Pretty surprising how little internet you need to run the forum.

[Zoomic]

Because the forum is not flashy will be a reason why some people will be discouraged from being in the forum because they are used to the flashy platforms. The flashier a platform is, the more internet requirements it will require and more of a distraction it will become.

The graphics of this forum is naturally disappointing to everyone that came from the social media background. But when they stay longer here, they become used to the interface.

Imagine we had profile pictures on our profiles here in the forum, many people would be distracted from the purpose of learning which the forum is meant for and turn it into another social networking platform. The forum is different from other platforms and you see it clearly as soon as you log in.

I do not think that the reason we use avatars instead of profile pictures is because of distractions. When this forum was newly created, profile pictures were used and learning, conversations and contributions were topnotch. The reason for profile picture deactivation should be more related to privacy.

[Jostern]

I think the forum was built in such a way that, you can actually access the platform when you have a low level data, I think there are websites that we can’t access when you don’t have a high network carrier, so I think there is a high tendency that we can’ have a good access to the internet line, I have previously observed this as well that we can have easily access the internet in the forum when we have a low data connection.

I see people talking about the graphics of the forum but I think there is nothing wrong with the graphics of the forum, well we can actually do with dark mode and high I think would also present something quite different from what we already know.

[libert19]

I think the forum was built in such a way that, you can actually access the platform when you have a low level data

I suppose forum started back in 2008, it was edge/2g/3g back then, with highest speeds in kbps or Kbps (I dunno difference), of course it'd reflect state of things back then but impressive or some may even say negatively that it's remained that way despite the technological progress since then.

I think there are websites that we can’t access when you don’t have a high network carrier

True. I have come across such. Don't ask which ones tho, cause I don't remember.

[Ultegra134]

By flashy I’m guessing you mean modern social media standards. I think a lot of the young people (Gen Z) would find it difficult to post on forums. They are used to likes, algorithms, and doomscrolling. It’s difficult to get them to pay long attention to anything that’s not a video.
After a couple of years on the forum, I realised that the forum interface doesn’t need to change to fit modern aesthetics, those who really find value in the community and contributions here will stay regardless of the software.

Forums in general are quite "dated" for current standards. As you've also mentioned yourself, social media are the ones that gain the most attention, especially from newer generations. Personally, I've always browsed through forums, read other peoples' opinion, or how to solve an issue etc., something which is going to fade in the upcoming years (it already has) when forums eventually die down and are no longer accessible. I've also been in this forum since 2014 (but was also a lurker before registering) and it has always been the same, and deep down, I like that, reminds me of old times.

[Mahiyammahi]

So a couple months ago I had a very bad experience with my carrier at the time and could barely browse the slightest of applications and websites I often visit but slightly to my surprise the forum ran just fine on 2G. If can remember vividly I think there was a post where we were actually able to conclude that the admin did have some optimization happen back end.

Nevertheless the pretty funny thing is constantly using 5G or 4G barely makes you see a difference in speed but switching up to 2G you'll definitely get a very smooth experience on the forum regardless of page length and even if images are embedded or not. You should try it out
Fun fact; just for the fun of it I literally published this post with 2G and I think I'm gonna keep it for a while lol.

The design of the BitcoinTalk forum is still very old-fashioned. It is not as heavy or dynamic as modern websites. As a result, it does not require much data or processing power to load, which is actually a big advantage. I also tried accessing the BitcoinTalk forum using a 2G/EDGE network once. Surprisingly, the forum was still quite smooth to use.
I hope this place for all bitcoiner will remain same forever

[Cryptohygenic]

I think the forum was built on simple architecture designs which focuses on intensive caching so am not surprised that you can browse on 2G network. Apart from that, the forum also consumes low amount of internet data. There was a time I travelled to a rural community with low Internet connectivity yet I was able to browse through the forum even when other websites and apps were not opening.

Edit: The forum is powered by SMF 

You are right and I have had similar experience were other apps in my mobile device could not work due to poor internet network and it was just so odd to my experience that very time because I can not access the internet but haven to navigate through the bitcoin talk forum it just went smoothly.
The forum is indeed a total different internet data consumption that it can load all that lengthy posts and loads imagines. It is also observed that the forum does not necessarily require that high internet speed to work efficiently.