For anyone who has an account and can post instantly, you guys are my pride and joy. I'm proud of you for not sucking.
As for Guests or anyone else who needs their posts approved before they appear, I'll check in daily (probably) and approve things.
I'm a writer and I have no intention of stopping, I'm just not doing it publicly anymore for the time being.
The site will stay up (probably), and I could resume posting whenever I wanted, but now just isn't the time.
As for anyone out there who runs a forum/community, good work. I really appreciate those sites that offer an online community for people to enjoy, even if I don't use them... I just hope you have a massively well thought out backup plan.
My forum (glorified blog) is safe because I put measures in place from day one to ensure no one posted anything heinous... I have taken very special care to make sure no one is abusing this platform for an evil agenda.
Any platforms that didn't do that...
*shakes head*
Man oh man oh man...
Good luck.
It's never worth allowing free for all posting and letting things get so out of control that you can't even make sure nothing illicit or ill intentioned is hidden within a million page thread of clusterfuck shit-smear.
No ad money is worth it, no sub money is worth it...
Godspeed.
For anyone thinking I'm sounding dramatic here, listen... I dedicated my LIFE to forums.
This wasn't just some hobby crap that came about because one day in 2016 I randomly thought, "Ooo, I wanna start my own site!"
Like no. This site was the afterword of the (what feels like) LIFETIMES that I spent administering message boards and participating in various forum communities.
This site was started AFTER almost 15 years of extreme devotion to various message boards. I was MARRIED TO THAT LIFE.
So when I say that I think things are on rocky ground in the online sphere that message boards inhabit... I'm dead fucking serious.
In 2022 and beyond, message boards ARE the pot of water with the heat incrementally rising... there are a lot of frogs in the pot, and they think they're safe in their echo chambers, they think someone is coming to save them. They think there's safety in numbers. They think they're gonna be able to do what they've been doing forever... but sadly, I don't believe that is the case.
Again... I wait to be proven wrong. I WANNA BE WRONG. I hope and pray to be wrong. Not just for the longevity of privately owned online communities, but because of what any negative changes entail in every other aspect of the world.
But as I addressed in my original posts on this thread... most online communities are not well run. They have not been safeguarded. They really haven't. I guess views and money were more important than actually protecting the chances of a long life for these communities. It is what it is... that's human nature for you.
I used to encourage people to start their own sites... but in the 2020s? You know what, grow a garden.
Peace out.
I love your beautiful writing and the honest cogent funny brilliant unique way you express yourself. I’ve never been into forums… I only found this place months ago and was strangely drawn in and possibly addicted. Some of these threads are masterpieces of a kind of internet art I didn’t know existed. Wildly entertaining and informative. I posted a few times, would’ve added more, but usually just agreed and resonated with your thoughts and I’m more a reader than a typer anyway.
I hope you come back but I understand you have to do what’s best for your soul. Thanks for sharing all you have… please know you are loved and appreciated. That’s a beautiful quote in that sloslylove song. You’ve done a lot, most of us should try harder.
Thank you for your immense kindness, Guest... you're a treasure.
The beauty of it is that what those of us who wrote this site contributed is timeless.
It's really just an archive of observations and musings, various sharing that doesn't have a limit of relevance.
So if you're ever bored, you can always browse around, or enter something into the search function to see what comes up.
There has been A LOT said here over the years... it's definitely several books worth of material.
Love you Guest, it's folks like you who make the forum endeavor worth it, but unfortunately, you are a rarity.
(09-15-2022, 12:41 AM)Chatwoman Wrote: [ -> ]It's just like the Billy John song says... people basically do nothing besides smear shit all over everything ANYONE does.
If they lose their favorite places to smear shit all over... they had it coming, that's for damn sure. They never deserved a place to smear their shit on, and the shit smearing fucks outnumber everyone else.
No one is gonna speak up, and no one is gonna care.
They're gonna get their UBI, they're gonna get their VR, they're gonna get their Matrix style human battery chamber...
And they're not going to stand up for anything. They're not gonna change this.
woah there, negative nelly. i'm not sure you fully thought this through. all of their best peons, all of their hoop jumpers, everyone who would have supported that type of system have already self-selected to be removed. the fence sitters have not been comfortable for a year now. the tide has already turned, it's just a matter of it washing up.
it's not going to be easy, and it's not going to be pretty. there's no way around that. let your heart heal, don't let it be pulled down by the sinking ship. circumstances will end up much better than most could have dreamed of!
I appreciate the fact that you understand where I'm coming from with this, on a deep level. You said what I needed to hear right now. You cut through the fluff and touched on the heart of the matter. And I know you're right.