Absolutely!
I agree with other opinions stating Meta should remain the central place of gathering. But I must say: This forum feels so much more welcoming to newcomers. I speak for myself.
So from where I stand, if Meta is hard enough, here the participation can be significantly easier. The interface walk us through it. Any hard-time might be due to the great amount of text, that is intrinsic to forums. But if the point is to ~mass discuss the movement strategy~ then a lot of discussion among lots of people is actually the goal. If people feel pushed back by it, then they are just not that interested in the discussion. Which is OK. They can keep up with the outcomes.
Plus, when the established alternatives so far are Telegram and similar, closed channels, I believe forums are much more useful to the goal.
Long live this forum! 