What is the future of online forums?
As a marketer who is looking to setup a community forum; I wonder what is the future of online forums.
Internet forums have long been the backbone of the open web. They provided a safe place for people to have deep, asynchronous conversations about topics of common interest.
However, with AI Mode, AI overviews and answer-focused interfaces, the search engines are evolving fast. Google now answers queries directly on the SERP. Less traffic is flowing to original sources. Content discoverability is shifting from creators to algorithms.
So, what happens to the forums? Do they fade away as AI becomes to middleman for everything, or do they evolve into something stronger? Maybe forums will evolve as authentic places for humans to interact and avoid the AI-chatter?
What do you think is the future of forums?