Some Misc. Thoughts Re: GoS
I've made a few posts about the situation over the past few days, and while I remain critical of the handling of the situation, specifically the lack of transparent communication and have vented my frustrations about that, and about the perceived tone + apathy from HL's responses (or lack thereof) I can also acknowledge that just venting frustrations isn't going to help the situation. And I can also empathize with the fact that the sites' issues have probably been very frustrating for HL. I can understand the desire to just hole away and avoid messages (I think everyone's been there at one point or another). I don't think that's the right way to handle this situation, but I can empathize to an extent. And I know responding with sarcasm and anger and apathy can be a shield when one is already feeling frustrated and worn thin. It's still IMO an unfair way to respond to the community at large who really just wanted to understand what was happening before the hurt and anger took over, but anyway. I get it.
Now, we know things are happening behind the scenes thanks to @teaaddictyt's post. I am linking to the updated post. The post received some mixed reactions due to the initial tone but I appreciated the status update nonetheless. At least we know something now!
Another thing I've been thinking about is: the future of GoS and forums in general.
It seems like part of the initial decision to take down the site when the update failed was due to inactivity / lack of interest and participation. I can't seem to find it now (I've been reading through lots of posts about the situation these past days) but I saw in a reply under some post that apparently HL mentioned something about inactivity being a factor in a discord message.
Nowadays, a lot of us are on the aforementioned discord or here on tumblr or reddit and those older sites like GoS / s2a have become more archive than active. If we want to keep old sites like that alive and around we do have to participate more on them.
IF/When the sites come back I think showing them a little love will go a long way.
Additionally, I think stuff like the GoS monthly events and challenges may need a structural refresh. Events are fun ways to engage the community, but I think, like the site itself, we've all gotten older and likely have less free time to be churning out content for new events every month. As someone who has tried organizing monthly events for another fandom, it can definitely feel frustrating and disheartening when very few people end up participating. You feel like, what's the point! And often times there'd be a lot of interest in the event but then little participation. And sometimes that's down to time, or lack thereof.
So maybe we could introduce some variety. Longer timeframes. Maybe a new theme every other month. Maybe also do some seasonal events. So like a summer-wide event. Fall. Winter. Spring. Some longform or ongoing challenges to really give people ample time to participate. I know I personally suck at deadlines unless I know far in advanced and can plan accordingly, which often means I don't end up participating in things, even if I really wanted to. Another idea is to make a list at the start of the year with all the upcoming Event Themes. Just so people can start getting an idea for things they may want to make throughout the year!
In general I just miss a lot of the community challenges we used to have, like @totallymaxis, the big trade off, and other stuff. I love this community and we have endured for so long and through so much and I want us to keep having fun and making cool things. If anyone has more ideas for how we can breathe some life back into our beloved forum sites and community at large please share and brainstorm away!
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