So how many readers visit online forums? There are literally thousands of them out there. There are forums on every subject and in nearly every country. One thing that I always find amazing is how people always want to stop arguments or debates that do not play in their favor.

Some people know I have been reading and posting in some kind of online forum since about 1987. My first job was running the network and core systems for a telemarketing company in Granbury, TX. I was 17 at the time and just learning about computers. On a daily basis we used a small PC to dial up to a mother network and transfer text data to an office in Dallas. From there I ventured into the Mac world and into mainstream Internet around 1991.

The first online forum I spent daily time on was a large support group for computer issues. It was boring on it’s best days and with the exception of a rare argument had little activity for the number of members it contained.

On the rare occasion an argument would break out the input, readership and growth was almost amazing. It was obvious that people lived to read these discussions – most of the time they were nothing short of a group of school kids yelling ‘Fight! Fight!’ and then watching the egos battle it out.

Since that time I have become a member of at least 80 public forums and read or visit no less than 30 per day. I translate pages from Spain and France, I also make a point to visit sites that have never amounted to much in my opinion. Call it ‘industry courtesy’. And as many know I ran the forums for another ATV site for a couple years. If there is one thing I have learned it’s that forums have their ups-n-downs.

So that brings me to the ‘dead horse’. Have you ever noticed that there are two kinds of ‘dead horse’ issues? It’s true! There is the thread that keeps going on-and-on-and-on until there is nothing left to look at, joke about or chit-chat over. Then there is the ‘dead horse’ threads that some people wish never got started or that half the people wish would go away.

Is either one of those types of thread bad for a forum site? I really do not think so. In fact I am a firm believer in freedom of expression and speech. There have been times my blood boils and my temperature rises to its max. But I still have to sit back and think: ‘this is why I appreciate those who defend our Constitution.’ And it’s really just that simple.

To me there is not such thing as a ‘dead horse thread’. In fact as long as two people want to toss non-personal arguments back and forth at each other I consider it a debate – heated or otherwise. Site owners differ on this idea, but let’s face it a good debate can draw out a lot of information that would never become public before. A good debate will provide another way to view things. And a good debate not only keeps members coming back, it draws in new members and keeps the site stimulated.

Is there a time to say ‘when’? Or to decide when ‘enough is enough’? Sure! But typically in a non-personal, non-political and non-emotional debate that point is reached by adults and the thread goes away on its own….      Until brought back to life by some forum newbie too green to know that a ‘dead thread’ is best left alone. But that is a whole other rant.

Chuck DeBault