What hath Facebook wrought? – It’s a Facebook versus forums smackdown!
It is Time to Pit Facebook Versus Forums
Facebook, as anyone not living on a desert island knows, is a juggernaut of massive proportions. According to Oberlo, Facebook has over three billion users, and about 61% of global social media users—and these numbers are only climbing.
When it comes to parent company Meta (they also own Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, …), there are nearly four billion monthly active users.
Almost 54% of Facebook users identify as female. And, surprise surprise for anyone who thought it was just a platform for the (ahem) older set: nearly 62% of Facebook users are under the age of 45.
In 2026, that means people born in 1981 and later, AKA Gen X and later generations.
In contrast, according to Worldometers, 1.477 billion people live in India, and 1.413 billion live in China. Vietnam has a bit over 102 million in population. Laos has about 8 million.
Hence, Facebook usage is the entire population of India + the entire population of China + the entire populations of Vietnam and Laos. If these numbers do not blow you away, then check your pulse.
It is the 800 pound gorilla of the internet. And it is rapidly changing our interpersonal interactions, both on and offline. So, one of those areas is in the area of internet forums.
Facebook Versus Forums Sites Like Able2know
Facebook hits all forum sites and not just A2K. For years, I have been seeing drop off on a lot of different sites. It does not seem to matter whether they are large, generalized places like Able2know, or small niche sites devoted to something like Star Trek.
In addition, I hear about this same kind of drop off in other areas. Facebook has its fingers in a lot of pies, and it is only trying to get into more and more of them.
The truth is, Facebook has taken over certain niches which forums or smaller sites have tried to claim.
Such as class reunions. Why go to a separate website and register (or even pay!) when your buddies are all or nearly all on FB anyway? Why not just make a group devoted to the reunion and divvy up the labor?
Using Facebook to market your crowdfunding (it could be to bring an invention to market or pay for your dog’s eye surgery or help out a friend who lost everything in a house fire) is a no-brainer.
Looking for a bone marrow donor? Sure, go through the proper channels and the registry. But why not boost the signal by posting it on Facebook?
Everybody get in the Pool
So there are two generalized kinds of interactions (there are more, of course, but hear me out, okay?). One concerns the shallow end of things. You trade information about weather and generalized health inquiries. It’s political sound bites and the zippy pop song.
And much of what I have outlined above, like looking for a bone marrow donor, is mostly going to be the quick, shallow end of things. You are a yes or a no. You send a care react and maybe you repost. But you are not elbows deep in it. You are only pinkies deep, if that.
The other side of things is deeper. Because here is the in-depth political discussion where you really get to the heart of the issues. It is the detailed information on a health condition or even how to make a soufflé or plant an herb garden. It is the symphony.
And online, just like offline, it is a far rarer bird.
For you need time to develop that kind of trust. Furthermore, truly, you have to devote some time in order to have such a conversation in the first place.
In our bone marrow example, you can often find communities of like-minded individuals on Facebook. A small, private group may be able to help with more than a signal boost and expressing their concern. But that is a small bit of the vast sea that is Facebook.
Swimming with Facebook
Facebook fulfills the shallow end of online interactions extremely well. It is very, very easy to catch up on a superficial level with high school classmates or the like. A Star Wars groups, for example, might ask basic questions like “Who was the best villain?”
George Takei has mastered these kinds of interactions (although, in all fairness, he also writes occasional longer notes). Because these constitute the quick hits that people can like and share, all in the space of less than a quarter of a minute.
It works very well for mass quantities of information. And, in a way, this is why Reels and TikTok are so massive. They are quick hits.
Facebook versus Forums – Where Facebook Wins
Topics about a favorite song go better on Facebook than on forums as they are a quick hit and posting YouTube videos is simple. It is colorful and, just as importantly, it is pretty easy to pick and choose when it comes to interactions there, despite changes in privacy settings.
Other basic interactions (remember a/s/l?) are seamless or do not need to happen at all. Partly this happens due to the Facebook real names policy. Also, more people tend to use their real photograph and their real (generalized) location and age than not.
But there are also always going to be people who are going to check. Or they are just plain being nosy. For some, it may even be a poorly-conceived cover for transphobia. E. g. are you really female?
Facebook versus Forums – Where Forums Can Still Win
But what Facebook does not do so well is the deeper end of interactions (the extensive political discussions, etc.). Also, it often does not do them well for a larger group of people or over a significant period of time or for a longer or wider discussion.
And apart from a small group of people fighting the same medical battle (on their own behalf, or a loved one’s), there are not a lot of occasions for the long-term, deeper talk.
As a result, just about all of the deep discussions go unsaid. Topics about elections outside the United States (particularly if Americans participate in said topics) are handled poorly, if at all.
When it comes to the deeper end of the interactions pool, Facebook is just not a good place for that at all. Another consideration: even now, a lot of people still find that Facebook moves too quickly for them.
Swimming with Forums
For the deep end, it makes sense to collect into forums. You need to get to the heart of the matter. And that takes time, a luxury that Facebook often does not afford, as it scrolls by in a blur.
Instead of mass quantities, forums can fulfill a very different niche by instead concentrating on quality interactions. Forums offer, even for people who use their real names and are fairly transparent about their interactions, a chance to use a persona.
This is because Facebook far too closely parallels to our real lives. There is just so much posturing you can do about being a famous rock star when your high school cronies are also there, and they remember holding your head when you had your first beer.
Again, the best way that Facebook even attempts to emulate this is in groups. But if you are using the same login, you will be found out. You get no chance to put on a persona hat, even for a moment. The jig is immediately and irrevocably up.
The Endless Online Christmas Brag Letter
And Facebook, while it can be a refuge for people to truly show they care for each other (in particular, in the groups, or using notes or chat), is more often a place where people instead get a chance to preen and show off.
Like something? Then hit like! Don’t like it? Then either scroll past it or click to hide it, or even report it as spam or as being threatening.
Hell, you can even @ a tag group to comment on it.
And apart from the latter two actions, the person posting the image, anecdote, status, etc. is none the wiser when it comes to your reaction, particularly if there are a lot of reactions.
If you have a million reactions on a post, and 150,000 of them are anger reactions, how do you know your old college roommate was one of those people? Unless you have the patience and the hyperfixation to check, you are never going to know.
But with the forums, even if you do not use your real name, your opinions are still out there, for all to see, whether it is about global warming or the Designated Hitter rule.
Facebook versus Forums: the Future
My crystal ball says Facebook is only going to get larger and more complicated. And advertising and other ways of keeping forums open is only going to get harder.
Unless Facebook finds a way to take a deep dive into topics – and make it easier for people to find their way back after a day or two – then I fear a form of interaction may eventually be lost forever.
That is, unless Zoom calls and the like can rise to such a challenge. In and among the fluff and Zoom bombing and other annoyances and weirdness, perhaps that is the way to go. Because I fear that traditional forums are going to bite the dust before 2030, if not sooner.
Although Substack will most likely continue to rise, and will probably replace most forums, even though it is a different type of interaction.
There is room for both types of interactions. Facebook versus forums does not have to pick a winner. The internet is a mighty big tent. But economics and sheer numbers might award a prize anyway.
Good luck!
Set this site as a preferred source
Want More About Facebook?
If my experiences with Facebook resonate with you, then please be sure to check out my other blog posts about the largest social network on the planet, by far.
… And Facebook for All
• Creating a Facebook page
† Working with a Facebook Page
• … Your Profile Page
† Offsite Sharing
• All Your Account Settings
† All the Rest of It
You must be logged in to post a comment.