The problem is not just google's algorithm but also the fact that people are not sharing useful information the same way they used to. These days when I'm trying to hack smarthome stuff or looking for advice on 3D printing something or software limitation workarounds the best I can hope for is a subreddit, otherwise the knowledge is hidden on a discord server after I "join the community" for the 98343789th time. I can't just read a 10 year old forum thread where people talked each other through solving it, I have to join the discord and figure out which channel to ask my question in and do some dance with frog memes and people react to my question with an emoji of a toothless man laughing before we can talk shop.
I'm sympathetic but this is turning to a get off my lawn rant. Things weren't easy too depending on what it was. Forums and irc were just like discords in that you had to deal with insular culture and often serious verbal abuse for being stupid enough to ask for help in a forum meant to get help in.
That said, I do see the sentiment. It would be nice to have the old convience of being able to look up old forum posts (especially with summaries in the OP via edit). Stackoverflow often fits that role now although I dread the answers even worse than old forum posts. I guess what I want is my cake and the ability to eat it too, I dont know why we can't just have the ability to search forums and have the general kinder attitude that modern media tend to have, they shouldn't be mutually exclusive.
> serious verbal abuse for being stupid enough to ask for help in a forum meant to get help in.
in all honesty, isnt this a bit of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", "sticks and stones" etc?
yes, you might be called various words, told to RTFM. but seriously here, is it really so bad? do you really want to drag down actual verbal abuse to something so absolutely trivial?
This really depends on the forum. Yes, most had some eccentric people, but this was a small price to pay. More strictly moderated platforms or "modern media" tend to show you more ads and questionable content that is overall more harmful than someone being a bit too blunt. Also, there were extremely helpful forums too that had a much, much better atmosphere than your standard discord channel or other large social media platforms without it even being a competition.
I don't want the internet to be kind everywhere, some artificial culture. If I don't like the tone of the place, I can go elsewhere. Strong moderation comes with too high a price in my opinion.
Even popular things such as finding out what are the more popular Path of Exile league starter builds is harder to find now than in the past. At this point, I'm often just searching the PoE forums or subreddit to get an idea for a build.
