Discussion forums are websites where users can communicate through posts organized by topic. Forums differ from other forms of communication by providing a permanent record of conversations that can be read by anyone. Users must register to post and prevent spam. Forums can be run with different software and can establish communities of like-minded people. Posts can be searched and indexed by search engines, making some forums a revenue stream.
A discussion forum, commonly known as an Internet forum or message board, is a type of website that allows users to communicate with each other. The discussion takes place through the use of posts, which are messages entered by users and displayed in order of date and time of entry. Each post is part of a thread, which is usually centered around a specific topic or question. This allows discussion forum members to have a conversation, without having to be physically online at the same time. There are thousands of discussion forums on the Internet, many of which deal with specific topics, although some are general in nature.
Discussion forums differ from other forms of Internet communication in that they provide a permanent record of conversations that can be read and discussed by other members. E-mail, for example, provides a personal and private form of communication. Forum discussions are open to anyone who wants to express their opinion.
A user usually has to register to start posting on a discussion forum. This provides the user with a permanent username, which is attached to every post they post. Forcing users to register is also a way to help prevent spam messages, which are sometimes served by automated programs.
There are many different types of software available for running a discussion board. Some are for sale through commercial resellers, while others are open source, which means they’re free to use. While the basic principles of most discussion forum software are the same, add-ons and support for extra features such as custom avatars, private messaging, and custom themes can vary.
Since a discussion forum is usually based on a specific topic and each user has a permanent username which they use to post, communities of like-minded people are often established. Unlike a regular chat room, old posts and threads can be searched, which can make a forum a useful source of information on its topic. The anonymous nature of the internet also means that many people are more open with their opinions than they would be in real life, especially if the topic is controversial.
Another difference between chat rooms and discussion forums is that the information in threads and posts is sometimes indexed by search engines. This means that, over time, a discussion forum can gain a significant amount of search engine traffic to old threads. For this reason, some discussion forums are set up for business reasons as revenue streams. Many, however, are simply established as a virtual community, where internet users with similar interests can chat and get to know each other.
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