BRING BACK INTERNET FORUMS Page 1
Bring Back Internet Forums - An Argument For The Revival Of A Forgotten Digital
Communication Tool
Annotated Bibliography
Andrew Burl Dornan
Dr John Rost
STCO 532: Media Technologies & Communication Strategies
November 2, 2025
Abstract
Bring Back Internet Forums - An Argument For The Revival Of A Forgotten Digital
Communication Tool aims to create an argument for the revival of online internet discussion
boards as part of an ongoing series of literature regarding the topic—the previous entry being
about the possible applications of such a communication tool from a Christian perspective. In its
current form, this paper is an annotated bibliography highlighting ten key pieces of research
found regarding this particular digital communication tool, four of which highlight positive
aspects of said tool, one serves as a cautionary reminder regarding the pitfalls an online
community may fall into if not properly moderated and kept in line with its original goals, one
discusses both the positives and the negatives, three discuss the reasons why someone should
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join or create a forum, one highlights how certain communication programs are starting to
include forum-like designs, and the rest are on creating personal websites and the return of the
old ways of the internet. The positive aspects include an online forum's potential role as an
educational discussion center, online location for professionals to discuss different aspects of
their careers, or casual users sharing their favorite stories and hobbies with those from all around
the globe. This piece will also briefly cover the growing trend of various individuals starting to
create their own, personal, websites.
Keywords: online forums, discussion forums, digital communications, internet
communications, community, digital technology, online communications, The Old Internet Bring
Back Internet Forums - An Argument For The Revival Of A Forgotten Digital
Communication Tool
Annotated Bibliography
Alfoldi, E. A. (2023). Encouraging student engagement, interaction, and learning via online
discussion boards: Reflections on using Yellowdig in the COVID-19 era. Journal of
Education for Business, 99(2), 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.2023.2263614.
This journal article by Alfoldi on the quality of education and the engagement of students
of classes that utilized online discussion boards during the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic provides a unique insight on the educational aspect of internet forums when
employed by instructors for their online courses, much akin to how online, asynchronous
college and university classes have been utilizing discussion boards long before the
pandemic. This research highlights, as alluded to previously, how one could create an
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internet discussion board that aims to be a source of collective education, whether that is
through weekly research topics, encouraging users to create one-off lecture presentations,
or some other type of activity.
angieblah. (2025). how i made my indie website (and why you should make one too) [YouTube
Video]. https://youtu.be/62NJbICVWkQ?si=tdTcZYIol22lt1N7. This video by the
YouTube channel angieblah is an entertaining insight into the video maker’s process of
creating her own corner of the internet. The creator speaks about her experience with
visiting personal websites during her youth as well as explaining why more and more
people seem to be making their own websites from scratch and hosting them on the
service NeoCities. YouTuber angieblah describes the process of making her website in
great detail from conception to scraping the first version to finishing the final draft. This
video is best served as reinforcement for the brief interlude in the middle of the literature
to highlight the independent web developer scene as described in Vlasova’s article for
Timestripe Magazine.
Baker, S. D. (2025). The Internet Used to Be a Place [YouTube Video]. https://youtu.be/
oYlcUbLAFmw?si=_8F9f0OaV4dFSCJf. Sarah Davis Baker’s April 2025 video essay on
the old internet and how those who had internet connectivity at home were only able to
access it via a singular computer that was located in one spot in their home. The Internet
Used to Be a Place interrogates our current relationship with the internet, paying extra
attention to the difference between the intentional act of using a computer to access the
internet in the past versus the now constant access we have now thanks to smart phones
and tablets that we carry around with us in our daily lives. This video would be best used
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in the beginning of the literature to reinforce the reasons why internet forums should be
brought back.
Butler, S. (2024, March 29). Sick of Social Media? Here’s Why You Should Join a Forum.
Howto Geek. https://www.howtogeek.com/sick-of-social-media-heres-why-you-should-
join-aforum/. Syndney Butler’s web article for the website How-To Geek has an
interesting perspective of someone who is dissatisified with the current state of the various
social media platforms, like TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), and FaceBook, that
dominate the internet today. Butler makes the point that forums have the capacity to be
much better for communities to have conversations with one another without dealing with
interference from bots and misinformatino from bad actors. He goes onto to describe the
various privacy and safety guiderails that can be put in place that are not seen with the
aforementioned social media platforms. This article would be used to bolster the end of
the section of why forums should come back and help transition into the how-to section of
my piece.
Diggity, M. (2022, September 6). How To Start A Forum Website For Your Online Community.
Diggity Marketing. https://diggitymarketing.com/how-to-start-a-forum-website/. Diggity
Marketing’s web article on how one might start their own internet forum for their own
online community is an excellent, brief overview on the functions of forums for a
community that exists on the internet in addition to how to set one up and where one
might host said forum. This web article also makes it a point to discuss the creation of
community rules in order to keep a forum organized and safe with civil conversations and
a stance against abuse and spam. All of the aforementioned elements plus the rest of the
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article’s content best serves towards the end of the project as a how-to section on how one
might help bring online forums back.
Durant, D. (2024, July). Evolution of online forums - Desiderium Sciendi - Medium. Medium;
Desiderium Sciendi. https://medium.com/desiderium-sciendi/evolution-of-onlineforums-
2c36e64d9b98. David Durant’s short opinion article, which does feature some research
into forum moderation and evolution, is one of a small handful of first-hand accounts
regarding the use of online discussion forums that will be used to help highlight the
perspectives of various individuals who have some experience with internet forums.
Durant speaks about how these online forums seem to have a form of a life cycle that
starts with conception and ends with dwindling counts of active users, most of whom
would no longer be interested in the original context of the forum, but rather using the
forum like a chat room.
Hansen, R. W. (2022). You’ve never been welcome here: exploring the relationship between
exclusivity and incivility in online forums. Journal of Information Technology & Politics,
20(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2022.2069180. Hansen’s research on the
relationship that exists between a community on an online discussion forum and its
incivility will serve as the basis for discussion the negative effects of online discussion
forums, especially ones wherein it is required of visitors to register an account to even
view threads and other content of said forum. Highlighting the negative aspects of internet
discussion boards is not meant to act as a deterrent to those seeking out these digital
communication tools, as that would be antithetical to the project’s goal, but rather to act as
a reminder to be cautious and mindful of what community one wishes to seek out or build.
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LuvstarKei IRL. (2024). Why YOU Should Make a Website [YouTube Video]. https://youtu.be/
uNlZ50b6wSs?si=q4eoD7IeyWPBzbrM. Why YOU Should Make a Website! is a video
essay by the YouTuber LuvstarKei on their second channel, LuvstarKei IRL, talks about
the reasons why more people, specifically artists, should create their own personal
websites to showcase their artwork. The video’s creator highlights specific advantages of
creating a personal website versus using an established platform, such as Instagram or
DevianArt, by discussing the higher degree of control in presentation and being able to
avoid having to compete against AI-generated content. This video helps strengthen the
interlude section on personal websites and the return of the old internet and how it all ties
back into bringing back the online forums.
McKitrick, B., Gibbs, M., Rogerson, M. J., Nansen, B., & Pierce, C. (2022). Let’s play
something awful: a historical analysis of 14 years of threads. Internet Histories, 7(2), 122–
140. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2022.2084823. The work done by McKitrick,
Gibbs, Rogerson, Nansen, and Pierce analyzing the history of the Something Awful
discussion sub-forum focused on Let’s Plays, a type of video game walkthrough that
integrates the presenter’s personal thoughts and, possibly, research, will be instrumental
for the argument of online discussion boards being a home for users to share stories
pertaining to their personal lives or even about the hobbies that currently have them
engrossed. This research, similarly to that of Alfoldi’s article mentioned earlier in the
document, will be best suited for laying out additional potential uses for online discussion
boards that one may employ if they so decide to create their own internet forum.
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Nitsch, C., & Kinnebrock, S. (2023). "I Urgently Need Your Advice"--Digital Stress Experiences
and Social Support in Online Forums. International journal of communication [Online],
17, 4037+. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A757022524/LitRC?
u=vic_liberty&sid=summon&xid=34cdf9ab This journal article, co-authored by Nitsch
and Kinnebrock, highlights how a strong online community based in an internet forum can
give individuals a virtual safety net by way of providing a safe space to discuss any
stressful situation that they may find themselves in. Online discussion forums have the
potential to bring people from across the world together a build a strong sense of
camaraderie. There are internet forums that exist to this day that pride themselves on
being safe spaces for individuals experiencing rough patches in their lives. This article
will be used to highlight that idea as a major positive of bringing back online discussion
boards.
Nyembe, J. (2024, March 27). The Purpose of a Forum: Building Community and Connection.
Decommerce.com. https://www.decommerce.com/blog/purpose-of-a-forum. Nyembe’s
2024 web article for the official website for Decommerce goes over the key purposes of a
online discussion forum. This article starts with a small sliver of history of internet forums
before going onto the benefits of hosting a community forum, which is then followed by
how one might go about creating their own online community forum, and then caps off
with a section on why forums are important for communities. Nyembe’s web article would
be best used in the section of this piece on what roles a forum can fill and what the
importance of having a forum can be.
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Park, M. (2022, September 14). After killing internet forums, Discord is bringing them back. PC
Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/after-killing-internet-forums-discord-is-bringing-
themback/. This PC Gamer article by Morgan Park, which came out back in 2022, best
highlights how even software that seeks to replace a service end up performing a
180degree turn in its evolution and start implementing features of the service said software
replaced. In this case, this article is a news piece on how Discord pushed out a then-new
update that allowed moderators and administrators of Discord Servers to create a new type
of channel that acts more like a internet discussion board than a chatroom. There are
limitations to the use of Discord Servers as internet forums, which will be discussed in the
main literature.
Sarraf, K. S. (2021). Representations of Creativity by Posters in Freelance Writing Internet
Forums. Technical Communication Quarterly, 31(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/
10.1080/10572252.2021.1915387. Sarraf’s research into internet forums dedicated to
freelance writers highlights how an online discussion board may be utilized for
professionals to connect with one another and discuss the business aspects of their careers.
Furthermore, it discusses how internet forums focused on freelance writers can also serve
as an effective source of inspiration for creativity with writing prompts and user-led
workshops and discussions on how one might be able to further enhance their own
writing. This article shall be used, as mentioned briefly earlier, how online internet forums
can benefit those seeking professional connections in addition to those who engage with
such online communication tools recreationally.
Tactical Nuke. (2025, September 6). Why forums died (and what makes them thrive). 3.St.
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https://3.st/2025/09/06/why-forums-died-and-what-makes-them-thrive/. This web article is
on a fairly obscure website by a user who goes by the screen-name of Tactical Nuke. This
particular piece is an interesting opinion piece from another individual how has become
disenchanted with modern social media platforms and even the chatting service Discord.
Tactical Nuke then dives into understanding why exactly internet discussion boards fell
out of favor for modern social media websites, citing issues such as moderators and
administrators that fail to properly enforce community rules or even forum operators and
members trying to gatekeep their community from supposed outsiders. The author goes on
to describe even more issues that have plagued internet forums, but they cap off the essay
with ways that these online meeting places can come back.
Vlasova, K. (2025, March 19). The Trend of Returning to the Old Internet: Digital Minimalism,
Slow Living, Private Communities, Old Web Design Revival. Timestripe. https://
timestripe.com/magazine/blog/the-trend-of-returning-to-the-old-internet/. Katia Vlasova’s
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2025 digital article for Timestripe Magazines highlights the growing trend of internet users
seeking out ways to relieve the ways of Web 1.0, back when websites were made with
passion and were devoid of algorithms or excessive advertisments. Vlasova’s article likens
the trend of users going back to the old internet to when people started to reject the culture
of fast-food, called Slow Food, and how that experience shapes this current trend. This
author also talks about how it ties back into the Slow Living trend and what all of this
might mean for the future of the internet.
