No. They are special.

I'm being facetious. Take note all ye.

Yeah, not sure “async forums” conveys what OP is trying to convey. Maybe “real-time forums” or “live forums”.

They’re async as in the technical ‘async’, vs. async as in “async communication” (which is what you’re saying).

But the key is that you don’t have to force an update — updates happen in real-time, even edits (they’re pushed). In traditional forums, you’re forced to pull updates.

TLDR: it has the feel of chat, with the structure of forums.