People here like to say “I don’t use social media; I use forums” like there is a difference between the two. There isn’t.

Forums are places where people post and comment on user generated content, other comments themselves.

18 points

We need to get back to the Forums. They were better.

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9 points

Please. What did the Romans ever do for us?

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4 points

The aqueduct.

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16 points

The difference is there’s no algorithm abusing you on forums. They are pure.

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3 points

Having an algorithm doesn’t make social media.

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7 points

But everything people call social media does.

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-1 points

No, I think a small group of people are trying to change the definition so they can use some forms of social media while saying they don’t use social media.

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14 points

Forums were better.

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-3 points

Facebook is a forum.

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5 points

Facebook is an is.

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2 points

Facebook is a site for college dudes to rank women by hotness.

And the Old Folks Home of the internet.

Simultaneously.

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7 points

Forums are usually anonymous.

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2 points

Most social media sites allow to maintain anonymity.

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6 points

Anonymous vs real identity is how I think some people conceive the difference.

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0 points

You don’t need a real identity for a lot of social media platforms.

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3 points

Right, and I’m not saying it’s absolutely definitive, or even my own conception of this distinction. However, if someone personally defines it that way for themselves, I think it’s valid.

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2 points

I define it this way. Social media centers around having a social identity that others engage with. I’ve been on smaller forums where I recognized every user name and knew their individual personalities, which is probably pretty close to social media. But most large forums are basically anonymous, and you don’t engage with the user so much as you engage with the discussion.

If you just define “social media” as media which involves others, then all media besides a private personal journal is ultimately social.

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1 point

Eh. I feel like people are choosing to change the definition so they can feel better about themselves. They aren’t the unwashed masses on Facebook or other “social media”, they are enlightened thinkers who use “forums” to converse instead.

The change in definition seems to be done specifically so people can say they are better than others.

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