[cs02rm0]

I think they lost something too.

I'm still active on a UK car forum called PistonHeads. But the user base changed. We lost the calm, car-focused, informative nature of it.

The main website is still oriented around cars but the forum became overwhelmed with people who only came to post about politics. And their posting was more aggressive and confrontational rather than knowledge seeking or sharing. I can't prove it, but I'm certain some accounts are paid to promote / undermine political parties and causes. The product promotion has a harder time getting through though. And at least it's not Instagram or Tiktok.

The internet as a whole just isn't what it was.

[jesterson]

Your observations can largely be applied to pretty much forum out there. Every single one was hijacked with either ignorant/stupid people without intelligence and/or bots pushing particular topic. Oh and the SEO managers, how could i forgot those.

And now when the knowledge is a golden mine for all sorts of openai/claude/other IA, the situation will likely exacerbate further.

I really miss a place where intelligent people can talk and exchange ideas with mutual respect. It seems like all these places are largely gone by now.

[conductr]

I think this was able to occur as genuine new user growth disappeared. So the engagement of the community churns and opens room for off topic discussion. Then politics being what it’s been enters.