Are forums on their way out? Dead Internet Theory?

[LarryMyster]

Has anyone noticed that there are hardly any active forums out there? For example of a dying forum (and not to throw them under a bus but as an example,) The Admin Zone, their last post announcement was in 2017. Admin Zone was a mega forum to cater to small and growing forums, and also big forums respectfully. They even did interviews with Giant Forum owners and software developers. It's in my opinion that forums are mainly used for internal corporations now or publishers in music or video game industry. Independent forum owners are either struggling to get people and keep people active. It's really sad that the "Dead Internet Theory" is becoming more reality. More than 51% of activity of the world wide web are from bots as of 2025, the more access people have to smart phones and apps that's connect them to social media such as Facebook, reddit, insta, snap, X (twitter), and so on, so really the more Dead Internet Theory becomes more true each and every passing day as owning a website as a hobby is becoming less and less fun or interactive. Not many people are wanting to go online and join a community that fits their niche of conversation. That back n forth topics or threads is becoming obsolete...

Am I the only one that see's this or am I going crazy?

 

[Shawn]

I think forums are turning very niche, meaning only certain people like this.

I've been a member of TAZ for like 20+ years. I lurked before it for many years.

I run quite a few forums. They're not that big and I doubt they're going to grow that big but I still have fun running them. As long as I can have even a small community (like here on this forum), I'm happy with that.

 

[Pcmaker]

Yeah, Reddit pretty much took a lot of steam out of forums but even before then, forums was declining

Younger people dont post on forums, they didnt grow up on it

 

[Shawn]

Yeah, Reddit pretty much took a lot of steam out of forums but even before then, forums was declining

Younger people dont post on forums, they didnt grow up on it

Yeah. Early 2000s were great for forums, then about 2010 they really started going down, especially as mobile apps and social media came into play.

I'll keep doing them as long as there is a small community. I don't need a big board and in all honesty, it's cheaper not to have one LOL

 

[Nomad]

While forums are on the backseats, I don't see them dead. In fact more and more people are not into running forums. If forums were dead there would be so many forum scripts in the market.

 

[Shawn]

I think forums are still relevant for people who like forums.

But those who do not know them will likely never use them.

 

[1stop]

I don’t think forums are not as active as they used to be. Back in the day, we run to forums to find the real gist before social media came and took over everything. But honestly, I still prefer forums because that's where you see people that reason deep, not just chasing clout. .

 

[Demon_skeith]

Forums have declined and hard to say if the new person who signed up is real or not, but I'm still sticking to my forum.