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It's been said before (can't remember where, or by who specifically, but I've read it more than once) that the newer members of barbelith are happier with what the board is because we don't know what we're missing. We weren't around for when it was at its best, and maybe to some degree we're also missing the point.
Even if that's the case, and what we're defending is just a sort of social shell of what barbelith was intended to be, I don't think that element of barbelith can be covered by facebook or livejournal. Barbelith doesn't feel like a big, scary, often nasty and exceedingly public space the way that facebook does. Whether or not the discussion areas are as prolific as they used to be, barbelith is still unique, even if only in ambience. And while that may sound worthless, it still keeps a fair amount of people attached.
That's worth repeating. This is a pretty good articulation of why I've been repeatedly posting in the Policy these last couple of months, and why I came back from a brief absence.
Because, dammit, I don't want to see this place fold. It's got so much history, and so many good, good people who post here, or did post here. Olmos/Paleface's board might have a lot of the same people posting, and it might have functionality in it that makes it tenable (because it takes into account the fact that, yes, there are arseholes in the world who'll take the chance to shit on anything they come across, regardless of how beautiful and unique and special anyone else thinks it is), but it won't be Barbelith, because it won't have the shared history and experiences of this place.
I was trying to explain to my wife why I was checking this thread on my PDA while we were wandering around in the sun on the South Bank today, and I kept saying 'it's so sad, seeing something that I care about just wither away.' Because I do care about this place. Snarky shitfights and everything else aside, it really is a unique place, and to see it die because people just stop posting is horrendous. And they're stopping posting because it's become a walled garden, and yes, it would be a major hassle to do the kind of back-end changes that'd be needed to make this place able to cope with the reality of the internet today (a lot more people online = a lot more objectionable eejits online), but is it preferable to just let the place grind to a halt than find the people and the time to make those changes?
Well, I hope that something happens, whether it's a concerted effort to change Barbelith so it can adapt and survive, or whether Tom bites the bullet, archives the site and closes it, but anything would be preferable to this ongoing limbo. |
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So does that mean Stoatie is El Presidente for Life or First Tiger?