Dear All:
In case you hadn't noticed my absence, I have been absent from moderating for a significant period of time. This was due to a sudden family emergency that required me to take on the role of home health aide. Our family was not prepared for this emergency either monetarily, logistically, or physically; so I've had to make many critical choices about how to prioritize my time. Unfortunately, this meant I had to prioritize health care, transportation, extra work hours, and minor construction ahead of you all.
Frankly, I figured you would all be fine for the most part. I've always said that you all make the forum what it is, not me. But, it doesn't change the fact that I have been delinquent in my duties to you all. And maybe I could have been forgiven myself after a few weeks of regular moderating and creating a good system for it, but after this period of time, it simply isn't fair to you for me to continue moderating.
I would have greatly preferred a transition phase, but it simply isn't something I can maintain due to my time constraints. Any plan I come up with is pretty regularly thrown to the wind, so I'll have to let the chips fall where they may. I'll try to check back more regularly than I have, but I genuinely can't make any strong commitments.
Thus, I'm looking for volunteers for moderation. Truly the forum only needs moderate moderation. Heavy daily commitments isn't necessarily required, as it can probably be mastered by a crew of a few taking different days.
Thank you for your time, and I apologize for the frustrations I have caused you. Please volunteer in the comment chain with your available commitment, and if there are people you would like to work with.
That's a big part of why this site's failing, everything is siloed.
Yeah and that's honestly how it should be. We got on just fine under that model for years before all online discourse became centralized.
Good point. Now that I think about it, kinda miss all the little independent forums we used to have.
That's because it offered some semblance of community. When you have a finite number of users you end up learning who everyone else is, rather than it being an endless sea of unfamiliar usernames. Also forum avatars and signature blocks ended up being a sort of digital face that you'd begin to recognize as well. It was a digital watering hole where everyone caroused and butted heads, but it was a communal affair through and through.
Now what do we have? Corporate sterile platforms with so many users that you can't ever meet anyone twice. It has an isolating effect.