The Sound of Silence - on Closing the Discussion Forums

I'm not exactly sure when this is supposed to take place, but someone said September 1st. I went back and looked at Robin's blog, but I couldn't find any mention of September 1st.

Still, I went to bed last night with this feeling that it was impending. And a strange and surprising feeling it was, too.

I felt like - where there had been SO much life, so much interaction, there would now be - deafening and sudden silence. It was a very weird feeling.

Where before there was a huge, noisy, fractious, caring, fighting, loving, and very alive community, there would now be, all of a sudden - an empty room. Filled with dead silence and remembered echoes.

I surprised myself with the strength of this feeling. I thought of when Kendra expressed much the same feeling so poignantly when she rewrote the song Annatefka (sp?) here on the forums a few weeks ago.

Switching gears, I then suddenly remembered whoever it was who made herself a gag tied around the mouth, and posted a picture of it here.

Then I thought it would be neat if we all had those gags, and if we all wore them in-world for the first week after the forums closed, in protest and memorium.

Mainly, though, I was suddenly struck last night with what a difference it really is going to make, for all of us in the SL forums community, lurkers and posters alike.

We will become the sound of silence, wisps of ghosts in a suddenly empty room. Unable to speak again, now just a history, a country as it were, banished and vanished, against our collective will.

Yeah, I know, we aren't DYING, and there are other forums, etc., etc.

But really, I think this is going to be a significant and sudden feeling for all of us, prepared though we may think we are; even for those who are all for the forums going.

coco

You should join our nice home. We try to make everyone feel welcomed and comfortable.

I've come to talk with you again...

{the post that was here was in error and intended for a different thread... whoops}

the sound of silence...one can only pray.

That was an excellent and heartfelt post, Coco. Well put. I'd wear a gag if someone makes one and drops it in my inventory.

Aren't you afraid a gag will send the wrong signal to SL's many BSDM enthusiasts?

Well...

Ms Cocoanut, I agree that I think it's a mistake for them to be closing, though my reasons are a bit more Machiavellian. Simply because you can't get tough on mean people who have their own forums!

On the other hand - as much as I feel I'm part of the community, the forum closure isn't going to rock my world. I'll prolly just say 'eh!' and go frequent some others - some that have nothing to do with Second Life at all.

Which is what all the casual, reasonable, fun people are going to do. A shame, I agree.

Nice post Coco. The community is being forcefully evicted from their main point of communication and fragmented, there's no way we'll all end up in the same place.

I don't think any form of protest is appropriate. The Lindens are doing what they feel is best for the good of Second Life. I wish the people who constantly complained about the Lindens and the forums would have recognized where it would lead and had stopped their pettiness way back when so we wouldn't be at this point.

I want to take this time to thank the Lindens. I know it was hard trying to deal with all the little constant complaints about every decision made. It's a shame that at this point, when you have demonstrated in the extreme how much trouble this has been, that people still are adding fuel to the fire instead of taking a moment to understand what they have done and just stop.

It's funny the people who complained about the forums on a daily basis are now saying they will miss it.

If you are referring to me, April, I thought I had made it clear enough in several previous posts that I, personally, was glad the forums were closing, even though I considered it a mistake on LL's part.

That's why I was so surprised to have these feelings last night.

And that is what I wanted to express in this post.

I think it is wrong to blame the posters for the demise of the forums. The real reason is LL won't spend the money to run the properly. (Along with a few other reasons that also have nothing to do with us.)

coco

Irony!

I find fault with Detroit, too, but it doesn't keep me from going and participating, unlike many who stay put in their "safe", suburban hidey-holes. It's the core of the community and I don't back away from problems.

you have no leg to stand on allowing your name to be used in one of the most heinous allegations i have seen in SL

you are a coward for not defending an innocent and giving your endorsement to these outrageous lies from a loudmouth shit stirrer

go knit yourself a straitjacket, you are not respectable, you have shown you deserve nothing but scorn and contempt and ridicule, your lack of personal ethics is astounding and trying to make yourself sound like the voice of reason when you deliberately allow such a horrible accusation with no interjection of the truth is stupifying

you had me, i thought you were were a good person, but the truth is, you are not... you are an enabler... you allow bad people to do bad things and rather than clarifying the truth, your silent endorsement makes you complicit in the act itself

you and your friend are liars

you know what happened and yet you won't speak the truth so you can "protect" the assailent in this case

well good on ya

i wonder if someone in your family was accused of something so dispicable when you knew it wasn't true, i wonder if you would realize what you had done then

but i doubt it

you lack anything like a spine, a backbone, and morality to empathize with anyone but your master

good game coco

what a huge vile disappointment you turned out to be

I don't care what the issue is. There is no need for that. This is a forum. On the internet. Chill out. Get a life. You are making a strong case for why someone would not want to go to secondcitizen.

It would have to be accompanied by a FlipTitle with appropriate explanation: "Gagged by Lindens, no more forums" or something.

It's a good idea but I'm beyond feeling like anything we do will make a difference any more. It just doesn't feel like a protest would be worth my time on this -- the Tao of Linden has spoken, and if they don't want to do it nobody can make 'em.

are you a virtual rapist?

how would you like being called that?

What are you going on about, Mulch? If you're going to refer to it here, at least post a link so we might have a clue.

Firstly, I have never heard of 'Virtual Rape'. I cannot even begin to image how that would occur. Secondly, I have been called much worse in my life, to my face and have been able to stand up, be an adult, and walk away. And Finally, I choose what I read on the internet. I choose not to read tripe and rather, join well thought out discussions with adults. Where possible...

Indeed. Stratics would never tolerate such a post. There are a lot of people here with completely unreasonable and probably unhealthy hatred towards a few posters (I am one of those targets) that, in a real environment, would probably require psychaitric treatment, however because "its just the internet" they feel perfectly happy - and justified - in their behaviour.

Lewis

/me yawns

What? You're going to parcel them out as if we were playing a guessing game? Frankly, you sound like you're buzzed and/or drunk and a bit off your rocker.

it cant, and the "victim" in question remains silent as some random nutjob she protects accuses a freind of mine of the act... while the "victim" in question scolds people for having potty mouths and lets her boss get away with anything AND everything

she is now a willful part of these lies and should not escape the justice of false accusations

/me yawns again