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submitted 5 days ago by Acamon@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

I'm in a group of friends that are looking for an alternative to basic chat/messager services like Signal (or WhatsApp/discord/etc.) Chats are fine for causal conversation, but when we're doing something more specific and detailed like a watching a season of films together, it's really tiresome to have to read through dozens of messages, with multiple conversations happening at the same time.

A more classic message board / forum style would be better, having indvidual posts and comments and keeping discussions organised. For me, the obvious answer is lemmy, and just making our own communities - but that's got the issue of being public and of hassle of being an extra account and app or whatever for everyone involved (I seem to know too many people who aren't on lemmy yet).

Is there any other alternatives? Easy ways to setup a Web forum? Or decent apps that allow a more message board style of communication for groups? Is there other ways to approach this problem?

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[-] Blisterexe@lemmy.zip 7 points 5 days ago

Mattermost seems to be what you're looking for, it's built around threads.

[-] jinx@lemmy.zip 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Zulip, Mattermost, and rocket.chat all have threads. Discord would be the easiest.

[-] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

Matrix via Element and Mattermost are the best options I know off.

Nice thing with Matrix is can use the same account across multiple servers

[-] Acamon@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Is matrix not more like chat channels? I'm lookint for something more like a forum / threaded conversations. Do you think it supports that sort of thing?

[-] fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 days ago

Sorry I think I misunderstood. Matrix has chat threads but not like Lemmy style posts.

You do Lemmy but block all federation too.

[-] 211@sopuli.xyz 2 points 5 days ago

Seconding Matrix, if you like the idea of chat rather than forum post format. You can also use the account in the Matrix network at large, quite a few techy hobby groups there, and of course one-to-one chat.

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

You could spin up a wiki and use the Discussion tab for that. Not ideal, but shouldn't be too hard to set up on fandom.wiki, for instance - should be simple to block edits by non-registered users. YouNeedAWiki or Miraheze should also work

[-] Libb@piefed.social 3 points 5 days ago

For years I had been using a private blog with friends. It was easy to comment on anyone's post, and easy for anyone of us to create a new post ;)

[-] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

I set up a Discourse message board recently and it’s pretty easy and cheap.

[-] hexagonwin@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 5 days ago
[-] sem 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Phpbb is the tried and true retro solution.

My high school friends groop stood one up on a free domain for our lunchtime politics discussion group.

this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
41 points (100.0% liked)

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