Yeah, I think you’re right on that.
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minor correction…
Corey “borrowed” the term from this person
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Ken’s “But there’s a chance we might come back, don’t anonymise, you might regret it!” vibe just doesn’t sit right with me.
I never said anything I need a record of, and people should have listened when I said it the first time.
What I would regret is having my actual fucking name spread over Substack.
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yeah, that part… and I think that we should not dismiss what could become a new reality Tuesday. if anything can be tracked back to us in a worst case scenario and be used to identify us for thoughtcrimes against dear leader or whatever, then we should do what we can to protect ourselves in that case. I hate to be so paranoid, but there it is…
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For some reason, I always felt like Popkin was one of Mark’s kids. Maybe from back in the old days.
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Yeah, most of the time he doesn’t set off my bullshit detector. He usually feels more honest than most.
That one set it off. Noteworthy for its rarity.
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Personally, I think it feels desperately hopeful rather than bullshit. It certainly doesn’t feel right though, whatever the reasoning.
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Yeah, I believe in my heart that Ken cares about the community, and the blowback has to be hard to deal with. He’s in a crappy position. I can believe that he would hope for the BBS to return.
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Yeah, good point. I don’t feel like he’s trying to bullshit me. I’m with you - I feel like he doesn’t fully believe what he’s saying. I like the phrasing of “desperately hopeful”.
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Same. I think he believes in the ideals of BB, and he very much wants it to survive and prosper. I don’t think he’s being deiberately disingenuous with us.
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Honestly, the timing of this is what makes me angry as opposed to just sad and/or disappointed. It forces many into having to make this decision at a time when it could be so consequential just when we don’t need the extra stress and turmoil. The most charitable interpretation is that TPTB at TOP were profoundly thoughtless with regard to the feelings and needs of the community.
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Did he also point out that if the substack move failed, and they decided to reactivate the BB BBS again, people who anonymize are fucked? He did with me.
But I sort of feel like that’s probably not going to play out that way, and anyway, I don’t know if I want to participate in trying to resurrect something that they’ve so casually killed even if they do eventually go that route.
(I guess I should have kept reading before replying.)
By the way, with the move to Substack, is Ken out of a job?
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Posted very shortly after I anonymized. Oh, so now they’re having second thoughts? Kind of late for that. I’m not actually upset about it though, as I think the damage has already been done and even if they brought back the BBS, too many people have already jumped ship for it to ever be the same again. I made my decision based on their seemingly very clear “if you don’t like it, too bad, it’s happening” attitude (Frauenfelder more than orenwolf, who I’m more sympathetic towards), so to see them suddenly go “oh, but maaaybe we might change our mind” at the last second is kind of annoying.
This was foremost on my mind in getting anonymized before the deadline. I hate it too, but it’s warranted.
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I just sent my anonymization request. It hurt a little hitting that button 
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Interestingly enough - Ken/Orenwolf is a user on this site (yeah I did some peeking).
He’s probably reading all this stuff right now (and if so let it be said I always thought he was a great dude even when he blocked my less empathetic posts).
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Whoa. I had no idea.
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Just based on the absolute lack of communication (beyond Ken doing a heroic effort) i honestly don’t care if things were reverted. The decision has already broken up and disrupted the community, going back would not erase the shitty decisions and i don’t know what it would take for me to invest my time and effort into the site.
I’ve mentioned it in a separate comment but i’m not big on social media platforms because drama and bullshit is just not something i have emotional capacity and energy for. It took years for me to feel comfortable being part of the BBS, and even many more years to be actively engaged, and just as i’m feeling like i can be part of things this stuff with Substack happens. I was really hoping to see something positive from the controlling interests in BB but i’ve quickly changed my mind.
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Can we just change our screen names to something very generic so that our (often) cross-used screen names aren’t attached to AI vacuuming?
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I think the timing was as simple as putting their needs before our needs. Election posting means lots more moderation and, I think orenwolf outright said, an influx of trolls and right-wing troublemakers. That’s a lot more work for a community they were planning to essentially ditch very soon, so they decided to do it before the election instead of after. Whether leaving so many vulnerable people adrift at that critical moment was justified is a different question. Maybe they felt they literally could not handle it and felt it was better to not even try rather than try and fail, if we’re being charitable.
I’m aware, and I hope if he is reading my posts he doesn’t take my criticism of BoingBoing and its admins personally. I don’t hold any ill will against him specifically. Don’t shoot the messenger and all that.
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