As someone else said, usenet was replaced by phpBB forums, which kept the similar structure but were easier to moderate and easier to use too. The real questio

As someone else said, usenet was replaced by phpBB forums, which kept the similar structure but were easier to moderate and easier to use too. The real question would be why did those forums mostly died nowadays? I don't have a definite answer, but from the user viewpoints: - Centralised services had the benefit of only creating one account (remember password managers were uncommon! People were advised only to create accounts of websites they would trust, to avoid leaking their passwords they often re-used) - More modern UI and the "new factor"/hype definitely helped people moving Let's not forget the move was also sometimes initiated by the webmasters, who did not want to pay and administrate it forever (Canonical example being a teenager spawning a forum about one of your hobby, then still maintaining it a decade later while having lost all interest)