[elfman2]

Hey Ipstenu, If there’s a definition of a forum besides being something that’s presented like a forum, I plead ignorance.

I just consider an array of comments sorted by topic to be a forum (and a personally focused web site to be a blog). They’ve moved beyond that to “blogs” of blogs and arrays of forums so for expediency, I use the words loosely.

Are political discussions all that different? I’ve managed a finch forum for over 10 years, developing much of the software in a legacy language, and wanted this feature 8 years ago. I can’t think of a web site with a focus beyond a specific individual or object that’s appropriate for blogs but incompatible with forums.

I’d love to write more on dozens of subjects, but have no interest in spending hours or days on an article for 9 people. I can post something to a popular forum and have it viewed by hundreds, but then it’s invisible in hours – on page 3 and receding. I can post it both places, but that takes time and is something I usually neglect to do. And even when I do it, few people on a forum would actually click out to see my other “best work” unless they were in the habit of expecting to see it on other members’ blogs. I bet that there are many millions of potential bloggers with similar needs. I think they make up a big market.

8 years ago, when I had this idea, I didn’t post it, and just kept it among a few associates. But I’ve come to recognize that I can’t develop it, at least not alone. And I’d rather promote it like this and let someone else benefit from its development (benefiting myself from using it) than not have it. I can think of endless applications (and there’s a lot more to it that I haven’t disclosed) and WPMU seems like as good a platform as any to get it started.