How long have you been posting on forums?

[Omni]

I started posting on forums in 2001, which means that I've spent about half my life as a forum-goer. When did you get hooked? Do you use any other forums?

 

[Satanstoenail]

Since 2002. I started on a local psytrance forum which is now dead. I've posted on many music forums and car forums over the years, but this one is the one I've stuck with the longest and posted the most on. I hope Facebook doesn't kill forums completely.

 

[NinjaSweater]

Started in middle school. I was more of a lurker because I was scared to post something stupid in front of the custom rank kids ahahahaha

 

[MasterOLightning]

2002 or 2003. UM hosted the Opeth forum then, so this is where I started.

 

[unknown]

around 2000 or 2001...originally started off on Guitar.com, eventually joined a private message board, got into Nevermore and made my way to their board in 2002 and actually registered on the site in 2003. The only other forum I occasionally post on is the Thomas Ligotti fansite, which I've been a member of for about as long as I've been here

 

[JontRevolting]

This is my first one, I'm a bit behind the times with computer stuff so it took me a few years to find out such things existed. Seems like lately there's a fair few people getting rid of Facebook and just using forums. I find that forums cut out all the other crap you get with Facebook that made me so enraged.

 

[The Butt]

2005. So about ten years.

I started on the Magic Set Editor forums and eventually became a template editor there for the program for awhile (doing very basic scripting, as well as photoshopping card frames and minor aesthetic adjustments. The "Planeshifted" frames and "Classicshifted" frames, and Old-Style Flip frames are entirely my doing).

I eventually discovered the Black Sabbath and Herzeleid boards, in about 2006. The Herzeleid boards have totally died since, and the Sabbath boards are bustling with activity, but are bad. People who don't understand how the internet works.

2007, I joined up here, but started in the Children of Bodom section. I migrated to GMD since the AIDS of that section became overwhelming.

I posted on another Magic board about two or so years ago but got banned about four or so times so I eventually gave up.

 

[Matt]

This was my first one as well. Started on Symphony X and Opeth, then to RC for a bit, then here now mainly

 

[Onder]

In 2004 I registered on some gaming forum. I was 13 or 14 so my English was still pretty bad at that time, I remember people sometimes didn't even understand what I was saying. That forum is now long gone but thanks to it my english improved so I had better results in high school. In 2006 I registered on here. On my grandmother's computer.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

October 26 2002, on Forumplanet (specifically the Deus Ex and Warcraft boards). The date is pretty much a second birthday to me tbh. The place had a lot of secret boards (thanks in part to our very own Baroque for cataloging many of them), which facilitated my acceptance of pornography and posting random shit for the sake of it. December 22 2002 I joined Nationstates which is where I started to really feel confident enough to express all of my various bullshit opinions. It was also the first board I hit 10,000 posts on and the first one I was banned from. Anandtech followed a bit later in 2004 and was kind of my main home until I really started to get an interest in discussing music, beginning with the official Iron Maiden board in late 2005 or so, and then the off-shoot MaidenFansUnited when they got greedy and wanted their fans to pay to post on their forum. People on MFU introduced me to a lot of metal not in my dad's collection, which led to finding Metal-Archives and many other metal forums (I believe this was the first one I registered on aside from M-A). When I started to branch out a little more I started to post on RYM, where I spend a decent amount of time. Forums in general have gotten so slow that starting late 2013 I've begun posting on 4chan, which I have to admit is highly addicting when considering how quickly a discussion can end, knowing it won't be there for me the following day. I'm nervous about what the future may hold, and what I will use for a social outlet if everything turns towards social media.

EDIT: The Snopes forum was the first forum I ever read/lurked, though, iirc, probably around 2000-early 2001. Fond memories of very cheap photoshops of human breasts the size of beach balls in the 'NSFBSK' section, people asking "ARE THESE REAL?!?!", and touching myself to them.

 

[Onder]

It will be ten years for me now and I literally know everything about metal. I can recognize good bands by the logo and I'm fully aware of the consistency of The Chasm. I hate Megadeth.

 

[tagradh]

I remember being on some gaming forum when in year 7, which would have been something like 2001.

I remember using BarrysWorld but apparently that died in late 2001. So I guess I was on forums by the time I was 10. That sounds weird.

 

[Mort Divine]

I think the first I used was around 2000. No longer is around and was on a .mu domain of all things.

 

[EspaDa]

Since 2006 but that was a polish forum and it was rather an underwhelming one, I guess this site is the first where I am required to use foreign language.

 

[The Ozzman]

Probably 2000-2001. I posted on forums related to Counter-Strike and DoD and all the Half-Life mods. They were clan based.

I moved to Tabcrawler forums back when those were popular then went to a spin-off forum then left and went back to TC and then got banned and went back to the spin-off site and that closed because the admin lied to everyone and didn't want to admit it.

In the course of that, I started posting at Stile Project forums (do they still exist?), Consumption Junction forums (closed), SMN News forums (dead) and the Megadeth forums (got stupid). Ultimately, I only post here now. I'm taking a break from the spin-off of the spin-off board because it's basically dead and only 5 people post daily anymore in the same 3 threads.

 

[Carpe Mortem]

Started in 2003 lurking some Jolly Roger website because I was 12 and really into breaking pop machines and such. My first active websites were for soundtrack and Napster enthusiasts, redtail boa enthusiasts, and play by post guildportal, and its just been a constant stream of non committal cyber socializing ever since. Currently this and another general music site are the only ones I really look at.

 

[Krigloch the Furious]

I think around 2001
UM was one of the firsts

 

[Dak]

2001, EQ guild forums.

 

[King Richard]

Probably late '98 early '99. There was a forum for a MUD I used to play called Dark Mists. If you don't know what a MUD is, it's essentially a computer text-based version of D&D. Still the best game I ever played. People thought I was retarded for playing it because, "There's no pictures!"

Anyway, I started getting into more extreme forms of music and metal around that time too so I hopped around to all kinds of metal forums. My favorite was a forum called Sacrificial Screams until I found UM and Metal-Rules. I stopped going to Metal-Rules because those guys were too old and grumpy for my liking, not to mention the incessant MAIDEN VS PRIEST threads that popped up every fucking day. So after I left for good UM was my staple.

I still post at a few boards: UM, Rogan Board, I venture over to the Dark Mists forums just to talk shit and reminisce a bit every now and then, and a few other random ones no one here probably cares about.

Forums are the shit man, I love them. I've met so many cool people on here and other boards. I don't think FB or other social media will completely replace them.

 

[Baroque]

1998 or 1999. I started on the early gamespy forums before they were moved to Forumplanet. I also was on the symphony X forums at UM here as early as 2002, but the site wouldn't let me register due to some error. So I just browsed. I like forums better than chat rooms or Facebook. People generally stay on topic and the format lends itself to deeper thought and more in-depth replies. I hope forums stick around on the Internet forevs and it never degenerates into just a meaningless pile of Twitter updates and cat photos.