A discussion forum mindset?

I've been observing how there is a "generation" of people who have become so used to using discussion forums that they have difficulty in seeing online interactions outside that lens.

A discussion forum is more organised, predictable and tidy than blogs and tags and feeds. Also a facilitator (or teacher) is still able to manage and direct the conversations - by approving members, setting permissions, deciding topics, moderating discussions etc.

Managing a discussion forum is also seen by many people as requiring quite a high level technology know-how. And there's a status from having that know-how.

That has got me wondering if those people who haven't even yet entered the world of discussion forums would find it easier  or less easy to enter the more messy, unpredictable and less controlable world of blogging and feeds.

These thoughts have been simmering away as I prepared the CIARIS Friends Meeting site using Drupal. The important place for interactions is through blogging and using feeds inside the site and from outside the site (outside in this case are del.icio.us and flickr feeds), and syndication of course. The discussion forums are the least interesting part of Drupal, but I've incorporated them because it's what some people will be expecting.

I was fascinated when an experienced online facilitator described his moves when he entered the CIAIRS site. His eye immediately ran down the left side of the screen to look for discussion topics. He dismissed  blogs as irrelevant (as who would be keeping a blog here?) He clicked on forums, saw there were no discussions and left the site.

Drupal can be used as a real hybrid genre. It incorporates (or can incorporate) blogs, wikis, tags and discussion forums. Among other things you can write book pages (that make a book) and have projects. It can also look like a website or a blog. It's this messy combination of technologies and genres that is Drupal's strength - but does that mean only people with messy mindsets who let go control can realise its potential?