Still in withdrawal phase, Wilso?
Wilso- I just peeked into Abuzz a few moments ago, and believe me, we are missing nothing. It has gotten so much worse. It's like "anything goes", and the trolls are becoming much more blatant. Take a fast look at the "New Questions, and you will see what I mean! YUK!
Phoenix, I've been foreever locked out of Abuzz, because they refuse my email address and password. Just as well.
c.i.
c.i.- Abuzz is doing you a favor. I just feel sorry for those folks who keep hanging on. It has gotten to the point where it is like wading through dung.
Cicerone imposter
I'm curious: WHY have they locked you out? ( I vaguely remember Craven saying something similar to this) WHO are THEY? It seems peculiar that anyone could be locked out, given some of the extreme nastiness & rudeness that appears to be condoned.
I don't think it's anything with intent behind it. Just another one of those (dismayingly frequent) technical problems.
mso, It's a mystery to me too! I'm using the same email address, but 'they/Abuzz' said it's invalid. I'm not interested enough to pursue why, because it'll just be a waste of time. c.i.
c.i. If you were really that curious, you could open another account.
Phoenix
I see what you mean about the Abuzz New Questions ... Good grief, how on earth is the NYT allowing itself to be associated with this sort of thing?
phoenix, that's right. i still have my other account open there, my alter ego phearlessphly. better go swat that sucker down
msolga- The problem is, the NYT is not willing to pay anyone to monitor the site. Some of us even offered to moderate gratis, some time ago, and were rebuffed.
The vast majority of the folks who were disgusted with the site, either quit it, or came here. So except for some brave holdouts, all that is left are cuckoos, nutjobs, trolls and imposters.
I used to have a theory as to why they were keeping Abuzz alive, but I don't know now!
Phoenix
Perhaps as a public service?
Keeps those odd ones at home & off the streets. (just kidding!)
I don't know how/why some staunch souls have persisted, either..
mso, I've had the same thoughts myself! It amazes me to see so many "die hards" on Abuzz. Are they made from the same cloth?
c.i.
c.i.- I dunno. At one time I was fiercely loyal to Abuzz, until I realized that there was no substance to the site anymore.
Hums the Bird- At one time I would have agreed with you. I thought that the NYT was waiting for right time to sell, sort of like an MD or Dentist sells his practice. Right now, there is very little on there in terms of members worth selling!
I think at this point it's something like:
1.) They bought Beehive and had big plans
2.) They put big plans into action, launched Abuzz, poured money into it
3.) Money dried up
4.) Staff laid off
5.) Some people at some level argued for not shutting it down completely
6.) It continued with minimal intervention, some volunteer moderating
7.) Even volunteer moderating largely dried up (though I saw Eric there recently), it got worse and worse, people looked elsewhere/ left
8.) The ratio became skewed even further to nutjobs
9.) The NYT hasn't had reason to revisit their decision to go ahead and let it continue with minimal resources (Dan Bunker mentioned a new server, though), so they let it go on on automatic pilot.
If it continues to skew so heavily toward nutjobs, next time they review the decision (or have their hand forced) I doubt they'll opt to keep going.
A pretty dismal & sad picture, actually. It was so good when it was good!
I still cruise and post there. I stick to slappydoohoo, chillybrrrr,suzy (and recentlyletty) threads for the most part. I don't get near any politics threads, or bi-polar threads anmore. Someone just hi-jacked his name bad.
