Do you prefer servers or forums?

[cafenurse]

When I was younger, forums were a huge hobby of mine. I loved talking in them, roleplaying, and even making forums. It was always a big part of my childhood (even though looking back i agree it shouldnt have been cause theyre really no place for a kid. while i never had any creepy run ins, i did get bullied a lot cause i was a dumb kid who said dumb stuff.) but nowadays I see that forums are getting largely replaced by Discord servers. I think forums had been kind of dying out for awhile, but now I'm seeing a lot of fandom chats pop up in the form of discord servers. And much like how I remember being on a lot of fan forums as a kid, there seems to be a fan discord server for everything.

But truth be told, I don't like the format of a server as a replacement for a forum. I like discord servers for talking to large groups of friends, but for me, the forum format is much better when it comes to things like fandoms. Whenever I have tried to be a part of a fan server the conversation generally moves too fast, you'll have a lot of people talking about different things at once and it's kind of hard to join a conversation, and overall I like the idea of posting and easily reading through threads as opposed to scrolling through message history to find how a topic started.

How do you guys feel? Do you like being in fan servers more than fan forums?

 

[Aia]

To be honest, I haven't had much experience with either growing up, but I think regardless I'd prefer being in fan forums better. There's so many people talking about so many different things and it's interesting to read each thread. I've never been a fan server before, but I don't think it'd be for me. Just like you said, it'd be really hard to start or join a conversation. I like the organized feel of a fan forum more.

 

[Kona]

I like forums a lot better, and while servers are replacing them, I don’t think they’re a very good replacement quite honestly.

I agree a lot that with chat scrolling, it can be hard to keep up with what’s going on, not to mention, I have a lot of trouble joining conversations. I feel like I’m intruding just popping in, because at least to me, a chat setting is a lot more intimate (which is both a good and bad thing).
I also really enjoy threads because you can really get in depth and say more and it be more acceptable than in a server, which is generally a lot shorter because of the format. And there’s definitely something about having everyone’s thoughts laid out and still being able to add to a conversation even after a week, whereas if you miss a discussion in a server, your input probably isn’t gonna matter by that point.

 

[mobius017]

I definitely like forums better.

The only real experience I have with servers is the Discord server here. It's what we used to communicate during the time after the old VocaloidOtaku shut down and VocaVerse started. From that perspective, it was really useful, and I think a lot of people enjoyed/still enjoy talking on it.

It's a very different kind of communication, though. It's real-time, more like a conversation between people in a hallway than a forum is. For me personally, it didn't really work, because logistically I can only really connect to the community a few times a day. So joining in on conversations becomes really hard on a server, because even if you have something worthwhile to say, you have to get incredibly lucky and log on at the very moment the opportunity to jump in on the conversation appears. I really think it works better for people who want to start topics and talk about one particular thing with whomever they can get, or else for something like a small group who wants to collaborate on something like a song/art/event planning/etc.

On a forum, conversations stay "open" longer, so it's easier to contribute, and you can put in probably clearer/more fleshed-out contributions. They also serve as sort of an archive of the things people have discussed/figured-out/etc. (There's a reason why Vocaloid Wiki's articles often include references to VO. :) ), so they work well for people trying to learn things like production with vocal synths, which is largely a self-taught field. And things like sharing the artwork, music, written works you've made works better, too, because it stays up longer, and search engines can even crawl it so it appears in search results, too.

 

[hamano]

Definitely forums.
Discord works for idle chatting, not really for sharing information, as the informational messages are quickly lost into the stream of new messages and finding a specific reply later is difficult (unless a nod pins it). Discord is close to actual face-to-face convos where the topic changes.

For me forums are a better choice by far since I don't really bother to stay online waiting for replies and engaging in conversations for long periods of time. Forums have a more relaxed pace which suits me well. I am ln Discord too due to having been involved in some projects, and I still occasionally check what's up there, but I tend to not take part in discussions there.

 

[Blue Of Mind]

I used to be on a SpongeBob forum a few years ago, and our equivalent of Discord before that existed was a chat box where members and anons could drop messages and talk casually about things without derailing forum threads. I didn't post on the chat box super often though - my activity on that site was mainly on the actual forum posts.

My forum habits haven't really changed since then - I just post in threads and I don't go on the Discord at all because I don't have an account on there. Plus, I don't like fast, scrolling real time threads because it becomes difficult-to-impossible for me to join in the conversation (which I already struggle with in real life convos because of autism). I prefer forum posts because I can multiquote and reply to different people in one post if need be, and I can write it at my own pace without worrying about the convo going too far into another topic. The relaxed, long post-permitting nature of forums works well with how my autism manifests in my communication skills.

 

[xuu]

For stuff like VOCALOID? Forums. Information can sometimes be scarce and warrants discussion, especially when a new voicebank or peice of software is released, which Forums are perfect for. Discord Servers are great for other stuff (I'm quite active in an esport, so we use servers a lot there), but you don't get the same quality of discussion. Also I just don't have the energy for the sort of inane chat that happens most of the time in servers LOL

 

[uncreepy]

When I was younger, I used to chat on Yahoo! Messenger every day all day with irl friends, but I also liked to read forums for specific topics (like 3D forums to find tutorials or reading forums about scarey stories).

Chatting on Discord reminds me of Yahoo! Messenger, so it's nostalgic. However, the only Discord I seem to enjoy talking on is the VocaVerse one. I rarely check the other Discords I'm a member of and never remember to check my PMs. OTL I just stay in the general_chat of our Discord, too, and completely forget about the other categories. (Keeping track of so much jabber is too stressful.) I just leave the chat up and check on it to see if anything's happening throughout the day. Sometimes it's really slow/boring because no one's online or they're busy. But lots of people are lurking, so if someone manages to think up an interesting/funny topic, people usually come out and say hi. I also like that the VocaVerse Discord members can help out when people need it ASAP, too. But I also like how they have to listen to me complain/talk about weird things, haha. XD;

I like forums for obtaining important information like tutorials or big news topics and like to read peoples' reactions. I think non-members find it useful, too. Sometimes there are long spans of boringness, though. Part of that is because some members only post news on the Discord but don't bother putting it up on here, too! So I end up missing a lot of cool news, especially relating to Vocaloids/companies that aren't my forte (as in not crypton_wat-related). : {

 

[Nova]

Servers have their uses, but when there's too many people, that's when it gets to be a issue. The chat constantly scrolling has always been a big issue for me. The more slow pace of Forums seems a bit better to me. And even when things are fast on a forum, there's usually enough of a buffer between posts that you don't get lost in the sea of chatting.

 

[Raku]

I like forums better. I used Discord once, and then I never use it again. Maybe it's because I haven't find the discord server that feel right for me, but I'm not really comfortable in discord, I feel anxious when I'm in there. (;´･ω･) When I'm in discord it feels like I'm in a room with many many people, while in a forum I just feel we're connected to one big place through our own little room

 

[Scarlet Illusion]

I much prefer forms. I tried to use Discord once, but it just feels like too much chaos. Forums feel more organized and I don't have to be logged on right when a conversation starts to get the context or interact. The original post is easy to find and read.
Also forums are better for information because it can be archived and accessed later, as well as be found through search engines as opposed to Discord where you have to be invited and the information on the servers are inaccessible otherwise.