Here is the secret to it all. The forum trolls of old wanted attention. The advent of social media made it possible to greatly empower idiots much more than forums dedicated to specific topics such as keeping fish in glass boxes and backyard ponds could.
Many years ago I used to moderate the chat room of a few sites. Back then management often ruined their sites. Today it is the users, But back then most forums did not exist to make money. This has become the major thrust behind social media.
Here is another secret. I have been using Google search almost since it was launched in 1998. It was at the end of that year that I first went onto the internet, Prior to that one surfed using direct dial via copper phone lines. The quality of the search results has been declining now for at least 15 years. But Google's profit has been increasing much faster as a result.
Rule #1 when searching on Google, never ever click on a sponsored result. Learn to go beyond the first page or two of results as this may be needed to find a decent answer. I hate ads. I do my best to avoid them and when that is not possible I ignore them. I have an assortment of ad blocking and anti-tracking software. which works very well.
Trick #1- I am not registered with Google, Facebook, etc. etc. Trick #2 I do not store cookies or history. Trick #3 I pay for both my email provider (email is encrypted) and my picture hosting. Trick #4 I have almost no apps and the ones I do have no connection to any of the places I am not registered. Trick #4 I do not do tabbed broswing. Every site I visit is in its own window. When I close that window I have software that delete anything that was connected to the visit made in that window.
Most folks today are not able/willing to do what I do. I have been active on fish sites since my first tank in early 2001. Many of them have closed over the years. More people in the fish keeping world know twotankamin than my real name. If we deal f2f or if you buy my fish, then you know the real me. When I was introduced to Jools from Planet catfish at the first CatCon I attended he did not recognize my name. But when somebody said I was TTA, I was lifted of the ground by a big hug.
And the above tends to explain why here is basically a nice place. Not many trolls show up. Folks mostly treat each other decently and with common courtesy. The only thing I regret is that most of the members here will not meet many of the others members in person. I met people from the early sites where I was a member. But many of them have since shut down. Fish clubs have also dwindled in membership numbers as well. More interactions are on social media these days.
There are few filters on social media. There certainly is almost 0 fact checking. On this site if somebody misstates the facts, they will usually be corrected but in a non confrontational fashion. I like to quote the science
At this time I can only think of 3 fish related sites where I still post: TFF, PlanetCatfish and the pair of MFK sites--> Aquaria Central and Monster Fish Keepers (but I am way less active on these two).
One last observation. The sites I have mentioned may or may not make money for their owners. But I doubt anybody is getting rich from owning a fish forum. But then the people who do the day to day management on forums are not being compensated. For them it is a labor of love.
