Benjamin Smedberg: I Hate Web Fora

I hate web fora. I do not think I can adequately express the loathing that I have for web fora as a communication medium. Whenever somebody proposes that I must take part in a discussion on a web forum, I want to pull out the foulest curse words in my vocabulary. Which, thank goodness, look something like this. For years, I have managed for the most part to avoid using web fora for interactive communication. For example, I have tenuously avoided the MozillaZine forums. But recently, some (well-intentioned) mozillafolk have proposed to move the Mozilla corporation internal discussions from a mailing list to a web forum. I hate the very idea. Perhaps I have been tainted by years of badly-implemented fora, but I don’t think that’s all there is to it. I would like to identify, as precisely as possible, what about web fora engenders such vengeful feeling in my soul and what tools would be necessary to change my mind. How I Work My mail client (Thunderbird) notifies me of pretty much anything that needs my attention: Bugmail List mail Direct mail “Page changed” from MDC. Although, if I might rant about this, it doesn’t show me what changed; if multiple things change, it only notifies me once. view original article
Tue, 05 Sep 2006 17:42:55 +0200

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