Online Communities

From what I've been gathering, once CourtTv becomes "TruTV," the CourtTV message boards will be a thing of the past. It doesn't appear that the massive Ted Turner conglomerate will continue to provide message boards related to trial coverage. I recommend if there are people you want to stay connected with from that community, better exchange an email addresses now. Already, there are people trying to stay connected by via small message boards that are popping up here and there. Whether they are still around a year from now remains to be seen.

There are a few established message boards that I recommend people look into. Not all are the exact same format (or forum board software) but they have been established for some time, and they have excellent moderation and dedication by several long time members.

CrimeShots is a true crime message board that has been around since March, 2004. The software is the same one used by CourtTV, however, there are quite a few more bells and whistles because the owner has utilized all the latest options vBulletin has to offer. I like this little message board. It's a well moderated community and I consider the owner a good net friend There are many long time members there who are dedicated to keeping the site updated with the latest breaking crime news. Every time I check in there are new stories to catch up on.

Crime and Justice is another well moderated true crime board that has been around a long, long time. It first started out as a small community on the EZboard group of communities. A few years ago, the EZboard servers were hacked and hundreds of message boards of all types on EZboard lost quite a bit of their history and research. That's when the founders of C&J decided to pool resources, purchase their own message board software, and move off the EZboard servers. The board software they use is Invision. This is another great, tight knit community of people who are dedicated to helping solve crime and finding missing persons. Many times on this board, I've dropped in on a new missing person story, and have found family members of the missing loved one joining in on the discussions. I consider the owner and several members there good net friends, too.

So, if you are looking for a new place to follow the latest crime story, these are two places I recommend you check out.