Forums or Social Networks?

Forums are certainly much better for talking to people with similar interests. I also prefer forums over most social networking sites when it comes to finding new leads and generating traffic from new sources. However, when it comes to farming leads that I already have or connecting with leads that I already have, social networking is the way to go.

 

To be honest, after being on Facebook for several years now as well as moderating a very active forum for seven years, I find myself kind of gravitating back to forums. With Facebook I've tapered off my posting and activity severely in the past year. I always get paranoid of being "that guy" that posts way too much all day and floods other people's news feeds. Also I'm getting tired of how much Facebook shares private or semi private activity with others - been burned too many times with that.

 

I totally agree with you. I like forum discussions better for the same reasons you do. Having my real name associated with my thoughts and opinions could cause a lot of problems with people that I know if they don't truly like what I have to say. Talking to others on a forum under a username makes it easier, plus you can have very interesting conversations with others on a forum . In fact, I have a couple of times.

 

Social profiles are more like a podium to make an announcement, they don't really promote conversation, at least not on the social network directly. Paid posts and tweets break up the timeline even further. If you want to create a community you want to use a forum and build a brand, you can never own Twitter or Facebook even if you spend tons of time building a community there.

 

Forums are better for discussions, because you have communities that are dedicated to the topics you're interested about. I use both social networks and forums, but I rarely get into any good discussions on any social networks.

 

I use each for completely different things.

I go to forums when I want discussion about a very specific topic. I go to webmaster forums to talk to fellow admins, for example. I go to social networks when I want to connect with people from lots of different backgrounds (like my friends, people who visit my sites, etc).

 

I'd venture to say that you could probably get more leads out of a forum rather than via social networking. You use social networking, in general, to connect with people you already have as leads.

 

I prefer forums too, but social media has one advantage. The conversations in social media are fastpaced. I still like forums for marketing too. Nothing works better than a forum in my specific niche for driving traffic.

 

Forums are for information, social networks are for friends, at least that's how I see it.

I have a dislike for the social soapbox approach where someone writes an update that they want others to read but they couldn't be bothered to actually respond to those who read it unless the responder is deemed an important person.

Networking, it's ugly sometimes.

 

I agree that, although I also think that forums can also be for friends to meet and discuss. I have "friends" on almost all the forums I post on. Honestly, most of these forums would get boring to me without some off-topic interactions.

 

I agree most people put much effort and time contributing into social networks more than forums. However this doesn’t attest social networks to be more informative, educative and reliable. I have shared my views in both social networks and forums but from my evaluation I can conclude that forums are better, educative and more focused. Forums usually focus on particular topics and plans as opposed to social networks that do not have certain point of concern.

 

I use both personally. I will find a few forums that are in my niche, and provide as much value as I can. With Facebook I try to build relationships and bring people to my Fan page.

 

I prefer forums simply because I find so much more diversity on forums than I do with FB. Perhaps I have not learned how to manupilate fb but I find it so much easier to find information I need on forums as opposed to fb. Not to mention the ads on forums don't aggravate me like they do on fb. For some reason the ads on fb just get on my last nerve. In forums I can normally find my answers to the burning questions that I have! So forum all the way for me.

 

Facebook or any social media site is great for socializing and interacting. But if you want to discuss a particular topic nothing can replace forums. A Facebook page will only be that much better and no more. It will have people of diverted interests while a forum focused on a particular niche will have people willing to discuss that matter. It's much more effective and satisfying!

 

I greatly prefer forums. I have been reading and posting on forums for more than 10 years. When I first went online, visiting forums quickly became one of my favorite activities. That remains true to this day.

I remember the rise of social media a few years ago and I was resistant to it at first, but I find that Facebook and Twitter are great for business purposes, for getting visitors to my blogs. That's mostly what I use social media for.

I have very limited personal use of Facebook -- just mainly to keep in touch with close friends and family. I also find it daunting to keep up with Facebook's ever-changing privacy policy and that's one of the reasons I'm very restrictive about what I share on the site.

All the while, I am always gravitating to forums that are in the various niches for which I have a passion, both professionally and personally.