All this has happened before, and will happen again.

[Anbaric]

A little while ago I was a member of a lively discussion forum hosted by the website of a Famous Name. While other such forums existed, the Name and the slick formatting of the site helped to draw traffic to the discussion board, which soon became one of the largest and most useful communities of its type on the net. Though obviously focused on certain core areas of interest, the topics discussed were quite diverse, ranging from highly technical debates over hard data, to rather more frivolous threads on random subjects. Though arguments occasionally became heated, and the rather elitist attitudes sometimes (perhaps unfairly) associated with the Name were from time to time apparent, effective moderation ensured that the community functioned smoothly.

But the day came when the administrators of the site decided that change was in order. A rather bland corporate makeover of the site was planned, in which there would be no place for unfettered discussion (though rather ironically, the site would continue to emphasise the the Name's iconoclastic credentials, looking back to the time several decades earlier when it had been associated with a revolutionary new approach to the field). So what was their plan to implement this Exciting New Development? Would the plug be pulled without warning, and the accounts of any troublemakers deleted? Well, no. It turned out that the administrators had a lot more sense, and a degree of respect for the members, recognising the overlap between the corporate interests of the site and the enthusiastic unpaid support of the forum contributors. So the forum was de-branded, handed over to an independent administrator, and given a new domain that did not explicity mention the Name but obviously referenced it. The original forum was archived on the new site and made available indefinitely, and the members picked up where they left off. The Name continued to sponsor the forum behind the scenes, and even linked to it from the new corporate website, while disclaiming responsibility for anything that went on there.

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-for ... 1151392160
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-for ... s/2/2.html
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/index.html
http://uk.leica-camera.com/photography/forum/

Unfortunately this seems to be a rather rare example of how to handle this sort of situation well. Razing the community to the ground and salting the earth has always been the favoured approach. For online communities this method pre-dates the web, as in this example of another forum I also once contributed to:

http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/software/ ... ecycle.txt

'This is where the rot set in really, the big mistake was giving the "Editors" their own conference that normal users didn't have access to, they assumed much greater power than they really should have had, and furthermore, started to demand the ability to moderate the chat system as well...[The system] finally died when, in yet another argument [over the status of a moderator] [the administrator] physically unplugged the line driver and stated that if they weren't going to listen to him, they couldn't have a service.'

[maiforpeace]

Interesting.

Online communities are definitely pioneering a form that we have little experience with and their has been no study on. I'm willing to bet that any treastises written on this subject from a management perspective in the future will use what happened at RDF as an example of how not to do it. Poor RD and Josh.

[goodboyCerberus]

...Unless we can find a way to live in peace with the cylon.

[virphen]

...Unless we can find a way to live in peace with the cylon.

Now that's the most rational explanation yet for what Chalkers did.

[lordpasternack]

Thanks for this input.

[Anbaric]

...Unless we can find a way to live in peace with the cylon.

I see we now seem to have an Apology, but don't forget what happened to the rebel Cylons in Season 4, episodes 2-3:

http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/Six_of_One
http://en.battlestarwiki.org/wiki/The_Ties_That_Bind

Cavil / Number 1, the ageing atheist leader, has attempted to impose his will by boxing all dissenting Cylons, and performing a 'reconfiguration' that removes the ability of the rank and file to act on their own initiative. When this leads to a violent rebellion that damages him personally, he feigns reconciliation with the rebels, waits until he has them exactly where he wants them, then attacks without mercy.

I'm just saying.

[Blondie]

Thanks for this input.

Thank you for your avatar. It always gives me a rise when I'm feeling down.

[statichaos]

I belong to a popular culture forum called "Snarkfest". For a while, I was one of three admins on the site. The forum owner had decided that she was tired of policing the site, so she appointed me and one other person to take care of day-to-day operations, eventually stating that she was going to "step down" from any official capacity, and that she would in time remove herself as an admin.

This never happened.

While the other admin and I tried to run the site to the best of our abilities, the owner would experience struggles with mental illness, and would occasionally ban or warn people without mentioning it to us first. This despite her "retirement". We weren't fond of these actions of hers, but realized that as the founder, there was little that we could do about it.

Other matters took precedence in my life, and I ended up not being an admin there, or even visiting the site. I eventually came back as a regular contributing member once the smoke cleared. The Michael Richards controversy regarding racist comments erupted soon after I came back. The site founder got into an argument with several regular posters on the thread devoted to the topic. She didn't think that it was a huge deal. Finally, she admitted to having used the same racial slurs in the past. Others continued the debate with her.

Posts started disappearing from the thread.

Then, one day, the site up and disappeared.

She had deleted the entire forum in a fit of pique.

The people who were actually doing all of the heavy lifting over there managed to cobble together a new site within 48 hours, of course, but we were all stunned at what had happened without explanation, or warning, or the most basic civility. Thousands upon thousands of posts were lost. Oh, most of them were silly conversations about favorite celebrities, or movies, or television shows, but there were also posts of insight and wit, of intelligence and depth.

When I saw this happen, my heart broke for the RDF regulars, because I know exactly what it feels like to lose an online home. But I wasn't surprised.

[lordpasternack]

Thanks for this input.

Thank you for your avatar. It always gives me a rise when I'm feeling down.

I was trying to get a rise out of you.