Why do people run forums ?

[muddy]

Not being tech savvy I always wonder why people run social forums .
They must be quite a lot of work and hassle .

I can see the reasoning behind interest forums ,dogs cats cars etc 
But for social chit chat 
Just wondering .

[klondike]

The big ones make billions from advertising and selling data about their users. This one just costs money but not a great deal and it is something to do that keeps my brain cells ticking over.  

Not that it requires a lot of effort. Maintenance doesn't take long and it's too small to attract hackers. There is a mod running that refuses entry to the vast majority of spammers.

https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=4311

 No time is spent on moderation.

[muddy]

Ok thank you 
It's still looks complicated 

Tech is a mystery to me 
I still don't know how to download music .

[klondike]

I first worked with computers in 1971. I worked with them til I retired. My main field was mainframes but was using PCs servers and networks from the early 80s. Mostly self taught on websites and the languages and scripting needed to construct them. If you work with something pretty much all your life it isn't hard.

[Scrumpy]

All this technical stuff is a mystery to me..
I can't seem to grasp what it is I need to do .. I think I've 'got it' then.. all of a sudden' I find that I haven't..
I do not understand the technical words.. I do not understand where to 'look' for stuff..
I have mastered WORDLE on here.. SHARE-Left click-paste.. 
I would love to join in the gardening section and post pics.. 
Hattie my granddaughter is here tomorrow.. I will ask her .... again...