Forums as an alternative for social media and discord.

[CheesyExplosive]

As the title says, i'm curious to see what you people think of the difference between the two and also ask why you people are drawn to a place like this.

I've been taking myself off of social media as of late for self improvement and have found that i typically have a better out look on things ever since, while social media is convenient, it's often a political nightmare and an addiction center for doom scrolling.

I feel forums are a lot more laid back and actually focused on realistic topics, it really makes you realize that social media is smaller then you think, and what you see really is curated to just get engagement unlike in forums, where its just real people talking with real people.

forums be like:

 

[Burzuru]

i found this from before the repo was the repo. lately i've wanted to get away from twitter. its just constant sensory and i don't want to scroll for hours. its in the way other other things.

 

[Adrastia]

I don't use social media. I've always used forums. They are more intimate. Social media is millions of voices all yelling for attention at once. There's so much misinformation and disinformation that people take as gospel without even thinking. Not to mention the toxicity.

 

[DragonMals]

While I do think that browsing these fourms can be kind of fun and in some ways better than browsing the likes of modern social media, something that it lacks (that some people say it's a good thing) is the consistent stuff to notify the user. I'm not one that uses TikTok or any of that shit, but something I wished when I had there is the way for me to get constantly updated with notifications coming from some of my threads. Like, not all of the time will i be getting messages UNLESS it's someone making the attempt to DM me (to which like only one person as of recently has done, but it's already been a while since we've talked)

 

[fake-chan]

While I do think that browsing these fourms can be kind of fun and in some ways better than browsing the likes of modern social media, something that it lacks (that some people say it's a good thing) is the consistent stuff to notify the user. I'm not one that uses TikTok or any of that shit, but something I wished when I had there is the way for me to get constantly updated with notifications coming from some of my threads. Like, not all of the time will i be getting messages UNLESS it's someone making the attempt to DM me (to which like only one person as of recently has done, but it's already been a while since we've talked)

You can "watch" them.

 

[DragonMals]

You can "watch" them.

I know I could. In fact, that's how I was able to get notifs from this site overall, but I don't know if it's me, but I don't get them all of the time, which is dissapointing.

 

[fake-chan]

I know I could. In fact, that's how I was able to get notifs from this site overall, but I don't know if it's me, but I don't get them all of the time, which is dissapointing.

It happens to me sometimes as well. I think it's just a bug.

 

[Morgan Katarn]

As the title says, i'm curious to see what you people think of the difference between the two and also ask why you people are drawn to a place like this.

I've been taking myself off of social media as of late for self improvement and have found that i typically have a better out look on things ever since, while social media is convenient, it's often a political nightmare and an addiction center for doom scrolling.

I feel forums are a lot more laid back and actually focused on realistic topics, it really makes you realize that social media is smaller then you think, and what you see really is curated to just get engagement unlike in forums, where its just real people talking with real people.

I been using Discord for the past 5 years now give or take and I been part of a few server for the past years.

a server for a streamer I follow
Aion classic server
Tera classic server
EVE online server
Modding server for fallout 4/Skyrim

And I will say we have had discussions/arguments about everything and nothing.

But no one has lost their shit and become angry to the point they call for violence or wishing death of another user and no one insulted people for thinking different.

Honestly every one has argued but talked it out like adults and yeah we had bad people on the server but every one still handle it like proper adults with saying they gonna beat up or murder some one.

Which begs me to ask is that what we want here on RTG violent hateful people or proper people that can disagree and behave like the adults they are.

Saying Discord is shit and full of evil people just a pure lie. I would say so far I had better experience with discord servers than some forum servers.

Also server mods does not take any side they kick both parties that miss behaved.

 

[Kamako]

Discord is too fast.
FB is dreadful (Messenger is good tho)
Not interested in the rest.

Since using this site I've deleted all other social media, with the exception of WhatsApp, and I feel better for it. I still feel my addict tendencies creep up when using this site, but that's a "me" problem.

For myriad reasons, this forum is way better than any other social media alternative.

 

[Skellerick]

I like the slower pace of forums. I started using the internet in the early 2000s, and it was a much more organic place before the dominance of social media and algorithms with bots and everything else.

Many eras of the internet have passed since then, and of course many of the advances are great over the years, but much has been lost in terms of more organic connections between people in the digital world.

So forums like RGT are great for escaping the modern social media/internet hell; there's a sense of community between people that's definitely more authentic.

We're here by choice, not because we're trapped.

 

[kamille]

I definitely feel like its the sense of community that keeps people around, not to mention helpful and active moderation, i've only been here for a little while and i keep seeing the same faces pop up, which is super nice to see, and its a smaller place here then on a big social media which helps so much lol

Plus you can see personality oozing off of every profile pretty much, the individuality this forum gives is great to see, i feel like that definitely helps with people just being genuine and wearing their hearts on their sleeves

There's a term for it... It's called having soul. Yes forums like this still have their soul.

 

[SIVIUSmaxxing]

As the title says, i'm curious to see what you people think of the difference between the two and also ask why you people are drawn to a place like this.

I've been taking myself off of social media as of late for self improvement and have found that i typically have a better out look on things ever since, while social media is convenient, it's often a political nightmare and an addiction center for doom scrolling.

I feel forums are a lot more laid back and actually focused on realistic topics, it really makes you realize that social media is smaller then you think, and what you see really is curated to just get engagement unlike in forums, where its just real people talking with real people.

the thing thats great about forums is that youre actively pushed to not just consume but also create, kinda
to do most things you must talk and engage with the community, you literally have nothing else to do other than talk and engage, and youre allowed to write as much as you want so youre not limited by that either

Post automatically merged: Jul 31, 2025

I will blame phoneposters for the actual state of all social media.

Phoneposters get out. Forums are only for pc users as God intended.

i hate the iphone and smartphones in general for how much they ruined mainstream internet
it pushed people away from exploring new sites and going on forums to going on the same 5 dumbass apps/sites to just CONSUME >:/

 

[Zarathusta]

I think forums like this are a good balance honestly.
An actual active forum site in 2025 is pretty amazing.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This is correct, I saw it as it all went to shit and I can assure that the internet would be a far better place if the only way to access it was a desktop computer.

At least the small efforts made you reconsider what you're going to say.

 

[iisoide]

I think forums like this are a good balance honestly.
An actual active forum site in 2025 is pretty amazing.

It's a weird one because I love forums, but I also love the in-real-time communication (for lack of better terminology) of IRC/Discord, so I think both have pros and cons for differing and similar reasons.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

This thread makes me feel old.

I remember when all we had were Forums & Image boards. Those older than myself may recall bulletin boards systems & RRS Feeds.

Social media destroyed the diversity of communities that once occupied the internet. 2007 signalled the end times.

As for Discord. I remember making custom emoji's for free on MSN & later making friends on both Teamspeak & Ventrillo.

You're nostalgic for a past you may have never experienced, but I can assure you it existed.

 

[GardeniaSky's icon GardeniaSky GardeniaSky]

The best thing of forums in general, can be summed up with two words: No Algorithm.

Maybe that's why it feels so fresh and clean? It's not trying to sell me something or sell my info.

 

[DjQuick2008]

I used to be on forums in the days of peak 90s WWF loads to talk about this forum has got me talking about gaming and learning.

 

[NovumVeritas]

I prefer forums over Discord, always been a forum guy, before forums I used IRC, but for me forums are a way better communication tool. I'm happy this place exists.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

That last sentence was sarcastic, BTW. I was pointing out that your post was ableist.

How exactly was my post ableist? You're the one who brought disability into it and found something to be offended about, my post had absolutely nothing to do with disabled people so don't be such a snowflake pal.

 

[Zarathusta]

It's a weird one because I love forums, but I also love the in-real-time communication (for lack of better terminology) of IRC/Discord, so I think both have pros and cons for differing and similar reasons.

Yea l agree completely.
Discord is great for group chats with friends of mine but forums like these are great for general discussion.

 

[zacharinolongpants]

Places like this are for people who have some similar niche interests and it feels great to have a cozy, small, weird community. Every schmuck in the world gets on social media sites and just shares the same bland memes over and over. Here, I get to see people sharing their own thoughts and opinions about things we're mutually way into. I've joined two forums and they've been my favorite places on the internet: this place and a group that discussed the old Universal Monster Movies lol.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Every schmuck in the world gets on social media sites and just shares the same bland memes over and over.

It's mentally tiring...

 

[shadowcat]

As the title says, i'm curious to see what you people think of the difference between the two and also ask why you people are drawn to a place like this.

I've been taking myself off of social media as of late for self improvement and have found that i typically have a better out look on things ever since, while social media is convenient, it's often a political nightmare and an addiction center for doom scrolling.

I feel forums are a lot more laid back and actually focused on realistic topics, it really makes you realize that social media is smaller then you think, and what you see really is curated to just get engagement unlike in forums, where its just real people talking with real people.

I deleted Facebook in 2013, I saw the writing on the wall of what it would become. Never used any other social media, and don't like Discord or Reddit at all. I grew up with forums and that's what I will use. You generally find better quality discussion and people who are more engaged on them, due to them having a much more narrow scope of topic than social media at large.

 

[MegaDrive1987]

I deleted Facebook in 2013, I saw the writing on the wall of what it would become. Never used any other social media, and don't like Discord or Reddit at all. I grew up with forums and that's what I will use. You generally find better quality discussion and people who are more engaged on them, due to them having a much more narrow scope of topic than social media at large.

I deleted it around 2019 and it's the best thing I ever did, I deleted Instagram a few months ago too as I didn't use it plus I don't trust META. I only come on here now and occasionally go on the QuakeNet IRC server in the #england channel but apart from that I don't go on anything else.