What does microblogging give you that forums didn't?
Some individuals gravitate to self-centered mediums—“their own” blog, microblog, and so on. They seek a platform. Perhaps they find it daunting to fit into an existing community. Perhaps they don’t want to deal with figuring out the unwritten rules and being rejected by unknown human moderators—they’d rather learn the technical tricks of the platform. Perhaps they think their thoughts are worth more than a drop in the sea of a big community. Perhaps they have something to promote or are better at strategy and creating a personal brand.<p>Other people find it easier to participate in a forum. They seek a community. Perhaps they’d rather defer to human moderators they trust for sustaining the community and maintaining the vibe. Perhaps the prospect of setting up a self-centered medium—and then networking, learning the techniques of promotion in order to get any readers, locking themselves into a fixed public “personality”, etc.—feels daunting to them. Perhaps they consider bits of attention (karma, responses) granted to them as a result of community participation to be worth more.