LFGSS and Microcosm shutting down 16th March 2025 (the day before the Online Safety Act is enforced)
-
I think you are completely out of order here and can't think why you are pushing this so hard. You speak from experience so know the effort and risk that goes into running an online community. You've spoken in great detail about the perils and pain that you have gone through. So Velocio has decided and has been pretty open that this legislation is the last straw and they are going to pack it in after 20+ years. Absolutely no-one begrudges them that decision and we are in fact all amazed that they have managed it for this long.
You, and others, may feel differently and decide to keep running your communities. Great for you. But why do you find it so hard to imagine that someone has had enough and wants to pack it in or, as suggested, possibly hand it over to others to bear the burden. Have some empathy mate.
Lebowski-
I think you are completely out of order here
Do not feed the trolls.
-
I think you are completely out of order here and can't think why you are pushing this so hard. You speak from experience so know the effort and risk that goes into running an online community. You've spoken in great detail about the perils and pain that you have gone through. So Velocio has decided and has been pretty open that this legislation is the last straw and they are going to pack it in after 20+ years. Absolutely no-one begrudges them that decision and we are in fact all amazed that they have managed it for this long.
That's not my point at all. I support Velocio in their decision to shut down the forum.
I do not think my personal circumstance matters too much but for the record my wife and I decided that I would retire last year following the birth of our daughter. I could laugh off death threats when it was just me, we could stomach death threats when it was my wife and I because running online communities has been my passion for decades and the risk was low but now that we have our daughter, we reached the point where the risk was no longer worth it.
I understand that this Ofcom legislation is the straw that broke the camels back for Velocio. That is exactly the point I am making: this legislation is a straw and should be discussed as such, not the wrecking ball that it is being framed as. The legislation deserves discussion and critique but this legislation should not be discussed as an existential threat to the ability of independent forum operators to operate. I ask for honesty, not a lifetime commitment to run a forum.
I also do not think my view on shutting down this forum matters much either, but for the record, I think shutting down a forum instead of handing over ownership is often the right decision. Power structures put in place to fill a vacuum are very hard to get right. A forum does not need to exist forever, people can look back upon this forum fondly, frozen in time in the internet archive, people can splinter off and create their own, new forums, new communities can grow from the fertile soil that this forum leaves behind.
I am not a troll. I am a person deeply passionate about online communities with a long history. I am a person who made the same decision Velocio wants to make. I was referred to this post by a friend who knows that it is an area of interest for me. I understand that this is an emotional discussion for some people, and I understand the complicated feelings everyone has.
Velocio
user159377
You are catastrophizing. You are describing forums as "lucky" that they haven't had bad things happen yet you are not acknowledging your own luck. How many times have you faced lawsuits for things that have happened on your forums? How many times have you been attacked in public because of things that have happened on your forums? How many times have people tried to interfere with your personal life because of things that have happened on your forums? All of these bad outcomes can (and do) happen today to forum operators, I am sure they have happened to you. And if they have happened to you already, why are you so focused on this new legislation as an existential risk? Bad things happen to people who don't operate forums, too: many internet famous people have relationships with their local police departments due to the volume of swatting, stalking, harassment and threats that anyone with a profile on the internet experiences.
Philosophical disagreement with this legislation is one thing, intellectual dishonesty about the impact is another. The other forum operators mentioned by aggi aren't reckless risk-seekers intent on orchestrating the destruction of their own life, they're pragmatists who understand this legislation is another grain of sand in the bucket of risk taken on when putting yourself in the crosshairs of nerds.
Given the choice between death threats against my family from an aggrieved and motivated person who has gone to the effort to identify me personally, or a report to Ofcom from the same aggrieved and motivated person, I will take the report to Ofcom every day of the week. Wouldn't you?