I decided to perform a small audit of my internet domain catalogue on account of a nasty SQL injection that went on with a couple of sites I run (ran). Actually, it wasn’t all that nasty and was more the domain of some silly script-kiddy-assholes who decided to add an iframe (that didn’t work) to a forum.
I looked at all the stuff I had running online, and at how much of it I actually bothered with anymore and the answer was ‘a lot’ followed by ‘very little’. Life does not give me much time any longer for internet stuff. I have really enjoyed my resurgence as a blogger. I find that it helps me to deal with my experiences or feelings by jotting them down. But other than this place, and my aliens forum, I don’t do an awful lot online anymore. I’ll eventually sell ACM.net nearer to the release of the game, and maybe I’ll rinse and repeat with something else, but my time as a hobby forumist is at an end.
“Personally my forums are shrinking and stopping. I think part of that is due to, you know, growing the fuck up. Part of it is down to having little free time. Part of it is due to the amount of work needed to start, manage, maintain and continue a forum. It ain’t easy. I have only one forum now and I am actively involved in. This is because I will shortly sell it at a handsome profit. I’m only going to do this for money now, not for fun (let’s face it, dealing with a dozen teenage assholes is far from fun).
Forums in general I think have had their day. You only have to look at recent events, such as the change towards v-myspace-bulletin and Twitter/Facebook integration to see that the traditional forum is at an end. We can do all that we can do in a forum on a blog. At half the cost and half the time. Also the ease of making your own forum, even with a free host means people are often going to start their own that contribute to yours.
Forums have had it.”
Interesting that I say ‘forums have had it’, yet just this morning signed up at a forum. Sarcastic Gamer struck a chord with me, for obvious reasons. Perhaps I will get some enjoyment out of being a member, able to come and go as I please, rather than an admin/owner, and committed to providing consistent quality content. Time will tell.
