An Internet forum is a facility on the World Wide Web for holding discussions, or the web application software used to provide the facility. Web-based forums, which date from around 1995, perform a similar function as the dial-up bulletin boards and Internet newsgroups that were numerous in the 1980s and 1990s. A sense of virtual community often develops around forums that have regular users. Technology, computer games, and politics are popular areas for forum themes, but there are forums for a huge number of different topics .

Internet forums are also commonly referred to as web forums, message boards, discussion boards, discussion forums, discussion groups, bulletin boards (but see also dial-up bulletin boards), fora (the proper Latin plural) or simply forums.

Culture

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Internet forums are prevalent in several developed countries. In terms of countable posts, Japan is far in the lead with over two million posts per day on their largest forum, 2channel. The United States does not have any one large forum, but instead several hundred thousand smaller forums, the largest of which are GameFAQs, Gaia Online, and IGN. Other countries such as China, the Netherlands, and France are also home to hundreds of independent forums. Some countries such as Finland and Sweden do not have many prevalent forums despite having open and easily available Internet access. As of yet no study has been done on the prevalence of forums in countries around the world. It is also dubious as to whether any country has its own fora, as - especially in the English language - contributors to a forum often come from outside the country in which the forum is hosted. There is often not a 1-1 relationship between languages and countries: for example, English language fora are contributed to by people all over the world, whilst Japanese language fora are likely to be contributed to only by Japanese people, but Japanese people also contribute to English language fora, so there is no 1-1 relationship between Japanese language fora and Japanese people contributing to fora.

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NPR Topics: Arts & Entertainment

'Fela!' Celebrates The Father Of Afrobeat
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:58:00 -0400
A new musical by choreographer Bill T. Jones explores the controversial life and legacy of Nigerian musical revolutionary Fela Kuti. Fela pioneered Afrobeat, blending African harmonies and rhythms, jazz, funk (and even a little James Brown) with satirical lyrics criticizing the Nigerian government.
Melt Down: Historic Carvel Store Closes
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:04:00 -0400
The first Carvel ice cream store that opened in the U.S. is closing its doors today, after 72 years in business. Abdol Faghihi, the owner of the Hartsdale, N.Y., location, speaks with host Liane Hansen.
Songs Along The Campaign Trail
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:46:00 -0400
Classical music historian Robert Greenberg speaks with host Liane Hansen about historic campaign songs. Music and politics have been intertwined in the United States since the 1800s when President Thomas Jefferson and President John Quincy Adams were in office.

NYT > Arts

A Man of Many Talents, Eager to Use Them All
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:29:47 -0000
Caleb Burhans is part of a new generation that doesn’t feel compelled to specialize and works easily in classical, rock and much in between.
Music Review | Madonna: Aerobic, Not Erotic: The Concert as Workout
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:42:35 -0000
Time obsesses Madonna on her Sticky and Sweet Tour, which made its first American stop at the Izod Center.
Music: A Cappella Dreaming: 10 Voices, One Shot
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:30:24 -0000
A 10-man group moves from campus to YouTube to a dream of bringing a cappella to the mainstream charts.

Arts & Culture

Thomas Mallon: Abraham Lincoln and the politics of memory.
Thomas Mallon Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
At the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 1922, remarks by Robert Moton, the principal of the Tuskegee Institute, received special attention from the “colored” section of the audience. The federal commission responsible for the memorial’s construction were loath to have Moton participate at all . . .
Sasha Frere-Jones: The Brazilian Girls at Terminal 5.
Sasha Frere-Jones Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Sabina Sciubba has lived in Italy, Germany, France, and New York, and is currently the lead singer of a band called Brazilian Girls, which contains no Brazilians and only one girl. The group’s third album, “New York City,” is sung in five languages, though not all simultaneously. Perhaps the most . . .
Richard Brody: Max Ophüls at Film Forum.
Richard Brody Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 -0000
The exacting and sumptuous Cinémathèque Française restoration of “Lola Montès,” Max Ophüls’s last film, from 1955 (opening at Film Forum on Oct. 10), recovers not just the movie’s look but also its meaning. The romantic costume drama presents a great nineteenth-century femme fatale, a faux-Spanish danseuse and gold . . .

Christian Science Monitor | Arts & Entertainment

Review: 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Michael Cera stars in this teen love story that alternates between sweet and touching and goofball gross-out.
Review: 'Blindness'
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Set in a city where people are suddenly stricken with sightlessness, allegory never rises to level of believability.
Review: 'Religulous'
Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500
Bill Maher's documentary skewers religion but chooses laughable targets to make his point.

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