I'd agree Ian. There's a place for all of them. Twitter is very limited in what it can do, and doesn't really allow any kind of discussion. Just brief comments. Some will say that's fine, that's all they want. To different degrees the other forms of social media are the same really.
Forums allow discussion, and if someone is really into something, a specialist forum is a much better platform to get involved. Everything is there and easily found, rather than in all four corners of the twitterverse like chip paper never to be seen again.
There's a reason TH, TRF, and Fat Jockey survive and continue, and that's because they are frequented by the people who are really into it, and aren't bothered about fans, clicks, likes, and subscribers, and all that rubbish. The forums are communities, which social media just isn't.
Many of us on here have interacted for a very long time. Some of us have met away from here. Some people have become long term friends. I have so many racing friends myself because of more than 20 years on TH, plus my previous (long since gone) abode Neigh (anyone remember Roy Waterhouse?), which I joined what must be getting close to 30 years ago as the first member. And several on here I know from both. People who have not just been racing friends, but genuine close friends now for 20 years or more. That would never have happened if my thing had been Social Media.
By comparison, under a different name (Spectre), I do Twitter, I do Podcasts, and I even did a Preview Evening at Towcester Racecourse this year, and many people come up to me when I'm racing and say hello. But I just find it a bit awkward. I'm happy to have a chat, but that's the extent of it really. It's just not the same. It would never be a conversation where I'd be be talking to someone regularly to like we do on here, and not someone who would ever become a genuine racing buddy, or friend.
There's no doubt though that the average age of us will be much higher than that of the people who thrive on racing's version of social media. I do think though that there comes a time when the younger generation, as they get more into it, find there way to the forums because as they grow up and mature they want more and better, rather than short and often not so sweet. And that for me is why the forums like Talking Horses will always survive. The key is keeping the platforms fresh, current, and easy to use from all devices, which is precisely what Brian has done for us. Post the end of the jumps season this place typically gets a bit quieter, so now we've had our refresh and the site will be found easily via google searches, it'll be interesting to see who is posting in the summer months, and it'll be even more interesting to see how traffic picks up from October onwards which is the time this place had typically thrived.
All I know is this is so much better than what we had, and it has already meant that we have seen a number of long lost friends starting to reappear, plus a few new registrations too. Hopefully things will now continue to pick up and we'll start to thrive again.
