I miss traditional message boards. No karma, no sorting algorithms, you just get new topics on top and replies are sorted oldest to newest.
You can have forum threads that go on for decades, but Lemmy’s default sorting system quickly sweeps older content away. I’m aware you can mimic the forum format by selecting the “chat” option in a thread and sorting by old, and you can sort posts by “latest comment” which replicates the old-school forum experience pretty well, but nobody does it that way, so the community behaves in the manner facilitated by the default sorting algorithm that prioritizes new content over old but still relevant content.
I also notice that I don’t pay attention to usernames on Lemmy (or Reddit back when I was on it). They’re just disembodied thoughts floating through the ether. On message boards, I get to know specific users, their personalities and preferences and ups and downs. I notice when certain users don’t post for a while and miss them if they’re gone for too long.
EDIT: given this is my most upvoted post on here to date I’d say the answer is yes.
Sorry, I just saw your reply. I was addressing the thing you said about forums, where people identify frequent posters; their profile picture is big, there is often a signature, a big nickname, etc. I like that we (here on Lemmy and similar sites) do not often read the little nickname above. I’m sure no one or almost no one can say which other comments I have made without going to my profile. There’s nothing behind my words but my words: no reputation, no prejudice from an accounts’ aesthetic, etc. I mean, my grammar betrays me, and someone might remember me from a previous encounter. But yeah, like I said, I’m like a blob for most people, and that’s comfortable.
I was going to end the comment there, but there are so many reasons why I prefer to be a blob, a little text box. First, traumatic experience. Second, when there’s a reputation, it starts to weight on how people receive your messages and I hate that people misconstrue me (and I guess I’m easy to caricaturize). Third, no social drama, no social nothing. Peace… ᵃⁿᵈ ᵗʰᵒˢᵉ ᵃʳᵉ ᵗʰᵉ ᵐᵃⁱⁿ ʳᵉᵃˢᵒⁿˢ.