Literally read that two minutes ago, and Fraunfelder got some serious blowback in the replies.
I’m trying to catch up on the last bits of the BBS before it vaporises completely, but it feels like stirring through the ashes for the last dying embers of something once vibrant.
I did leave there politely, I feel, with a quiet thank you.
But the more I think on it, to chuck a stick of dynamite under our feet one week before perhaps the most important election in the history of democracy, well, sheeeet.
I haven’t really thought of BB like that in some time. I miss the Directory of Wonderful Things, lost some time ago as divisive rage-bait and questionable posts became more and more of the content of the blog side of the site.
With the pseudonymous authors in the last year, I figured something like this would come. BB was one of the last places I felt retained the feel of the old internet, before algorithms and engagement became the order of the day. It’s sad to see another OG bite the dust, but it’s been slowly dying for some time.
I was struggling to word how I was feeling about it, and you’ve captured it nicely. I hadn’t visited the front page in years except by clicking something on accident. I would read Rob and a few other author’s posts, but pretty much skipped Mark’s and all the AI-like authors.
I still am grateful for BB bringing together so many wonderful people into a community, but that Community of Wonderful People had long since replaced any kind of Directory of Wonderful Things for me. And now those Wonderful People are here.
And you’ve captured my feelings about the community on the BBS perfectly! If I had any interaction with front page posts, it was through the BBS. But that was rare. It was the non boing threads that kept me coming back day after day, and that’s because of the people there. And now those people are here
Out of curiosity, I went over to the new site to have a look… not sure if this is intentional or a mistake, but if this is how the experience is BB will be dead soon. This is not worth the price of admission:
Imagine having a place like that on the internet, one of the very few places that isn’t choked with junk but was full of sensible commentary, somewhere you knew brought up good enough material that you could actually skim it for your own blog, full of diverse people invested in the community enough to help you moderate it on their own time…and somehow concluding your audience would do just as well being shoved into a place promoting right-wing extremists. I don’t understand it. It feels like clearing out a rainforest in hopes just as many people will visit your new parking lot instead.
Especially that part… they have to know that some people directly in the line of fire of these fascists were frequent posters there and felt safe being themselves for the most part… but as @Tammi_2.0, this made their lives a bit easier, so I guess we know where they stand on the issues now…
It’s so hard to believe that they are sincere. For better or for worse, social media ate the independent aggregators’ lunch. Take away the ads, the rage bait and yesterday’s Reddit front page and there isn’t much left that many people would pay for. How is this supposed to work?
I might be cynical, but I think the move was all about money. BB wasn’t making enough, a SuS deal came through that looked more profitable, so BOOM, off they went, leaving us behind if we didn’t like the many, mostly shitty changes. I find it hard to imagine that making life easier was a goal, nor that it’s going to be much of a result-- with so many of us refusing to jump on their new bandwagon, they might have a harder time building an audience than they we’re expecting.
I think you’re likely correct about it being about the money… but I don’t think that means it’s not also about making their lives easier too… Seems like the moderation is a bit easier without all the extra threads to deal with, for one.
If I were able to pay for something, it certainly wouldn’t be links to other free content with minimal/not-insightful commentary. The thing that brought me to BB originally was that the authors posted interesting nerdy stuff that they found on the web and often included thoughtful commentary on it. Before social media, this was incredibly valuable. I frequented sites like Slashdot and Fark as well, because it exposed me to things I wouldn’t have found.
Now, I can see a lot of the stuff they post on other sites with minimal effort. Throw in the political content and general rage-bait the blog was made up with the last few years, and it’s not adding value to my life, just increasing my stress as they shove the rise of fascism in my marginalized face. That’s the exact opposite of what I went there for, but I guess it leads to more page views and advertising impressions.
Thankfully the community remained, so I retreated from the front page into the comments. The BBS was one of the few public places I felt comfortable talking about aspects of my life that are politically controversial now, thanks to the support of the community and relatively strong moderation.
What they are doing now has no value to me whatsoever. If I want rage bait, I can hop on any number of social media sites and mainline that rage. But there are so very few places to get the weird and wonderful that BB built itself off of. I think this move will go very badly for them. They’re not adding value, but trying to extract the last little bit of it from those who remain.
Damn that sounds bitter, but this is the second long-term online community I’ve lost in the last few years, and it really hurts.
To add to that: they’re going to be losing A LOT of the diverse voices that made the place what it was in this move, because a lot of people don’t feel safe in a place adjacent to so very many Nazi bars, and others are choosing to abandon ship in solidarity with them. Whatever audience they have left is likely to be much more homogenous, and whatever conversations they have will probably be a lot less interesting.
Whatever audience they have left is likely to be much more homogenous, and whatever conversations they have will probably be a lot less interesting.