For me, the "death" of the Forum was demonstrated while reading this thought-provoking post. Having provoked some thoughts, my first reaction was to head to Chat to discuss them either with Sam or whoever was around. I find it more natural to seek out immediate discussion on a point rather than make a Forum post that may not be replied to.

To put it in perspective, imagine you are logged on to an instant messenger while mooching over the internet, and you find an interesting or amusing whatsit somewhere among its nether regions. Do you write an email to tell people about it when they're active on your buddy list?

As such, I see the Forum as a less personal form of communication. It's basically announcing to the world whatever it is you want to say and hoping to encourage response, rather than saying it directly to someone in particular. The Forum, to me, is for the big things when you want to get out the soapbox and make your statements known to the world. This is compounded by its natural "slowness"; You can spend as long as you want composing your thoughts without having to worry about interruption or divergence. If I've just seen something amusing or feel like sparking a quick straw poll discussion, then using the Forum seems like a waste of its permanence.