Quote:
Originally Posted by Outlier (Later)
Hey Mike,
Which particular old days do you not miss? I loved this place for about three (six? nine?) months back in the days before too many of the uninteresting people moved in. I mean, I *loved* it, it was my favorite place into which to check on a daily (sometimes hourly) basis. It made me almost -- dare I say it? -- happy.
I guess what I'm asking is: is CG as it currently operates basically what you want from it at this point? Or in a perfect world would you still be interested in having a more-thriving, somewhat exclusive BYU-themed community?
Just wondering whether I should hold out hope.
o
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I don't miss the squabbling. the back-biting and arguing. The dumb requests I got. The annoying people. And so forth.
The bottom line is this: I let the community evolve in an organic way, taking a hands off approach. Eventually it become something that demanded too much of my time and energy, further compounded by being a place I was starting not to enjoy based on some of the people and the content.
Looking back, it is now clear to me that while I initially promoted the idea of the organic community, I eventually came to resent it. And have come to the conclusion that I should have been more pro-active in shaping the community according to my goals and aesthetic. And in that transition, some were upset with me and what they construed as an unsteady hand at the wheel.
I certainly don't give CG very much attention now. It's not really what I "want", but I'm not entirely sure I could articulate what I want. And that is because to a large degree I think CG lived its life, fulfilled most of its purpose, and then died. Is that so bad? Isn't that what happens to most of us? CG now is post-death. Carousing in the attic, causing just a little noise, but mainly quiet. Like any friendly ghost is wont to do.
Most of the people who post here have a personal connection to me. Zulu and Redhairgirl are old friends from my youth. Archaea is virtually a co-founder of the site and a friend that I have met in person, and have talked to countless times on the phone. And a few others that are old hands and have stuck around for whatever reason.
When CG started, I did very little of the recruiting. Archaea did that. When the CUF break-off occurred, I was given no advance warning. And I let them promote their website on this site. After all, I wouldn't want people to stay here because they were merely ignorant of "better" alternatives. Since then I have done absolutely no recruitment. What would you propose? That I hit all the Mormon/BYU blogs and forums and promote this site? Why? After all, if 99% of CG went on to become CUF, what in the world does CG have to offer? Except for the handful of people here who drop by (largely me, by virtue of the fact that I produce most of the volume)? And I don't presume that I have that much to offer.
The old CG is now so long ago that I don't remember many of the people. I'll be thinking of someone or something and I won't be able to remember their handle.
Do I think I could potentially benefit from increased volume and participation here? Maybe. Probably. I'm open to the idea. Do I want to rehash everything that has been said here with the same old people that left? Not really.
There are all kinds of people right now slaving away at some blog that no one reads. Or just a few read. I read a blog fairly regularly for the past couple years. I made not infrequent comments on his blog, almost entirely reflective and supportive. There were only a handful of comments on his blog outside of mine. And maybe only once or twice did he respond to anything I wrote. I think that's interesting. Blogs for no one. Navel gazing.
Sometimes CG feels like a forum for no one. That's true. But we still have the OPEN sign turned on, and we're still in business. And don't forget--in another year we will have potentially accrued $100 of advertising income that can be donated to charity. That's pretty damn exciting. :|