DISCUSSION FORUM: CHARACTERISTICS, WHAT IT IS FOR AND EXAMPLES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

A discussion forum is a meeting place between various participants, with the aim of exchanging opinions on a topic of common interest. The organization of a discussion forum can be carried out in a physical space or in a virtual one.

Physical discussion forums include all those spaces that the State has designated as suitable for holding peaceful meetings, such as parks, squares, streets, etc.

In these spaces, freedom of expression is not prohibited, although depending on the organization of the forum, the time and the manner of expression, they may be regulated.

Physical forums can also be organized in private spaces, such as rooms, classrooms, government facilities, and even private homes. Virtual discussion forums include spaces enabled for discussion on the different web pages.

Types

According to the degree of privacy

Public forums

They are those forums open to all the public; It is not necessary to have an invitation or register to attend. In the case of virtual forums, they are forums in which any user can read their content and participate.

Protected forums

In the protected forums, attendance is open to the public, but registration is required to participate. Protected forums are intended to identify participants in order to commit them to the quality of their interventions.

Private forums

They are forums restricted to a few; physical assistance is subject to prior invitation. In the case of virtual forums, in order to participate it is necessary to be a member of the forum and there is an administrator who regulates entry.

Frequently, the affiliation to this type of forums is subject to certain requirements, such as the profile of the attendee, membership of a certain group or club, among others.

Within this typology there are forums where what is regulated is participation. For example, forums where certain attendees are allowed to listen or read, but not speak. While others can listen and speak (physical forum) or read and write (virtual forum).

According to the type of organization of the forum

Moderate

They are forums in which there is a person who regulates the participation of the attendees. In the case of physical forums, the person who performs this action is called a moderator or facilitator. In the case of virtual forums, this figure is more frequently designated as administrator or moderator.

Not moderate

In this type of forum the discussion is carried out in a totally free way and there are no hierarchical roles. In the case of physical forums, the organization of unmoderated forums almost always occurs spontaneously.

characteristics

Some of the characteristics associated with this communication technique are:

- They are spaces where the freedom of expression of the members prevails.

- It allows the discussion of various topics: both logical-scientific topics and more everyday topics such as sports, politics, etc.

- The topic of the forum is of interest to all participants or the discussion reverts to their benefit.

- As a general rule, they are informal spaces.

- The topic or objective of the discussion forum is clear from the beginning.

- In the case of physical forums, the exhibitions are limited in time. In the case of virtual forums, the limit is counted according to the number of characters.

- Plural and diverse participation is encouraged.

What is it for?

The main objective of a forum is to exchange opinions or acquire knowledge on a certain topic. In this sense, we can point out various uses of the forums:

Decision making tools

A topic is proposed and, based on the debate, decisions are made. They are also organized as spaces where attendees can propose topics that they would like to discuss in the forum. This type of forums, both physical and virtual, have a special presence in citizen participation policies.

Teaching

With the development of technologies, few centers that do not use intranets where forums are organized, among other academic activities.

These can be considered as spaces to expose frequently asked questions, such as tutorials between students themselves or between teachers and students.

Encourage socialization

There are forums whose main objective is aimed at promoting interpersonal relationships. These can have a specific theme or they can have different thematic channels.

Examples

The examples of forums are very diverse. Below are some examples of forums trying to show the different typologies.

Madrid Local Forums

The Local Forums is an initiative of the Madrid City Council to promote citizen participation in politics.

To this end, Madrid has created 21 physical and public forums (one for each city district) in which residents and non-profit organizations are encouraged to debate issues relevant to the city.

Focus groups

The focus groups is a qualitative research methodology. For its realization, 8 people meet who have to debate a certain topic so that the researcher can collect common or opposed discursive lines.

This type of technique is included within the physical forums with a private nature, since the attendees are limited, selected and invited by the researcher.

Student Forum of any MOOC

MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) have thousands of students per classroom. Its academic dynamization and management is carried out through the student forums. These types of forums are private and to participate in them it is essential to be enrolled in the course.

Tripadvisor

This is one of the most active forums related to tourism. It is an open virtual forum where anyone who has a question about their next vacation destination can raise it in the forum and it will be resolved by the rest of the users.

Canonists

This is a well-known forum among photography enthusiasts, especially those using Canon technology.

The purpose of this forum is to find help to answer questions about the use of Canon equipment or to discuss photographic or video recording techniques.

In this case, it is a protected virtual forum where, although you can consult the content, if you want to participate you must register.

References

1. Internet forum. Retrieved from aritmetrics.com.
2. Internet Forum. On Wikipedia. Consulted on June 19, 2018, from en.wikipedia.org.
3. What is an “Internet forum” ?. Retrieved from archive.org.
4. Forum requirements - MoodleDocs. Retrieved from docs.moodle.org
5. Terra Azevedo, B., Behar, P., & Berni Reategui, E. (2011). Qualitative Analysis of Discussion Forums (pp. 671-678). MIR Labs. Viewed at mirlabs.org.