Apple is shutting down its online Support Community on November 20

It’ll remain online, but it will no longer accept new posts.

Apple

If you ever want to ask fellow Apple users anything about the company's devices in the future, you'll have to go on social media websites. The company is permanently shutting down the official Apple Support Community. As MacRumors has noticed, Apple posted a message on the community home page, which says that it's closing down on November 20. While the support website is still up, you can no longer post in it, and it's only available in a read-only state. 

The community has gone through several changes over the years since it debuted in 1998. It was known as Apple Discussions for a time, before it was renamed to its current one. User responses on the Support Community are typically some of the first results to pop up whenever you search for technical issues you need an answer to or for instructions on how to use a particular feature. Some of those responses are helpful, but some are admittedly not. In its announcement, Apple says "you can continue to find trusted guidance and support on the official Apple Support site."

In a statement, Apple told MacRumors that it decided to shut down down the Support Community "after a careful evaluation of strategy and customer needs." Maybe the community has just outlived its usefulness. Since people have other places online they can go to when seeking advice from other users anyway, Apple may have decided it was time to let the discussions forum go.