you still message with 10 years later? I’d guess very few if any. If that’s the case, what problem is the company trying to solve with a community section? Do they want long term engagement by its users (like you on HN for 10 years) or do they just want tourists stopping by for the short “chat”?
  - skinnymuch 4y ago
    > How many chat channels/DM/etc do you still message with 10 years later? Not OP, but I’m decade plus on here. I am on good terms with people from the internet from back then still. it will be a lot more in a couple more years. Like the person says, OTOH they don’t know a single HNer. Same with me. — In regards to your last paragraph. Good Q.
skinnymuch 4y ago
Forums are something possible alongside chat but it isn’t for everyone. Just like chat isn’t for everyone. This is besides the point completely but HN isn’t a community in the same way. No one really gets to know any one else on HN. Since there’s so many usernames and most are anon. There is no DMing. Chat is totally diff.

anderspitman 4y ago

If you can only have one I would vote for forums, since they're flexible enough to handle a lot of chat and even wiki use cases. But I think realtime comms are different enough that it's worth having a dedicated chat app.

thecosmicfrog 4y ago

It seems to be a recent (last 5-7 years?) trend from what I can tell. I agree that forums are much better and more organised for community discussions, but generations seem to drive these things. I'm in some Discord communities, but just get lost amongst all the channels and regularly miss "big" announcements and news. Discord seems to require a lot more of your active attention, versus forums permitting passive "check ins" every few hours or days.

hombre_fatal 4y ago

A large part of forums was basically refreshing the page to see if anybody responded to the threads you commented in. It was basically slow and more annoying chat thus easily replaced by rich chat platforms like Discord. Frankly, real time chat is a big way to get to know people. It’s basically conversation. Meanwhile 10 years on HN and I don’t know a single person. Forums are good for lots of things, but don’t discount chat.

alberth 4y ago
> Frankly, real time chat is a big way to get to know people. It’s basically conversation. Meanwhile 10 years on HN and I don’t know a single person. How many chat channels/DM/etc do you still message with 10 years later? I’d guess very few if any. If that’s the case, what problem is the company trying to solve with a community section? Do they want long term engagement by its users (like you on HN for 10 years) or do they just want tourists stopping by for the short “chat”?
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  > How many chat channels/DM/etc do you still message with 10 years later? Not OP, but I’m decade plus on here. I am on good terms with people from the internet from back then still. it will be a lot more in a couple more years. Like the person says, OTOH they don’t know a single HNer. Same with me. — In regards to your last paragraph. Good Q.

skinnymuch 4y ago

Forums are something possible alongside chat but it isn’t for everyone. Just like chat isn’t for everyone. This is besides the point completely but HN isn’t a community in the same way. No one really gets to know any one else on HN. Since there’s so many usernames and most are anon. There is no DMing. Chat is totally diff.