Tip: An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site. It is the modern equivalent of a traditional bulletin board, and a technological evolution of the dialup bulletin board system. From a technological standpoint, forums or boards are web applications managing user-generated content. Forums consist of a group of contributors who usually must be registered with the system, becoming known as members. The members submit topics for discussion known as threads and communicate with each other using publicly visible messages referred to as posts or private messaging. Forums usually restrict anonymous visitors.