i started using the internet in the late 2000’s and still remember when you search for something most of the times it would return with a forum post … now its just random websites … if you ever need real and concise answer you have to add site:reddit.com at every search and since discord or twitter are not crawlable by these search crawlers they are not mentioned . Where did all those forums went…are there still active forums ?

  • Hubi@feddit.deEnglish
    571·
    10 months ago

    Just to give another perspective, the German part of the internet is still full of extremely niche bulletin board-style forums for every hobby/technology imaginable. Many have millions of posts and have been online for 20+ years. Seems to me like it’s mostly the English-speaking web that’s been affected by these large content aggregators and closed platforms like Discord.

    • EyesEyesBaby@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      10 months ago

      I have noticed that when I search for some specific topics, German websites tend to come up more often. Be it IT or cars, German message boards are well represented (and luckily I can read most of it).

    • Sooperstition@lemmy.oneEnglish
      3·
      10 months ago

      Would that be why there seems to be so much Deutschposting on platforms like Mastodon and Lemmy?

      • Hubi@feddit.deEnglish
        3·
        10 months ago

        That could very well be. The instances are privately run, have small and personal communities and are often tech-focused so they meet pretty much all the criteria to be popular with Germans lol