I haven't seen a single reason why I'd want to visit your site.

Paul Tomblin

Couldn't agree more. Take the UK as a cautionary tale:

There is this urban myth that one or two individuals 'killed' the NG
uk.rec.boats.paddle by continually using it as a political platform,
challenging British Canoe Union etc. Then some sensitive little souls
started posting messages such as 'I can't stand all the pettiness any more,
come to the forum for right thinking canoeists'.

And people did, so now UK canoeists got what they deserve. People mainly
flock to a couple of strongly moderated forums where they get blasted with
adverts. On the plus side, forums do tend to eliminate crude spamming, or
do they, because moderators tend to write 'Dear subscriber, you'll find the
full answer to your question in my latest book xyz, available in all good
book shops' a lot of the time.

Forum = Funded by commercial interest, hence variable quality. Blinkered,
insular, pressure to confom. "Different day, same old sxxx". Tends to make
you feel smug and that you 'belong' if you toe the party line.

Usenet = Outpourings from all comers, hence variable quality. Lively
debate, access to thousands of topics. "Take the rough with the smooth".
Rarely in the comfort zone and tends to get you thinking.

Personal opinion - support your Usenet NGs and do not use a forum that
suppresses criticism of their advertisers or that discourages lively debate.