I don't think a new forum software can bring more users to bitcointalk.
Online forums aren’t as popular today as they were 10 or 20 years ago. Social networks are now leading the race when it comes to online discussions.
Although social networks are in a leading position in certain respects, online forums still have their unique value. Online forums can accumulate more knowledge and content, while the information is less fragmented. At the same time, online forums can discuss various questions and collisions in the form of questions and answers, and can conduct in-depth communication on related issues. Social media cannot achieve this, and the information on social media cannot be deposited as knowledge.
Bitcointalk is just one community that has fewer users and less activity than it had in the past. It’s a pity because this forum offers something better and something that social media can’t.
Although Bitcointalk has fewer users than before, I believe that the users who have remained on this forum so far are the most loyal users. This is also the greatest wealth of the entire Bitcoin community. Users are always the biggest asset of the community.
It’s a place where all the legendary bitcoiners, from Hal to Satoshi, used to write. Those threads are still here. They can easily be found and hold historical importance.
This is also the reason why I value bitcointalk the most. It has great historical significance. First of all, it was created by Satoshi Nakamoto, where the Bitcoin community was born. Secondly, many outstanding projects and legends have emerged from here. They spread the encrypted world step by step throughout the world. This is why I am writing here recently. I am now going to devote two months to write down all my in-depth thoughts on Bitcoin over the past four years and stay here. Let these words also become part of the history of Bitcoin development. After a while, I will start my new business, and I won’t have the time and energy to invest in this area. Therefore, I am now racing against time to write and summarize. In my opinion, bitcointalk belongs to the museum of bitcoin. Every article and every ID in it has the function of cultural relics and has traces of history. If you change to a brand-new website, it may look good in style, but it loses its historical heritage, instead it loses the soul of Bitcoin.
On social media, discussions are forgotten rather quickly. It’s sporadic that a topic stays active and trends for more than a few days. The quality of conversations is not comparable because little effort is put in due to the speed at which they are being held. On Bitointalk, some topics have been maintained and are active even after several years of being created.
Yes, this is the role of online forums, which can really precipitate good content. Even after five or ten years, it can still be helpful to people in the future. This is far from being done by social media.
The new forum software has been in development for years. Considering the current trend of online forums losing ground to social media, there might be less incentive to hurry up and release it. The development is costly, time-consuming, but will it be worth it, and how big will the community be that uses it?
Yes, the new software has been developed for many years and has paid a huge cost for it. Is it necessary for us to replace the current forum for these already paid costs? I don't think it is necessary at all. Because we change the forum for the costs we have already paid, we may pay a higher price. In economics, there is a term called "sunk cost". "Sunk costs" refer to costs that have occurred but cannot be recovered, such as time, money, energy, etc., which can all be called "sunk costs". We have already paid a lot of time, money and energy for the development of new forum software. These are the costs we have already invested. But when we make a decision, we must consider not only the cost principle, but also the benefit maximization principle. It is a pity that these costs have already occurred, but we cannot make wrong decisions because of the pity of these costs and pay a higher price. The forum retains the status quo and can continue to accumulate history. But if the new version is updated and the expected effect is not obtained, then this forum may go to extinction.
With all this in mind, do you believe that once the new forum is released, Bitcointalk will increase its userbase?
I think it will definitely not increase, but it will decrease. Why do many old users continue to stay on bitcointalk? I believe that many people are used to it. Everyone is used to coming here every day to read posts, answer questions, and witness the growth of the Bitcoin community bit by bit. Here are the historical traces of Bitcoin's 12-year development. If it changes completely, it may break the original habit. The old users have no sense of familiarity with the new forum, and the new users have no feelings for the forum, the result can be imagined.
Do you think that in 5 or 10 years, the new generations will appreciate the significance of Bitcointalk and be happy to be part of it?
I believe that in 5 or 10 years, there will still be generations of Bitcoin believers coming here to look for the traces of Bitcoin. Just like me today. It wasn't until this July that I officially started posting in this forum. Because I also want to leave some traces of my own in the history of Bitcoin. Maybe 10 years later, there will be my own fans who come here to find my legend.