Asimov/AnalogSF forums gone?
Through the grapevine, I'm getting reports that a persistent and stubborn troll has managed to frustrate the admin/staff of the Asimov's/Analog forums into closing the forum indefinitely. Having been through similar rodeos, running AW, I'd caution folks not to believe everything they hear. It may well be something as simple as a technical problem or updates that are taking longer than expected. Sometimes stuff just gets lost in translation.
I've also been approached by multiple people about creating an online space for the displaced forum members, over on Absolutewrite. I'm happy to do that, of course, either as a semi-permanent solution or on a strictly temporary basis. We already have a thriving SFF board. It's pretty trivial, technically-speaking, to create a room or sub-forum for people trying to keep in touch with each other, until this situation gets resolved.
I'm concerned for the displaced community members -- I'm seeing a great deal of consternation and displacement expressed, and I know that it's disorienting and frustrating for a community to go through this.
I'd urge folks to be patient, though -- it's pretty rare that a single troll is so very awful as to result in the permanent dissolution of an online community. I'd be willing to bet that the folks running the forums for Asimov's and Analog get things figured out and manage to restore the community. So those of you feeling disoriented, keep the faith!
In the meantime, since online communities are what I do for a living, I'm happy to help anyway I can (and that includes volunteering AW's SFF forum as a gathering place and information-clearinghouse.
I've also been approached by multiple people about creating an online space for the displaced forum members, over on Absolutewrite. I'm happy to do that, of course, either as a semi-permanent solution or on a strictly temporary basis. We already have a thriving SFF board. It's pretty trivial, technically-speaking, to create a room or sub-forum for people trying to keep in touch with each other, until this situation gets resolved.
I'm concerned for the displaced community members -- I'm seeing a great deal of consternation and displacement expressed, and I know that it's disorienting and frustrating for a community to go through this.
I'd urge folks to be patient, though -- it's pretty rare that a single troll is so very awful as to result in the permanent dissolution of an online community. I'd be willing to bet that the folks running the forums for Asimov's and Analog get things figured out and manage to restore the community. So those of you feeling disoriented, keep the faith!
In the meantime, since online communities are what I do for a living, I'm happy to help anyway I can (and that includes volunteering AW's SFF forum as a gathering place and information-clearinghouse.