Well said @BlackHatCoiner. 

I think if an unmoderated message board reached a large enough audience and had a system that allowed upvotes/downvotes like the website I won't name, it could promote good conversation.  But unfortunately the message boards get overwhelmed by one side too quickly and they never reach enough people before turning into a spam fest.

I also recognize that most forums usually end up as a giant echo chambers because people want to hear/read what they agree with.

The majority of people are good - I truly believe that. The problem is we only hear from the loud ones who are usually not so good.