The uptick in social networking and other websites in general closing down

[Warmsignal]

This is a trend I have noticed across the internet the past could of years. Websites basically shutting down. In some cases, websites that have been online for past 10 years. This trend seems to be most heavily concentrated on websites of (anonymous) social networking, like forums. Forums like VGCollect, even. Heck, even 1-Up bit the dust. Yahoo is considering closing down some of their branches. I've even heard that Twitter is in a sharp decline and may eventually bomb.

I just heard that the website Experience Project is shutting down. I thought that was a really cool idea for a site. I worry about other sites like Last.FM, or Rate Your Music which is currently undergoing a transformation into a new brand and marketing strategy, could one day disappear. It seems like we're starting to see a lot of sites, ones that used to get many hits, basically drop off the map. It's not something that I'm used to, I guess. I've always taken for granted that once on the internet, it'll always be there. But that's not the case.

I'm sure Facebook has hurt a lot of website traffic, but can that really be the only reason for it?

[turf]

People are fickle. What's big and hot can be old news in a minute.
The Internet is like that in fast forward.
It kinda shocks me to hear Twitter might take a dump. It was huge. But now that you mention it, I use it way less than I have in the past.

[fighterpilot562]

Anaheim Angels (I refuse to call them LA). Just shut down their message boards on the official mlb site. Others teams have not ?

Never gave a reason for it.

[matimo]

This is just how the internet works, things come and go, and things change quickly.

[kmacdw]

I think it's a mix of things tbh but the biggest culprit is social networks.

For websites in general such as gaming websites etc. I think it's that a lot of people have migrated to getting their fix from YouTube, Twitch and social networks so that has killed off plenty of websites.

Forums have very much been a victim of social networks; people have Reddit, Twitch, Facebook so they don't need forums. Due to nostalgia I find it sad tbh. I spent my teen years as a member of Teenspot, it was important to me, I know it got a bad rep for pedophiles in the chat rooms and such, and that probably contributed to it's downfall; however I never went near the chat rooms, I spent my time in the message boards and I made a lot of friends. Slowly most of the forums I once visited have died off, only three I still frequent are VG Collect, a small RPG forum called Star Ocean Universe and the Official Liverpool FC Message Boards (my football or 'soccer' team of choice). I used to even run my own message boards at one point.

Even social networks are a victim of social networks. I remember MySpace was the first network people took note of but it wasn't long before my friends were all moving to Bebo. The Bebo was too juvenile, we had to get Facebook. Then I seen many people close up their Facebooks and move to Twitter. Now the tiny tweets are too much effort and it's just pictures on Instagram from some folk. But wait....Snapchat is eating away at Instagram. Personally I stopped at Twitter; I have a Facebook and a Twitter; Facebook I generally just use for instant messaging (god remember the days of MSN?) and I use Twitter generally for sports stuff.

[tripredacus]

It is not really a big trend. Forums have come and gone since forums have been around. As a forum fan, I'd say about 80% of the forums I've ever been a member of have either disappeared, shut down or become ghost towns. I've even seen big-time forums (thousands of posts a day) end up with 0 posts a day. It happens. People making a forum do not even think that 10-15 years later it would still be running.

Anaheim Angels (I refuse to call them LA).

I like to refer to them as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Angels in the Outfield. 

[kamikazekeeg]

It's not unexpected.  Twitter I find an odd one to hear about it struggling though, just because I don't really see it's replacement, though it's short messages create a lot of problems.  Same for Facebook, just because what replaces it for people to keep up with friends and families in the same way as I don't see the same thing like when Myspace hit its peak and Facebook started to sneak in? Reddit doesn't work for that.  I see Reddit's use, but I don't use it the same way I do forums at all, but I've gone through alot of forums over the years.

[stealthrush]

This happened before, once MySpace gained substantial gain plenty of social websites went down. Sadly older forums are also going away, so far i'm glad VGcollect remains among others. I've been a member to Last.fm since Audioscrobbler days back in 2005 shame if that went offline. 

[kamikazekeeg]

Though I'm sure there's population increases and decreases here since the forums have been up, I think it helps things that it's a part of a collection organizer, so it's not just random forum or dedicated to a fanbase of some sort, it's a co-op with the collections.  So I guess unless retro collecting completely disappears, there's a place for here lol

[turf]

Though I'm sure there's population increases and decreases here since the forums have been up, I think it helps things that it's a part of a collection organizer, so it's not just random forum or dedicated to a fanbase of some sort, it's a co-op with the collections.  So I guess unless retro collecting completely disappears, there's a place for here lol

Well, that and we all cling to old technology.   

[xsuicidesn0wmanx]

I think the other part of it that goes unnoticed is that a lot of the major sites out there got bought out by the big media companies, who then proceeded to try and maximize advertisement revenue with those sites. Right now GameSpot is going through this and their site's forums and comments have plummeted over the past year as users have grown tired of being bombarded with ads.

I wouldn't be too terribly worried though, as old sites die out others will rise up to take their place. I actually built my website in response to what GameSpot started doing as of last years E3, it hasn't taken off like I thought it would, but I've already paid for everything 5 years out, so I've got plenty of time to figure it out.

[tripredacus]

I think the other part of it that goes unnoticed is that a lot of the major sites out there got bought out by the big media companies, who then proceeded to try and maximize advertisement revenue with those sites. Right now GameSpot is going through this and their site's forums and comments have plummeted over the past year as users have grown tired of being bombarded with ads.

I was thinking about it, but I don't know whether that is a good enough example, or just something that happens. We can remember what happened to ForumPlanet when IGN bought it. They initially just closed all the forums and supposedly deleted them and replaced the forums. But those new ones were horrible, you lost your account and all your posts disappeared. The amount of info on those boards was amazing and it was a shame. Only later did they put the archive back up, but the damage was already done.

[Warmsignal]

Though I'm sure there's population increases and decreases here since the forums have been up, I think it helps things that it's a part of a collection organizer, so it's not just random forum or dedicated to a fanbase of some sort, it's a co-op with the collections.  So I guess unless retro collecting completely disappears, there's a place for here lol

Well, that and we all cling to old technology.   

I'm just small town folk clinging to my rock music and video game cartridges.

[gf78]

I'm just small town folk clinging to my rock music and video game cartridges.

I can relate.  The days of buying video games that you can just pop in and play years down the road is over.  More and more, the focus is on online play and even the single player games are released in a state that they aren't "complete" until you download DLC and patches.  You basically have a beta or test version on the disc you buy at retail now.  It's pretty depressing looking toward the future. 

[Warmsignal]

So evidently the reason EP is closing is due to a combination of factors that many other sites can probably relate to. Basically, the site is too complex and intricate to conform to the standards of Facebook or Instagram, therefor loosing appeal with advertisers for not keeping up with the trends, combined with increasing international law to police and force responsibility for content onto website owners, and the increase in hackers and other malicious use of the site to obtain user information.

I'd say that's probably the top reasons why older websites are failing.