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did user engagement drop significantly in programming forums? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 2 weeks ago by GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml to c/programming@programming.dev

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There was a lot of engagement in the communities I participate up until a couple of years ago. People were interested and actively discussing a lot of topics. There were a lot of newbies asking questions and people proposing different ways for tasks.

Is it just me or did it reduce a lot? LLMs? Company forums? Other forums I did not move to (e.g. discord)? Reduced interest? Or is it just subjective?

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[–] fuzzzerd@programming.dev 231 points 2 weeks ago (20 children)

Communities moving to 'chat' based platforms instead of traditional discussion boards is something I've observed a lot in the last few years. Which certainly feel like a step backwards in my view. It keeps happening though, so I must he in the minority opinion on this.

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I think it's a result of trying to get support right now so you don't get stuck waiting for someone to up vote your question or having other questions push your thread further down.

I've been a victim of this myself and going to Discord seems to be better getting someone to actually help you, especially for niche questions.

I'm not saying I like it but I certainly get it.

[–] thingsiplay@beehaw.org 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Also for people its often an embarrassment to ask certain questions, because they think its a stupid question. In a forum, everyone can see it and comeback years later (which is a good thing btw, but for some embarrassing). A chat is forgets much quicker and better.

I think asking niche questions in a forum is very helpful too, otherwise you will only find common questions. Actually the niche questions answered and maybe corrected over time is very useful in forums. Because in a chat often niche questions requires the right person to be in the right group at the right time.

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