It was Mark Cuban who pointed out that he could have easily integrated forum software into his early sites to form a nascent form of "social media". PHP-based web forums certainly did create the first self-selecting interest groups in which I participated on the internet. So if forums were to make a comeback, my first order of business would be to revive the old Chowhound forums. There was such a wealth of regional expertise that was first usurped by bloggers, then Yelpers and now TikTokers.

Forum software NodeBB joins the fediverse | TechCrunch
Before there was social media, there were internet forums. Millions of forum sites continue to operate, which is why it's notable that one top forum
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