Forums

=General=

A forum is a facility that provides the internet and its users to engage upon serious or normal discussions depending on the type of themed site providing the service by web application software. These programs are made in many computer languages including Perl and Java; hosted by phpBB or vBulletin. Forums have been around since 1995, and have been popular communication outlets especially for technology, gaming and political sites besides chat applications and e-mails. Forums give an individual site portraying a certain theme an identity, and the people who register into forums, often contribute to symbolize a community.

=History=

Internet forums in its early stages resembled that of internet newsgroups or electronic mailing lists letting individuals reply to another person’s message. But in 1996, the Ultimate Bulletin Board software created phpBB and vBulletin so a table based layout would become the new standard to communicate. This makes for easier communication design and efficiency in feedback since some forums are for serious discussion only, as that was originally the intention. But, as times have moved on, forums are involving plug-ins to let administrators of a site to modify them, to keep people interested in the community by providing kinds of perks or additions.

=Culture=

In developing countries, forum use is much less predominant, since most of the demographics of the country showcase that a computer or access to internet are barely viable for most of the population. Japan and United States are the leading countries in providing the most amounts of forums; the largest being http://gaiaonline.com and http://2channel.com. Forums are usually themed around a website to interest users of a common interest to come together and participate in discussions. Forums may not be prevalent in most countries depending on the need for it, or their popularity.

The culture of forums can be of many varieties, depending on the sheer size of the forums and the information provided in the site itself. Small forums based on a serious theme or professional ones are usually very administrative oriented so rules and moderators are put into place to survey and remove anything offensive that is put up by anyone in the community. This is also done so that the community does not only provide spam and useless information thus rendering the forum to degenerate. The administrators usually follow up with forum netiquette to the user before signing up into it. Some forums can have members who can get personal with each other in discussions in a behaved manner or usually “flames” can occur if a conclusion is not reached.

=Features=

The whole point of a forum is to post up a thread, voicing your opinion on a particular topic, so other users can read and reply to them accordingly. This is usually done by clicking on the “Post New Topic” button provided by the software to generate the topic title and message so individuals can type up what they need to get their point across. From there people have the ability to click the “Reply” button to give a counter opinion to what that individual had to say; the opinion can be for or against.

Basic Forum Features Details:

 * Forum – Has particular sub forums which may lead into other more sub forums
 * “New Topic” Button – For generating a new thread
 * “Reply” Button – To reply in a thread
 * “Quote” Button – To personalize a certain posting in the thread and reply to it
 * Thread – Inside the forum or sub forums are threads which contain topics
 * Thread Title – A text box to input a thread name
 * Thread Message Box – A message box to input your writing opinion
 * Poll – To input multiple polls including the title and opinion
 * Smilies – Help to modify emotions

Advance Forum Feature Details:

 * Member List – To show who has joined the forums
 * Who’s Online – To show who is browsing the forums
 * Buddy and Ignore Lists – To ignore or friend certain users to liking
 * Personal Messaging (PM) – For dealing with messages outside of threads
 * Usernames – A screen name to help identify a member
 * Password – To access the forum after becoming a member
 * Avatar – An image display to identify a member
 * Chat – To communicate and personalize with forum members in real time communication
 * Signatures – To help maintain an individuality by including a text every time underneath your posts

And these lists can go on, depending on how the administrator wants to maintain and make his/her forum appear. Some forums honor anonymity in just for the sake of simplicity and just leaving behind an opinion without pressure from anyone. Other forums may collect fees to give some members special perks such as the ability to customize avatars/usernames or giving access to special forums for members only areas. In all forums however moderation is kept so that there is peace amongst the community. Moderators are given the powers of deleting, editing and given authority to do many things to a post to ensure flaming does not take place; this is something that normal members can not do. Higher up is the administrator who can do as he/she pleases with the forum as it is always in public access and can be archived by anyone for special or common purposes and interests.

=Works Cited=

Wikipedia. [2006]. //Internet Forums//. Online at: , consulted on February 16, 2006.