Why Developer Communities Died

It Used to Be Different

Developer communities aren’t what they used to be.

There was a time when posting on a forum would get dozens of replies, sparking lively discussions. Senior developers would patiently answer beginner questions, people would share code, upload custom skins and plugins. That culture existed.

Now? Post something and it’s crickets. Maybe one or two replies at best. The communities still exist technically, but the energy is gone.

What Happened?

I think several things converged.

Stack Overflow showed up. Technical questions all get resolved there now. The culture of asking and answering in your native language on local forums migrated to a global English-language platform. When the answer is one search away, there’s no reason to ask on a forum.

GitHub changed code sharing. We used to attach source files to forum posts. Now it’s just a repository link.

Slack, Discord, KakaoTalk. Real-time communication moved people to chat channels. Why write a post and wait for replies when you can ask in a chat room and get instant answers?

YouTube and blogs. Information sharing moved to personal channels. Quality content goes on personal blogs or YouTube, not community forums.

What We Lost

But this isn’t all upside.

Stack Overflow defaults to English, making it weak for context-specific local questions. Issues unique to certain regional environments — local hosting peculiarities, country-specific payment systems, government-mandated certificates — those answers only lived in local communities. And those communities are fading.

Chat is fast but leaves no record. Old forums had searchable archives going back to 2005. Someone’s problem and solution from a decade ago was still there, helping people today. Chat conversations flow by and disappear.

There was also something nice about the unhurried pace of forum communication. Post something, check replies the next day, respond to those. Deep discussions emerged from that rhythm. Chat rooms don’t foster that kind of depth.

It Changed Shape

I don’t think communities died — they changed form.

Before, everyone gathered in one forum for everything. Now, platforms are split by purpose. Questions go to Stack Overflow, code to GitHub, conversations to Slack, content to blogs and YouTube.

It’s more efficient, but the feeling of “everyone hanging out in one place” is gone. Tech communities became tools. They used to feel like a neighborhood gathering spot. Now they feel like workplace utilities.

Saying you miss the old days when times have simply changed might sound out of touch. But still… sometimes I miss those lively forums.