Leaderboard

History Before the World Wide Web (WWW) became available to the general public discussion forums were quite popular on privately run bulletin boards. Operating these bulletin board required a high level of technical expertise and an significant investment of time and money to manage. Even the participants had to be tech savvy just to participate. Later corporate run platforms like AOL and CompuServe stepped in and made things much easier for everyone. Running forums, and participating in them, was made a lot easier. Of course you had to play by the rules laid down by the corporations, plus they charged monthly fee just to participate. The opening of the WWW allowed anyone with a bit of technical skill and a little bit of money to create their own discussion forums. You no longer needed a corporation. People happily ditched the fees, rules, corporate oversight, and enjoyed the benefits creating unique forums. The additional benefits for those starting their own forums was that they and their participants had the freedom to determine the subjects and the rules for participation. As a result, one could find discussion forums filled with other kindred spirits on virtually any subject. It was in this environment in which our forums Thumper Corner, and later Cynique's corner, thrived. The Rise of Social Media In the age of social media now anyone can setup a discussion forum—absolutely no technical skill is required and it is all free. As a result, the number of groups exploded. One Facebook alone there are more forums dedicated to Black books than I can keep track of. Indeed, the level of granularity on Facebook is down to the individual. Individuals have their own discussion forums—with themselves as the subject. It was during this period were AALBC.com's saw it steepest decline in participation. Today some of the old participants here are now active on social media. Interestingly, it is not as if social media provides a better or even equivalent substitute to the discussion forum. None of the Black book forums or groups I've participated on social media have come close to Thumper's Corner in terms quality of conversation on books. The forums were also read much more extensively by non-participants (lurkers). There is no social media platform where one can post a comment with formatting as simple as what yiu are reading here. The vast majority of groups I've seen on Facebook are just used by others to self-promote. I too use those groups for this purpose. It takes almost about 2 seconds to share something on a Facebook group—you don't even have to go to the group. Many tout the benefits of Goodreads, but I don't use Goodreads at all. It reminds me of the AOL days where you are greatly constrained on what you can post. You can't even post a hyperlink back to your website. At the end of the day all of these corporate websites invest a great deal of effort in keeping you on their platforms, and they do a great job. Perhaps it is not that Thumper's Corner has been replicated on social media, social media provides a different and superior value proposition. If that is the case, someone please explain it to me for I can't see what is superior about social media. I won't even get into the issues of supporting Black owned entities, how social media invades your privacy, or any of the myriad of other adverse issues I can raise regarding social media. I think we have lost more than we have gained during the rise of social media. I did not feel this way 5 years ago. It took time for me to understand what was happening and to see how things have played out. Other Reasons for the Decline of Participation Our Our Forums I'm not sure the rise of social media is the only reason for the decline in the popularity of the Thumper's Corner discussion forum. Thumper's Corner's heyday also corresponded with a surge in popularity of African American literature in general. Also during Thumper Corner's prime we also managed an online book club* (The Coffee Will Make You Black), under the leadership of Thumper himself. The online book club ended in 2006, this too certainly put downward pressure on discussion forum participation. *A decade ago managing the platform required a great deal of my time. I often did not have time to even read the books. But today with AALBC.com being my full time job, my kids grown, and the AALBC.com website being greatly improved, managing a book club would be much easier. In 2017 I plan to recruit and Book Club Manager (if you ave any recommendation for this role, please let me know. Most people really don't like their ideals challenged. On Facebook I can't tell you how many times I've read someone boast how they are blocking someone because they posted something that they disagreed with. In almost 20 years I have never banned anyone from these forums for saying something I disagreed with. Banned for being a troll, spamming, or obsessively vulgar and rude yes. But for saying something that I don't like, disagree with, or is unpopular—never. That would defeat the purpose of these forums. Sometimes that opinion I starting our disagreeing with is one that I later embraced. This is how people grow and learn. Growth and learning are fundamentally the my goals for these forums; which is one reason I'll keep 'em going. I'd be willing to bet money these forums will outlive Facebook.

Facebook has so deeply integrated itself into our society that now there are legacy options allowing a family member to take over your page after your death. Basically ensuring that you survive on SM long after you are gone. People are literally wishing dead people happy birthday on SM. I say all of this to state that as long as you pay for your hosting, your site will survive, but SM plays a vital role in allowing us to interact with people we can't see or talk to on a daily basis. It provides an easy out. We can say happy birthday and move on without having to speak to people. We can like something to show our figurative support, or share information to provide a temporary boost. Facebook is now considered 1 of the 4 Horsemen of Business along with Google, Nike and Amazon. Companies that are not going to go away any time soon because they have heavily invested in alternative methods and will always have the capital to exist. Now, with that said... I don't think the forum is going away. It's still alive and kicking for certain communities. When another big Black book movement pops up, message boards will be back in vogue. AALBC will be primed for the resurgence when it happens. Social media for enjoyment has to be divided from Social for business. Unless the content you are creating has the same emotional elements of hedonistic pleasures, social just doesn't work for business. Books are solitary. Music is not. Music tends to thrive on social platforms. Emotional news issues thrive on social platforms. Literature doesn't cause the same emotional response so it isn't good for social in most cases. Good post though Troy. It sounds like the beginning of a book.

Did I mention you can purchase Woodson's titles directly from Black Classic press for an enjoy a 30% discount until October 31? Replace "Negros" with African American, and this quote would work perfectly today!