Forums Vs Blogs

With the reboot of the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay local forums, it's a good time to see what the deeper differences are between Blogs and Forums.

As we've said before, Blogs are opinionated; they're essentially about one (or a few) individual's thoughts on specific issues. In that aspect, this blog rather breaks the mould, in the sense that its specificity is limited to local but mainly non-controversial issues. We also try to be light-hearted, whilst commenting on things about which we have some appreciation but which we hope won't depress folk too much.

Forums differ in one very important way: they act as mutual support and information centres, where everyone has an equal say in the 'conversations' that take place. On a blog, anyone can comment, but the interactivity in the comment section is limited, not least because you have to call up the comments page before you can see it.

On forums, registered users can initiate topics, make observations, ask for help or simply comment on some aspect of almost anything not prohibited by the forums' own rules. Most forums cover wide geographical areas, but what makes the Llandudno and Colwyn Bay forums different is that they tap into the wealth of fondness many have for the two areas, bringing quite a few people that enjoyed holidays here in the past into the forums. They're not just repositories for past memories, however; they're active, vibrant communities with a potentially strong support system, and that's probably the most salient argument in favour of a forum.

Detractors would argue that forums soon become clogged with argument and discord, but that's not necessarily the case. Generally speaking, passionate postings receive equally passionate responses, so one helpful analogy is to imagine you're chatting to someone face to face in a cafe when you're on a forum. Because forums allow for a certain degree of anonymity - understandable, given the ubiquity of the internet - some people develop a tendency to behave on a forum in ways they wouldn't consider in face-to-face encounters with people. But usually forums acquire a membership base of decent and well-meaning people, and these folk can breathe new life into a damaged or old format by their generosity and kindness.

Communities need blogs; they need the hawk-like tenacity of Oscar's, the detailed observational snapshots of the Council Chamber, the community centred outlook of John Oddy's and - we hope - the sometimes slightly zany outlook of ours. But they need forums too, and the people that make those forums work. Together, they represent an inexorable movement towards true community participation in the decisions which affect us all.