Topic: Pitch for a better forum format
Bear with me, for all I know this exists already, but here's my thought process...
I can't but notice the format of every forum I've ever seen (granted, not many) happen to have very similar characteristics that actually seem to inhibit group discussions:
First person starts a topic, makes a few points. Second person quotes them, makes a few counterpoints, and gives another point tangentially related. Third person, in order to engage with both of them, has to quote them separately, and respond in one post. If they want to make their own point, they splinter the conversation even further.
By the fifteenth person, there are multiple threads of conversation all related to the main subject that become very difficult to follow because forums are essentially email chains, where each post, regardless of subject, is shown chronologically.
I don't think this is the best way to have group discussions. So why don't forums adopt the format of a lot of comment sections in websites, or, even better, Facebook-types? Person 1 makes a point or asks a question, and everyone can respond to it, then make their own points, which can be responded to in a clear conversation-tree format? That way you can always follow a particular conversation to its conclusion before picking up the next thread.
