this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2025
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Asklemmy

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I see a lot of people saying online that "forums are dying off because of discord and reddit"

yet other people reply: "Well, I'm still using my forum/IRC."

So I have to ask, what forums that are decently big still exist? Only one I can think of is Nomutantsallowed for fallout related content.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

Usually something hyper specific. This was a few years ago but I found a very bustling community forum for appliance repair. I posted a question on how to fix my oven and got very detailed answers and technical info involving the circuit board and heating element and troubleshooting steps. Unfortunately the general consensus on there is that for a lot of appliances, the board needs replaced which may or may not be available, and if it is, costs damn near what a new appliance does. Which is obviously done on purpose to drive sales.

The other one I know is my friend will participate on one for modding Toyota Yaris cars.

Bodybuilding / fitness forums are still pretty active.

All of these tend to have subreddit or Lemmy equivalents however.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

cs rin.ru and ltt foums

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

It seems that this might be useful to add to this pile of information:

https://meta.discourse.org/t/federation-support-for-discourse/90921

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

If you're into headphones and related encoutrement, head-fi.org is still thriving.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Gallifrey Base, sometimes ๐Ÿ˜Œ๐Ÿค“

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I go to mentalhealthforum.net

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Retrogametalk and segaxtreme

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Gbatemp is one.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I used to use RPG.net a lot. They have pretty strict moderation, which keeps the place from turning into some kinds of shit holes. But you also can't tell someone they're a fool, or all Republicans are traitors. Takes some getting used to, but is probably worth it.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I only have a Spanish one in my sight (it is like a reborn, I haven't even signed in yet, I had an account for the previous website) called foros dz.

I also have some other Spanish forums bookmarked, gaming related but I think they are just dead.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

There are some good Matrix community, on matrix.org as well as individually run homeservers (federated).

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

matrix isn't a forum. it's a chat.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Incorrect. Technically Matrix is a protocol, and a forum client can be made. You already have some PoC social media ones. It just so happens that most well known clients at this time and for instant messaging. But it can be much more.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

that's interesting... I guess a forum and a chat have a lot of similar attributes. The difference is in the presentation with forum being more static appearing. What would be the reason to deploy Matrix like that instead of using a purpose-build forum software? The most obvious would be not requiring a second account.

What's PoC?

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago (3 children)

is there a matrix client for Android? last I checked there was like, one, and it wasn't very good. whereas there's like 14 different Lemmy apps, many of which are fabulous.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

I am not a big fan pf matrix but I think SchlidiChat was the one I used most successfully on android.

From what I have seen a main issue with Matrix is that the protocol can be implemented in bits and pieces. Which is perfectly fair but it leads to an inconsistent user experience. The default web clients you first use to try it out will be using strong encryption settings by default but then a lot of the mobile or native desktop clients don't support encryption. So it's difficult to get going finding cross platform apps that have all the desired functionality consistently between them.

In terms of the apps, I don't think comparing matrix to lemmy is exactly fair for this reason.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Element X is quite good now (note the X, not the classic 'Element'). Fluffychat's good too but missing some features.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

Techlore forums and privacy guide

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

A1k.org for all things regarding Amiga Computers

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

There are a few cannabis related ones, though activity is here or there on one or two. UK420, THCTalk, ICMag, GrowCity, etc.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/

Excellent forums. I have been a member for five years and it has been fantastic.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

The Gear Page is very active as are sister sites like strat forums, my les paul etc

Talk photography

Fred Miranda photography forums

Av forums

Watchuseek

What HiFi

I used to live on the winamp forums, but I haven't for a long time and it's pretty dead now.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago

To me, some NSFW forums, like F95 and LoversLabs

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