Story

I think slashdot, like a lot of forums or discussion sites, is on the way down. It'll still exist for years and years but the original audience is dying off (literally, in some cases).

I've run dozens and dozens of forums, some of them going on 20 years now, and they have a lifespan that frequently seems to run in parallel with the users. People gain interest in a subject, seek out a discussion forum for it, and then participate for some period of time. After a while (anywhere from a month to 10 or 15 years) their interest wanes and they taper off or depart entirely. Interestingly, they are often not replaced by a fresh cop of newcomers. Either the subject is no longer relevant or new, more trendy forums pop up that attract new users, or other sources for the same information appear, drawing users away. The same info can often be found elsewhere

I've seen this happen repeatedly. Slashdot has a pretty entrenched footprint, but I don't see the traffic and lively discussions that I used to. The rise of dedicated trolls and off-topic junk, mixed with racism and flaming doesn't help either. Anything is possible but I predict a slow and steady decline overall in sites like slashdot. There will always be a place for discussion sites but the need isn't as great as it used to be.