An internet forum is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. Forums differ from chat rooms in that messages are archived, at least temporarily.

Forums have their own jargon associated with them, for example, a single conversation is referred to as a "thread."

A forum is hierarchical in structure and can contain a number of subforums, each of which may contain several topics. Within a forum's topic, each new thread that is started can be replied to by any number of people.

Depending on the forum's settings, users may have to register with the forum and then subsequently login in order to post messages. However, some forums also allow anonymous posting. On most forums, users do not have to log in to read existing messages. Depending on the access level of a user or the forum set-up, a posted message might need to be moderator approved before it becomes visible.

Hosting a forum is a great way for like minded individuals to get together and debate hot topics in specially created areas, while also having the facilities to post videos and photos in their replies. These forums can be as public or as private as the owners/creators want them to be or things can be mixed up and have parts for the public and separate sections for members.