Forum or Discord

[Shawn]

When it comes to a community, would you rather engage on a forum (like this one) or a Discord Server?

A forum is more static and the topics stay in one place as you communicate with others. But a Discord Server is chat-like and fast giving you more of a LIVE-feeling conversation with others.

Which do you prefer and why?

 

[Demon_skeith]

I like forums better, but discord is pretty nice for quick and instant chats.

 

[Henrywrites]

Forums are still great for me. The discussions are well organised and easier to locate and that is an important factor that has made me stick to making use of forums more.

 

[Ravenfreak]

For me I prefer forums, but Discord is good for general chat communities or just to keep in touch with friends. I don't think it's good for research communities though, it's hard to find posts and it's not as organized as a forum is. Even though they have a "forum" feature, it isn't as good as a traditional forum. Even Guilded which is a Discord competitor had the forum feature long before Discord did and it did it much better. Unfortunately they messed things up when people had to create a Roblox account just to use the platform...

 

[cpvr]

I prefer to discuss things on a forum over a discord channel. However, for quick chatting, I'd rather use discord. Forums are a lot easier to navigate and everything is accessible on the open web, where Discord channels are more private.

To me, I don't see discord channels and forums being in the same sphere as they're both two different things. One's an instant messaging service and one's an online community, however, Discord channels are used for them as well, but they're not exactly the same.

 

[uptrendfinancialsignal]

They are for different purposes. Forums are like libraries anyone can search and reread things. But I believe that the two can supplement one another.

 

[Kross]

Forums can be indexed on search engines to be helpful to people who are not even part of the community. That makes a forum to have a better growth trajectory as a community than Discord servers.

 

[Nomad]

I use both but the purpose is different. I use Discord to connect with my clients, customers, and even staff. I use Discord for staff meeting and brainstorming as well. However, forum is for niche topic discussion.

 

[Henrywrites]

Forums can be indexed on search engines to be helpful to people who are not even part of the community. That makes a forum to have a better growth trajectory as a community than Discord servers.

Discord is great for some other purposes such as connecting with clients and potential clients who would want to do business with you. It is very important to look at it from that angle as well.

 

[Heatman]

Chatting or discussing in a Discord channel is very difficult for me. I've never liked it. It's only when I'm tagged to a comment in a channel or what's being talked about concerns me I would respond.

I prefer Discord for private chats over DM on forum but I prefer forums for general discussion on topics than using Discord channel.

 

[cpvr]

They are for different purposes. Forums are like libraries anyone can search and reread things. But I believe that the two can supplement one another.

This is true, I would consider discord more so an instant messenger app more than anything. Forums are knowledge based through and through.

Forums are community hubs, the fire houses of the internet.

Discord isn't exactly apart of the open web, Forums are.

They can supplement one other though, I agree on that aspect.

 

[Ravenfreak]

Now I wouldn't say Discord is good to use. Since they're rolling out a age verification for everyone. I highly recommend people switch over to Root, or even Stoat. (I've been using Root.)

 

[Milla]

I use both because they serve different purposes

 

[Ja sa bong]

Forums and discord can't be used the same way or for the same purpose. I love using both of them for different reasons.

 

[Alisa]

I see forums as better for long-form discussion, searchable knowledge, and building a structured archive. Discord works for real-time conversation, casual interaction, and community bonding. What you choosing depends on goals: depth and longevity favor forums, while immediacy and social engagement favor Discord.

 

[Ja sa bong]

I see forums as better for long-form discussion, searchable knowledge, and building a structured archive. Discord works for real-time conversation, casual interaction, and community bonding. What you choosing depends on goals: depth and longevity favor forums, while immediacy and social engagement favor Discord.

All your points are valid, the only exception to it is when a webmaster decides to set up their community using Discord. Classic forum owners are not usually in favor of such.

 

[cpvr]

I see forums as better for long-form discussion, searchable knowledge, and building a structured archive. Discord works for real-time conversation, casual interaction, and community bonding. What you choosing depends on goals: depth and longevity favor forums, while immediacy and social engagement favor Discord.

I agree. Some online community owners have shifted their forums on over to Discord, which I don't agree with it. But, I do understand their perspectives for doing so.

It is not something that I would do as a community owner, as I'm in full favor as keeping things in the open web and public viewing, especially in regards to an online community. It is great for quick support for game owners to connect with their players, though.

But, As far as I'm concerned, depth and longevity is much better when it's on a public forum instead of a Discord channel.

 

[Zani]

I wouldn't say that I don't make use of both because I am active on both forums and Discord, but it is mainly for different reasons. Discord is a platform where I interact more with my clients on a daily basis while I visit forums to discuss various topics that I found interesting.

 

[Alisa]

Discord, is a popular platform for building communities but in Discord discussions often disappear quickly and become hard to search later. Do you think Discord has improved community discussion or fragmented useful conversations into private spaces where information gets buried?

 

[Ja sa bong]

Discord, is a popular platform for building communities but in Discord discussions often disappear quickly and become hard to search later. Do you think Discord has improved community discussion or fragmented useful conversations into private spaces where information gets buried?

They layout is different between discord and a forum. It's why the search feature in forum is more effective in getting a better result then when you're trying to do the same thing on discord.

 

[cpvr]

Discord, is a popular platform for building communities but in Discord discussions often disappear quickly and become hard to search later. Do you think Discord has improved community discussion or fragmented useful conversations into private spaces where information gets buried?

I don't believe it has, however; some online community owners have decided to shift their forums out right to Discord.

This isn't a good thing for the open web, and content gets buried. I truly think that content belongs in the open web, and never on a private entity like Discord, but to each its own.