Comment by eternityforest

It's not an unbearable burden, it's a minor annoyance, of the kind hackers frequently accept, but people looking for polished optimal solutions don't.

Most forums I see have only 4 levels, section, subsection, thread, post, and many don't even have subsections, wheras mail and reddit and newsgroups can have infinite depth.

Also, the number of sections and subsections is generally small and controlled by moderators.

It's a fully dynamic DAG vs a premade mostly fixed DAG with only topic->post levels after that.

The individual threads having their own culture is kind of part of the point.

Newsgroups are much more powerful and general, but the ability of tech to enforce restrictions is just as valuable as it's ability to enable possibilities.

Linear threads is a much simpler mental model, and prioritizes knowledge in the world over knowledge in the head, it's a model that lends itself to directly displaying more of the state, one list you read through in pages, wheras dynamic infinite hierarchy is built for much more interactive navigation and involves much more context in your head especially as a new reader wondering what the heck went on in a thread.

There's 800 replies, 100 are in a sub thread for a meme, 50 are in an unrelated discussion of how lawn decor affects gun politics (With 3 relevant on topic posts mixed in), 400 are top level shitposts, all the real discussion starts at a third level comment...

There's no linear narrative. Especially if drama happens, there's no "Oh, ok, this got revealed then people got angry after that", that immediately jumps out.

It's not a super big deal, but I do think it probably takes away more than it adds for most average users. Considering everyone seemed pretty happy with forums.

But then again I know a lot of really smart people who always have 50 things happening and if you're thoughts aren't linear and there's 100 thoughts in your head connected to every one you actually say, then a less linear platform that relies more on context in your head, and doesn't attempt to just 1-1 mirror IRL discussions probably is a great fit.