Insightful thread. Yes, unfortunately the forums have not kept up with the usage trend over the years. They have relied solely on the human desire to form closed niche communities. Over last two decades the only thing that has changed is the underlying technology to build a forum software. On the surface it is still the same. There has been no thought to the consumption patterns and channels (like mobile). Sad part is, they (forum software companies) still don't acknowledge that it is a problem. So naturally all forums are dying.
Add to that the fact that we have moved away from building a PC (which was the mainstay of most tech forums in India) to compact computing devices which hardly bubble up any enthusiastic discussions. We don't read up reviews of motherboards, Linux operating systems, guides on overclocking or building an A/V system. While some of us might still be there, the world largely has moved on. The forums and discussions have not. Again primarily coz the software does not address the evolved consumption patterns and channels and does not appeal to this new audience.
It's sad to see people making their last declaration posts that they are leaving for good, but it's understandable. When you really run into life, its hard to find time to open a website and participate actively. You have to keep leaving things behind that are not adding as much value. I know I have not been as active as I would like.
We had tried a few things over the years but they were either opposed by the community or they were just limited to moving around to different forum softwares. The end result would naturally be the same. We didn't move anywhere.
You have to keep running to stay at the same place.
Just upgrading the forum software is not going to help Erodov at all, as it has not helped us at all. I hope what they are coming back with, is as big, as the downtime that they have taken.
Having burnt my fingers with the chopping and changing, I am afraid of making any changes and stirring the pot anymore. So the last time I had a plan to evolve, I put it to rest. I still have something in my mind but this time I would execute it without changing anything on TechEnclave. I would of course need help from you all to participate in that change and give your active feedback to evolve it. I hope to put something in front of you all in a couple of months. Maybe before that, would put up a subscription page or a Discourse channel so that interested members can be actively updated on the progress.
PS: I started typing, thinking I would drop in my two cents in two lines