Why do people join forums?

Is it to:-
1. grow your business by selling your product/service
2. buy products/services from people that you 'feel that you can trust'
3. find information to help you or your business
4. grow your social networking contacts

Perhaps there are other reasons why people join forums.

I'll go first.
I've joined this forum and a few other forums to grow my business, but I've come to believe that this is not the case. Everyone is trying to sell their service/product but no one is buying. Sometimes too much emphasis is placed on the building of relationships, getting to know your fellow businessperson, building trust and ultimately doing business. There needs to be balance between these factors, otherwise it can end up as another social networking forum.

What interests me about this forum is the volume of information that can be found amongst it pages - very helpful and informative.

Will it help grow my business - perseverance and time will tell!!
Shortly I will be contacting a few members to assist me in growing my business - on and off-line.