This is an architectural resource for buildings in Melbourne regarding street architecture, city buildings and architects of the past and present. The website has a section of forums on diverse topics; including one under transportation. It consists of news, projects and issues regarding transport in Melbourne. The purpose of the forum is to create “a place to talk about Australian Architecture, Heritage & Planning Issues”. (Walking Melbourne 2010)
Though its main purpose is for Melburnians to discuss among themselves, it also attracts people from other places to compare against their own experiences. First, we have to identify the purpose of forums and their differences with other social media.
Forums unlike website, allows information to be questioned by other users in real time. Very often, responses are active and comments are replied within the same day (sometimes even within seconds). When asked for the main purpose in forums (Webmaster 2010), users stated, “to learn new thing from other as well sharing good information”, “deliver information through constant communication - and that is by posting”. Information is shared among users from different sources, widening the perspectives on the same topic by communicating with different people of nations.
Forums are discussion and information based, which you cannot maintain in other social media such as Facebook or Twitter where updates will bury your old posts. Forum space remain there and it is open for public. You do not need to be the person’s friend before geting access to the information (unless it is a private forum).
The interactivity between users, the rating for their credibility, the instant responses they get from each other are factors why forums are still striving despite the rise of other social mediums.
For further reading, you can check out this following blog about public transport: http://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/
The blogger is truly passionate about public transport and gives extremely detailed and analysis for every moves of public transport. I find it even better than the official Metlink website news section, especially when he writes about his experience with the changes, including photos and even specific statistics. He has an extensive list of links with related blogs, forums, websites, even academics and activists.
References
Parker. P (2010) Homepage. Melbourne on Transit. Weblog [Online] 12th October. Available from: http://melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/. [Accessed 10/10/10].
Walking Melbourne. 2005, ‘90% of public transport users dissatisfied’, Walking Melbourne, viewed 11 October 2010, <http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=658>.
Webmaster 2009, ‘What is the purpose of forum sites?’, Webmaster, viewed 12 October 2010, <http://talk.thewebhostingdir.com/general-chat/26105-what-purpose-forum-sites.html>.
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