Bulletin boards (a.k.a., “forums”) have never gone away. Actually, they’re more popular than ever.
Reddit, for example, is basically a giant bulletin board.
Facebook Groups are forums – bolted onto Facebook itself – and probably a major reason people still use Facebook.
Numerous help desk software, such as Zendesk, use bulletin boards as a major selling point of their platform.
And the reason why @nodebb federating is such a big deal is because a major request many people have regarding the #Fediverse is bulletin board capabilities. This now exists with NodeBB 4.0.0 – which was just released today.
RE: mastodon.social/users/jorgecan…
Hope you're right. I just don't see anyone in my circle using forums anymore. All of those I hang around in back in the day died pretty much as social media took off.
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THIS IS A BIG DEAL!
NodeBB v.4.0.0 was just released – which brings ActivityPub federation between NodeBB servers! It also means those servers are now connected to the wider Fediverse!
Now why is this important? Because it means old school bulletin board software (a.k.a., forums) are now federated!
RE: community.nodebb.org/post/1027…
NodeBB v4.0.0 — Federate good times, come on!
Today's the day! :tada:After nearly a full year in development, NodeBB v4.0.0 has landed, bringing federation between NodeBB instances (and a connection to the wider fediverse of social media) to forum software.
Fedi-what?
Fediverse! Here's a TechCrunch primer about it, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. All you need to know is that NodeBB plugs in to a wider social network so that you don't have to cultivate an audience, they're already there.The genesis
It was back in mid-2023 when I had the initial idea of interconnecting NodeBB forums. Back then, I had far smaller ambitions... I wanted a singular NodeBB to be able to communicate with other forums running NodeBB. To do that, we'd need to build out a centralized service to act as a bridge between instances, and corresponding slim clients on individual installs to consume the relayed data. At the time, concept like decentralization were not even part of my thought process.It was during this period when I was doing my research that I stumbled on Mastodon, and later, ActivityPub, the protocol that powers it all. Since then, it's been one wild ride getting NodeBB to speak the same language.
Funding
Soon after dipping my toes into all that Mastodon had to offer, I discovered the NLNet Foundation, and their corresponding fund — NGI Zero Core. With the promise of funding, NodeBB could fully commit to implementing the protocol in short order, instead of piece by piece over time. We sent in an application and were delighted to be approved for the August 2023 call.Their funding was instrumental in providing the financial stability to experiment with ActivityPub and to participate in developer circles, such as the SWICG, FediForum, and much more.
The fund continues to operate, perhaps you could benefit, or donate to the cause. It has certainly made a difference to NodeBB.
Federate, or not, it's your choice
NodeBB v4 comes shipped with the capability to interact with other NodeBB forums and any other ActivityPub-speaking software, right out of the box. We opted to make this a core feature instead of a plugin, since there were many changes made to core to support even the concept of accepting content from outside itself.To that end, any users upgrading from v3.x will automatically have federation disabled, in order to reduce surprise. Any new forums will federate automatically.
You can turn federation on and off (and adjust some other fun toggles) directly from
ACP > Settings > Federation (ActivityPub).Even after turning federation on, how you use it shapes how well connected you will be. There is no centralized authority artificially boosting your content, so the name of the game is establishing two-way follow relationships to other sites.
The ActivityPub Equalizer
We're not alone in this journey to interoperate with other decentralized services. We're not even the only forum software to attempt to do so.
- Discourse has a working plugin.
- Ghost is building out in the open.
I specifically highlight these two because they both started in the early 2010s, same as NodeBB. It's always been a bit of an informal competition between us, and we always checked in on what the others were doing (growth-wise, pricing-wise, etc.) Truth be told, I don't think the ghost team ever really noticed NodeBB, but I digress...
The funny thing about ActivityPub is that at the end of the day, the overarching goal of seamless communication breaks down any barriers between competing organizations.
NodeBB and Discourse have been vying for the exact same market share (forums, community-building, self-started or enterprise) for over 10 years, and it was only after ActivityPub came around that the dev teams even started talking to one another.
Funny how that works.
So how does it all work?
Our documentation portal has been updated with the latest information about the ActivityPub functionality in v4.If you have any questions about how it works or how to configure some aspect of it, please don't hesitate to reach out in the corresponding v4 support thread.
If you run NodeBB, the quickest way to see this in action is to upgrade to v4, and then paste this post's URL into your search bar. It should show up automatically, and you should be able to read and reply to it, directly from your own forum. Neat!
Welcome to the fediverse: Your guide to Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky and more | TechCrunch
What is the fediverse? Here's everything you need to know about Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky and others.Haje Jan Kamps (TechCrunch)
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That's pretty cool, sure, but... from what I've been seing the number of people still using these systems is quite limited these days. Most of that stuff migrated to facebook and/or whatsapp long ago.
Maybe federation might revive them (and allow people to build facebook groups' replacements), but still...
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Hope you're right. I just don't see anyone in my circle using forums anymore. All of those I hang around in back in the day died pretty much as social media took off.
@jorgecandeias Really? You don’t know anyone who uses Reddit? Or Facebook Groups? Or Steam Discussions? Or Tom’s Hardware forums?
Not one of them uses a forum anymore?
I'm talking about independent forums. Facebook groups is precisely what killed them (reddit not so much, among the people I know). That and orkut.
As far as I know, those use their own software.
@jorgecandeias Oh, they’re dead? Let me check on that.
Here’s one: forums.tomshardware.com
Here’s another one: linustechtips.com/
Here’s another one: forums.atariage.com
Man, if forums are dead, how come I keep finding them?!
Tom's Hardware Forum
Join the discussion about the latest in computer hardware, software, and gadgets in the Tom's Hardware Community! Catch everything from expert opinion to casual buzz in our community of millions.Tom's Hardware Forum
dude, that attitude is totally uncalled for, you know?
You know full well they're WAY less relevant than they were in their hayday, you're just arguing for the sake of it. I got much better things to do with my time than arguing with you on this.
Again, I HOPE your're right and this is really a major plus to the fediverse. I'm skeptical, but we'll see, won't we? The future will tell, so arguing about this is just daft.
@jorgecandeias All right, you made a big claim: that Facebook Groups “killed” bulletin boards and they’re all dead.
I had to verify if what you were saying was true. And it seems they’re still alive and kicking.
Go ahead and move goal posts by saying they’re less “relevant”—but that’s a whole lot different from saying they’re dead.
Jorge, you made an extraordinary claim, and extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
no, I never claimed no such thing. I said they killed all the forums *I* used to hang around. It's a massively different statement.
And this is why I'm not interested in continuing to talk with you. Next time try to reply to what's actually being said.
Ciao.
@jorgecandeias Okay, Jorge, something you got to understand about me is that I tend to take things very literally. So when someone says, “Facebook killed forums,” I take them at face value.
In other words, I do not read between the lines. I don’t see whatever is not unsaid. If you make a catch-all statement, I’m going to assume you’re being literal about it.
Have yourself a wonderful day, and take care. 🌼
There's nothing "between the lines" in what I wrote:
"I just don't see anyone in MY circle using forums anymore. All of those I HANG AROUND IN back in the day died pretty much as social media took off."
Verbatim quotes, caps added now for clarity.
It's very much all in the lines. All over the lines.
Every time I see you posting about the fediverse I think it would be great to have a monthly newsletter called something like The State Of The Fediverse where it gives various stats and trends and new software and updates pertaining to the fediverse.
Anybody aware of any newsletters like that?
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Re: NodeBB v4.0.0 — Federate good times, come on!
@thomasjwebb@mastodon.social definitely do it, it's a force multiplier in getting your content out, especially if you've built up an audience.
Discourse's AP integration is currently partially two-way. New topics and posts are federated outward to the fediverse, and replies federate in. There's currently no facility to discover new content from the fediverse and interact with it from Discourse.
From the start I've wanted NodeBB to be the fediverse client I use, so it supports full two-way communication with content discovery (via the dedicated /world page) from followed users.
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NodeBB v4.0.0 — Federate good times, come on!
Today's the day! :tada:
After nearly a full year in development, NodeBB v4.0.0 has landed, bringing federation between NodeBB instances (and a connection to the wider fediverse of social media) to forum software.
Fedi-what?
Fediverse! Here's a TechCrunch primer about it, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. All you need to know is that NodeBB plugs in to a wider social network so that you don't have to cultivate an audience, they're already there.
The genesis
It was back in mid-2023 when I had the initial idea of interconnecting NodeBB forums. Back then, I had far smaller ambitions... I wanted a singular NodeBB to be able to communicate with other forums running NodeBB. To do that, we'd need to build out a centralized service to act as a bridge between instances, and corresponding slim clients on individual installs to consume the relayed data. At the time, concept like decentralization were not even part of my thought process.
It was during this period when I was doing my research that I stumbled on Mastodon, and later, ActivityPub, the protocol that powers it all. Since then, it's been one wild ride getting NodeBB to speak the same language.
Funding
Soon after dipping my toes into all that Mastodon had to offer, I discovered the NLNet Foundation, and their corresponding fund — NGI Zero Core. With the promise of funding, NodeBB could fully commit to implementing the protocol in short order, instead of piece by piece over time. We sent in an application and were delighted to be approved for the August 2023 call.
Their funding was instrumental in providing the financial stability to experiment with ActivityPub and to participate in developer circles, such as the SWICG, FediForum, and much more.
The fund continues to operate, perhaps you could benefit, or donate to the cause. It has certainly made a difference to NodeBB.
Federate, or not, it's your choice
NodeBB v4 comes shipped with the capability to interact with other NodeBB forums and any other ActivityPub-speaking software, right out of the box. We opted to make this a core feature instead of a plugin, since there were many changes made to core to support even the concept of accepting content from outside itself.
To that end, any users upgrading from v3.x will automatically have federation disabled, in order to reduce surprise. Any new forums will federate automatically.
You can turn federation on and off (and adjust some other fun toggles) directly from ACP > Settings > Federation (ActivityPub).
Even after turning federation on, how you use it shapes how well connected you will be. There is no centralized authority artificially boosting your content, so the name of the game is establishing two-way follow relationships to other sites.
The ActivityPub Equalizer
We're not alone in this journey to interoperate with other decentralized services. We're not even the only forum software to attempt to do so.
- Discourse has a working plugin.
- Ghost is building out in the open.
I specifically highlight these two because they both started in the early 2010s, same as NodeBB. It's always been a bit of an informal competition between us, and we always checked in on what the others were doing (growth-wise, pricing-wise, etc.) Truth be told, I don't think the ghost team ever really noticed NodeBB, but I digress...
The funny thing about ActivityPub is that at the end of the day, the overarching goal of seamless communication breaks down any barriers between competing organizations.
NodeBB and Discourse have been vying for the exact same market share (forums, community-building, self-started or enterprise) for over 10 years, and it was only after ActivityPub came around that the dev teams even started talking to one another.
Funny how that works.
So how does it all work?
Our documentation portal has been updated with the latest information about the ActivityPub functionality in v4.
If you have any questions about how it works or how to configure some aspect of it, please don't hesitate to reach out in the corresponding v4 support thread.
If you run NodeBB, the quickest way to see this in action is to upgrade to v4, and then paste this post's URL into your search bar. It should show up automatically, and you should be able to read and reply to it, directly from your own forum. Neat!
Welcome to the fediverse: Your guide to Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky and more | TechCrunch
What is the fediverse? Here's everything you need to know about Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky and others.Haje Jan Kamps (TechCrunch)
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Scott M. Stolz
in reply to Chris Trottier • • •@Chris Trottier Personally, I think that federated forums are the future of the fediverse.
Because anyone can join the fediverse and there is no centralized control, that means you are exposed to all types of people and content. But forums typically have membership requirements, community rules, and moderators. Since a lot of people are looking for a safe space, the safest space would be a fediverse-enabled forum that controls who can be a member and that moderates posts within the forum.
It also creates a sense of community that social media does not create. If you are looking for like-minded people, they are most likely to hang out in forums that have a specific topic, theme, or community. That makes it easier to discover new people to follow and interact with.
Combine federated social media and federated forums, and you have a powerful combination.
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