@dragfyre I've never used chirp or gup.pe, but the reason I chose Friendica is because:
1. You can moderate them 2. It looks somewhat similar to Facebook Groups 3. It supports threaded conversations 4. It's got a lot of other goodies supported by Friendica
Gup.pe is centralised because there is exactly one instance. Friendica is fully decentralised, and you can create forums on any instance that allows you to register an account.
Friendica groups can be read without joining them first. Gup.pe groups can't.
Friendica groups allow the pre-joining post backlog to be read. Gup.pe groups don't.
Friendica groups have to be created manually as user accounts. This means there's always at least one human behind each group which means Friendica groups can be moderated directly from within by users with special privileges. AFAIK, additional moderations can be appointed. None of this applies to gup.pe groups which are created automatically.
Private Friendica groups with limited access are possible. The same isn't possible on gup.pe.
Gup.pe is centralised because there is exactly one instance. Friendica is fully decentralised, and you can create forums on any instance that allows you to register an account.
Gregory's Server
@dragfyre I've never used chirp or gup.pe, but the reason I chose Friendica is because:
1. You can moderate them
2. It looks somewhat similar to Facebook Groups
3. It supports threaded conversations
4. It's got a lot of other goodies supported by Friendica