MLW forum fundraising campaign

[Charles Anthony]

How much would you be willing to pay each year to have Charles Anthony fired as moderator?

How much would you be willing to pay to moderate this forum yourself?

[Smallc]

$1 Opening bid.

[Smallc]

Seriously though, this is actually an issue that needs serious consideration (the money part, not the Charles part).

[BubberMiley]

I wouldn't pay anything to have people whine at me all the time. If I wanted that, I would work in retail and get paid.

[kimmy]

huh. Flip Charles' avatar upside down and it kind of looks like Osama Bin Laden.

-k

[Bob Macadoo]

Wouldn't this be an exact thread that would be diposed of due to not a good OP post.....no references, no opinions, *le sigh*

[cybercoma]

Low content post. Moderator, please delete.

[cybercoma]

Seriously though, I think a lot of problems would be solved by allowing Charles to post again.

[Smallc]

The funding for the site is in huge danger of being discontinued. The proposal by Greg to restart the site and return it to its former self was rejected. A rather large amount of money is needed to do that, or a much smaller amount to continue the forum.

[cybercoma]

Here's the thing. The domain costs $10/year, hosting about $50/year, and forum software is $80/year after the initial cost of about $200 (and that's only if you want the chatroom to support up to 50 users at a time). So the forum could be hosted and run for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $10/month. If every one of the regulars pitched in $1/month the costs would be entirely covered and then some. And those are the prices I can find without looking for any sort of deals.

Edited September 3, 2015 by cybercoma

[cybercoma]

The true cost of the forum is the labour in maintaining the database and doing all the back end work when things break.

[Smallc]

Here's the thing. The domain costs $10/year, hosting about $50/year, and forum software is $80/year after the initial cost of about $200 (and that's only if you want the chatroom to support up to 50 users at a time). So the forum could be hosted and run for somewhere in the neighbourhood of $10/month. If every one of the regulars pitched in $1/month the costs would be entirely covered and then some. And those are the prices I can find without looking for any sort of deals.

The pitch to reinvigorate the entire site (nut just the forum) with new articles and work is worth a lot, but as a desperate measure, failing finding that money, I'm definitely willing to pitch in to keep the forum active.

[Black Dog]

Maybe we need to relocate the servers to Mexico.

[cybercoma]

The pitch to reinvigorate the entire site (nut just the forum) with new articles and work is worth a lot, but as a desperate measure, failing finding that money, I'm definitely willing to pitch in to keep the forum active.

I don't see the site being revived. This place could have been the answer to Rabble's singular focus. MLW could have provided a similar format for writers and posters but with a broader perspective. It's not that and it will never be that because it takes far too much work to manage something that big without any material incentive to do so.

[WIP]

I don't see the site being revived. This place could have been the answer to Rabble's singular focus. MLW could have provided a similar format for writers and posters but with a broader perspective. It's not that and it will never be that because it takes far too much work to manage something that big without any material incentive to do so.

I've been on and off with discussion forum participation ever since I tried the first one about 12 years ago, and even in and out at MLW....I get tired of seeing and writing about the same stuff and go awol until I decide to try again.

One of my favourite forums when I started, was simply titled "Political Forums" and set itself up as being as open as possible to views and opinions on a range of issues that seemed rational, sincere and passed the 'offensive language' barrier. Members in good standing contributed $10.00 per year to cover the basic costs of site admin. The problem was the personal financial fortunes of the site administrator and he and his wife went bad, and they didn't have the time anymore to spend managing the forums. They tried creating a bunch of volunteer moderators to look after things, but that's when I noticed a pattern that I've found on every forum that has a small army of volunteer moderators: the mods set themselves up as super-forum members who hog all the attention...can often be abusive/but get away with it, and eventually the forums become little more than the playground for the mods to argue and abuse each other....hope that sort of thing doesn't happen here.

[WIP]

And since you mentioned Rabble: even though I started drifting leftward in most of my thinking 10 years ago, I've never found much of value on Rabble. There are a number of small collective blog sites that do much better. I tried joining the Babble Forum and I got signed up....but then discovered I coundn't post any comments for unknown reasons. And every attempt I made to contact site admin or get help went unanswered....so I just gave up! All for the best, since I notice every time I check their forums that the many subforums are issue silos where feminists, environmentalists, LGBTQ advocates etc. run their own little shows and have no participation in the rest of the site. That seems like one huge disadvantage of having too many subforums.

When it comes to politics, Babble is NDP Central, and your political orientation matters less than your adherence to NDP objectives! It's sort of like what happens in the US with crap like Democratic Underground or Daily Kos, where radical means repeating and agreeing with everything that works for the benefit of the Democratic Party, and criticism of the Party and especially the President has to be extremely muted! So, if I scan through Babble, I can find lots of criticism of the Green Party splitting the left vote (that sounds mighty similar to the US example), and little about just how left is Tom Mulcair exactly! Anyone who questions Mulcair's support for tarsands development, very conventional-looking views on Israel/Middle East, talk of increasing military spending, past expressions of admiration of Margaret Thatcher etc. is pounced on by the Party faithful. If I just want to know what the NDP is thinking on a range of issues, I'll just go to their Party website instead!

[Canada_First]

Maybe I can purchase these forums and turn this into something profitable. If he's not willing or able to put the work and or funds in perhaps it's time he stepped aside and let some new blood run with it. Fresh people. Fresh ideas.

[Canada_First]

Just a thought. Not meant to draw anyone's ire.

[WIP]

Maybe I can purchase these forums and turn this into something profitable. If he's not willing or able to put the work and or funds in perhaps it's time he stepped aside and let some new blood run with it. Fresh people. Fresh ideas.

My limited understanding of all things internet-related tells me there are only two ways to make it profitable:

1. load it with malicious adware like Huffpo

2. find rich billionaire benefactor who wants more pro-business, free trade, libertarian thinking to be put out there.

From what I see, anything worthwhile online doesn't really earn much money!

[cybercoma]

WIP, your points about Rabble is why I say they have a "singular focus" and that this place could provide "broader perspective" in response.

[The_Squid]

The manner in which this forum is currently run, I wouldn't give it a dime.

[Big Guy]

Why do those who criticize this forum spend so much time commenting in it?

[cybercoma]

Because people who don t post regularly wouldn't give a crap how it's run?

[GostHacked]

Why do those who criticize this forum spend so much time commenting in it?

It is because we have spent a lot of time on the forum and some of us have made some good contributions to the site in terms of topics and discussions. We have lost some great members over the years. Some deserved to be shown the door, while others left because they were simply fed up with the persistent trolling and asshatery.

Would I be willing to pay to access this site and comment on it? Not sure, that depends what I get out of it. I would hope some better moderation with regards to trolling and other asshatery. Trust me, if I was a mod, I'd be throwing the banhammer down on a couple members right away. I know for a fact that the banning would be welcomed by the majority of members here.

But without people posting, the site, specifically the forums won't get a lot of traffic. What we have collectively posted over the years is what makes this site what it is. Without the members posting, you got nothing. Instead of forcing people to pay a fee/year or /month, I would say open the site to donations.

[Guest]

I agree. I would be more than willing to donate a few bucks every now and then, even though I'm a part timer here. Not so much the fees, as you say.

I disagree with the banning thing. Sites get boring without discord. There are a couple of members that can be infuriating at times, but as they almost certainly are not the same couple you were thinking of, I'd vote to leave everyone in. I'd also relax greatly the moderation, with spamming being the focus, and only member disputes after some serious ructions.