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?
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
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?
Sorry I think I misunderstood. Matrix has chat threads but not like Lemmy style posts.
You do Lemmy but block all federation too.
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.