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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Village Voice Theater


Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
TR Warszawa's Shakespeare made vivid—and almost invisible (By Michael Feingold)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
Duck, motherfucker (By GARRETT EISLER)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
Had us at "cocksuckaz" (By ROB KENDT)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
Masochistically marrying New York (By McCann, Ruth)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
Another play featuring Lynndie England (By Alexis Soloski)

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400
A play that should shock–but doesn't (By Alexis Soloski)

NYT > Theater

Dysfunctional Since Before It Was Cool
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:41:10 -0000
The playwright Christopher Durang talks about being ahead of the “dysfunctional” curve, tangling with Catholicism and missing Wendy Wasserstein.
Arts, Briefly: Brian Murray Joins Play
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:07:58 -0000
Manhattan Theater Club said that Brian Murray would join the cast of its coming Broadway production of “To Be or Not to Be.”
Selling His Soul for the Part
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:53:57 -0000
Sean Hayes is making his New York stage debut in the Encores! revival of “Damn Yankees.”
Theater Review | 'The Bacchae': A Greek God and His Groupies Are Dressed to Kill
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 04:27:55 -0000
The National Theater of Scotland’s playfully irreverent staging of “The Bacchae” keeps you entertained almost to the end.
Arts, Briefly: Sarah Kane Premiere Leads Soho Rep Season
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:27:30 -0000
Sarah Kane’s bleak and controversial drama “Blasted” will make its New York debut at SoHo Rep.
Arts, Briefly: Theater for the Price of a Subway Ride
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 02:36:27 -0000
Cast members from several Off Broadway productions, including “Altar Boyz” and “Blue Man Group,” will participate in a concert in Union Square Park.

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