Cactus I disagree with that. Just because Forums have become more interactive doesn't make them a replacement for a full blown Chat. You can't make the same "good morning" post every day and have smalltalk as normal in a topic as you would in shoutbox or chat.
Forum:
a meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
Shoutbox:
A shoutbox, saybox, tagboard, chatterbox or chat box is a chat-like feature of some websites that allows people to quickly leave messages on the website, generally without any form of user registration.
I think the word "forum" perfectly explains what forums are. It's a public debate where voices are heard and while not everyone has their say, everyone can hear what is being said, and in the world of the internet it just lives on for the duration of the websites life.
Chat's purposes are different. Chat is like a never ending party where people can have smalltalk and also more serious conversations between a group of people. Despite what you may believe both mediums have their place and purpose.
Whether or not you should stuff a Shoutbox on top of a forum is a different matter. I've seen various different techniques but ultimately it just makes it easier. Which is why people do it.
Some of the best times I've had in some communities is in the chatboxes. You're not limited to making a "relevant" or "ontopic" post. And as debates in forums grown in size they becomes increasingly difficult to navigate and read entirely. Which means they are ultimately not a good fit as an alternative to chat.
