Over at Rands in Response Michael Lopp makes the case that after BBSes and forums in the 1990s there has been little innovation and newer tech, like blogs, Facebook and Twitter don’t lend themselves to discussion. I particularly like his “simple rules of communication among a digital population”: Add something to the conversation. Stay on topic. Don’t be a jerk.
But more on topic: there is a reason why blog posts and comments don’t create the discourse we are used from forums: In forums the initial post is just a spark and all subsequent posts are presented as equals. After a while there is little that sets the initial post apart from following posts.
