I'm Close to Just Quitting the Internet Altogether...

I have no time for my own websites, because people don't freaking get it that I don't exist to serve the wishes of others. I don't currently have the money to get better hosting, but all I do is getting insulted by the idiots that make up half of the internet as a whole. To be perfectly honest, I blame the idiotic say what you like attitude in modern society, and I wish it would just go back to the nice relatively peaceful days where moderate values and strict morality was more key.

I don't even get what the point of much of life is any more. I'm not suicidal, because that's just stupid, but annoyed because of how I can't stand people any more.

 

It is in most cases working and serving for free which no one enjoys. Last week I had quite a nice break from the internet and forums, it gave me some time to think about new additions and promotion strategies.

Maybe take a break and see how it goes after there?

 

cheat (grand master), this is a time that many people are on the down low. The holidays, but not just them, just really bring out the best or the worst in people. Some just go looking for it, unfortunately.

If I could shed some advice to you in managing some of these valid things you have, then it would be to strive for the higher road. Look for ways to engage these people to contribute or simply let it fall on the way side. Find your passion back to your online activities or find new ones, possibly.

 

I could never be "unplugged"
take a break, it will all be here when you are rested up

 

Go on a hiking/camping trip with me and you will not have a choice. There is no cell phone service for miles.

I try to "unplug" a couple of times a month - and I never carry a cell phone with me unless I really need to.

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cheat-master30 - over the past few years I have noticed a change in the way people use the internet.

Back in the 1990s, people used to setup simple HTML fan sites - no forums, no blogs,,, no nothing. Sometimes those sites got popular, sometimes not.

Currently, people expect all kinds of stuff on a site. Its like they "expect" your site to look a certain way (certain colors and layout), offer certain features, have lots of members, have lots of post,,,,.

Over the past month of so I have thought about closing a couple of my gaming sites - mainly because I do not have 4 - 6 hours to write in depth articles. I know the content, posting a 2 - 3 page comparison on Doom and Left 4 Dead would not be a big deal. I just do not have the time.

But it seems that is what people expect for a gaming site - page after page of walk throughs, maps, cheats, warez, modifications,,,. Stuff that is very time consuming to put together.

 

Well, I temporarily closed my main site to gain sanity after the mass chaos that occurred recently and to try and take a break. Nothing to do with activity, there were plenty of new members and posts per day, just burnout and annoyance with people online to too much of a degree.

 

Good move. I would have personally closed it permanently for your own sanity. Normally, the same feelings will surface again once you open it. The more you provide the more people want and I learned that lesson that I wasn't going to spoon feed people that couldn't help themselves.

 

I, personally, go a different route.

Every 3 or 4 months I take a week or two off and completely ignore everything I normally do online. I take my duties, and assign them to others, making sure to spread them out so no one person has to just jump into dealing with what I normally do.

Once I'm done, I come back and just pick up where I left off. This way, everything is under control while I'm away, and I can come back to projects with a clear mind.

My suggestion would be to do that, take a week or two off 3 or 4 times a year.

Speaking of this... I'm overdue... <_<;

Probably gonna take mine next week, over Christmas and New Years.

 

I like your concept there Ryan. Only one flawed assumption though...that your delegate actually takes up the reins of your day-to-day motions. Not saying it isn't possible at all, so please don't take it as unrealistic. I do think its a good method.

 

I'm fortunate enough to not have this issue. They are a small bunch, but their dedication to the site matches mine.

 

Eek! I would never do this! As uninterested and upset as I may become, I would never close the forum and prevent others from benefiting from the resource because of my personal needs. If the forum could self-sustain itself without your presence, then I suppose it should be left open... for its own well-being.

So many times have I seen a board temporarily close, and never regain its momentum upon re-opening. I hope that's something you don't mind happening, considering the circumstances...

 

I should mention that while I am on my "breaks," I do pop in occasionally to post in any current staff discussions.

 

I'm personally hoping it initially loses some momentum personally, that's why I closed it. Lose the less faithful trolls and eventually get some better members the next time round after a forum restructuring.

On the bright side, it's not that bads in terms of lost resources. I only closed down the forum section temporarily, the actual HTML pages on the main website (numbering a few thousand or more) are still available, as is the wiki section. Okay, the blogs went down because they're attached to the forum, and the gallery is unavailable, but it's not completely without content or resources at the moment.

 

Usually, the trolls are the first ones to come back - but not always though.

I closed my forum for about a month, repoened and a bunch of the old members came right back.

 

My forum is small, and it's the only one I've ever managed (and ever intend to manage), so I can't imagine the stress admins of these big forums are going through. In any case, I just stop visiting for awhile if my interest wanes. I keep in contact with my fellow administrators through IM, though, and they're on just as regularly as me so I don't have to worry about moderating (there's not much moderating to do, anyway).

As for stress, if that happens it's because of disappointment in how the forum's doing, not because of getting riled up due to the members.

Of course, even though I speak of losing interest and getting disappointed, I feel it's natural to have these feelings. That said, I never gave up on my forum since 2004, and I've continued to promote it and produce content regularly.

In fact, one of the reasons I started my forum was because I wanted to create a stand-alone, word-of-mouth forum that would last. At the beginning, the forum was about Japanese cartoons and comics, but it was changed to a general discussion forum. Additionally, when I first thought of having a lasting community, I was thinking of it in comparison to freely hosted forums that are site-less and rely on word of mouth.

Finally, I wouldn't close my forum in such a way that the content can't be viewed. I always want guests to be able to read what was posted, in the hopes that their browsing is rewarded with an entertaining or informative post.

I agree, Miss Shelley. Your forum should not be a place that claws away at your cheerfulness and overall mental health.

I can't speak for the person who submitted the opening post, but I know that there was a troll at my forum who made for a stressful environment, as his very purpose was to demolish the forum by demoralizing its members. He was banned a few months ago, making him among only two banned since 2004.

I've been glad that actually having to moderate against a member (especially the most extreme: permanent banning) has been an uncommon practice at my forum, but I knew I just had to put my foot down not only for the health of the community, but for my own.