An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics .
Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards), fora (the proper Latin plural) or simply forums.
Culture
Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. The United States does not have any one large forum, but instead several hundred thousand smaller forums, the largest of which are GameFAQs, Gaia Online, and IGN. Other countries such as China, the Netherlands, and France are also home to hundreds of independent forums. Some countries such as Finland and Sweden do not have many prevalent forums despite having open and easily available Internet access. As of yet no study has been done on the prevalence of forums in countries around the world. It is also dubious as to whether any country has its own fora, as - especially in the English language - contributors to a forum often come from outside the country in which the forum is hosted. There is often not a 1-1 relationship between languages and countries: for example, English language fora are contributed to by people all over the world, whilst Japanese language fora are likely to be contributed to only by Japanese people, but Japanese people also contribute to English language fora, so there is no 1-1 relationship between Japanese language fora and Japanese people contributing to fora.
More on [ Internet forum ]
Miami Heat Basketball - A Miami Heat basketball fan site offers a message board, information, and news on the team.
Meta Description: [ Heat-365 is dedicated to diehard Miami Heat Basketball fans with a tilt towards Miami Heat Basketball. Our site offers readers The latest news and information about your Miami Heat. We invite you to visit our chat forum, a place where members interact and exchange ideas about Basketball. ]
500NuggetsTalk.com - A fan-based message board/forum for discussion of the Denver Nuggets and the NBA.
404Pacers Digest Forum - A place for Indiana Pacers fans to come talk about the team.
Meta Description: [ This is THE Indiana Pacers discussion forum. No trolls. Civil discussion. ]
Superstars of the NBA - Forum for discussions, pictures, and news on NBA Basketball.
Meta Description: [ This MSN Basketball-Group contributes to the NBA Players and promotes NBA Basketball. It offers a bunch of Pictures, News, discussions, and lots more. Check out this group and you will love it! If you do so, join! This NBA BBall group has more than 1400 members already and is still growing. ]
The Coach's Wife - The Coach's Wife is a weekly (or so) newsletter that is dedicated to all athletic coaches' wives.
Meta Description: [ The_Coachs_Wife: The Coach's Wife ]