Why VegOpt Really Closed
Posted on January 7, 2010 | Categories: Online | Tags: vegopt
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Note: I’ve gone back and forth as to whether or not I should address my feelings about VegOpt, a forum, closing and all the reasons behind it, but Alice and I think it’s something that I need to get out in the open, particularly if people are brainstorming opening up a “replacement” VegOpt.
When Alice and I announced we were closing VegOpt in late 2009, we were incredibly surprised at the reaction we received. Some commented on the thread where we made the announcement with sadness and spoke about what a great place it was, others tweeted about it and said they would be sad to see it go, and there were even a few full-length blog/LiveJournal/Dreamwidth entries discussing its closure. While Alice and I were both appreciative of how much the members said they would miss a forum that we ran for three years, we were also a little puzzled by some of the reaction.
Alice and I both stated that the main reason for us deciding to close VegOpt was lack of time. While that’s true, an additional factor was lack of interest we both felt towards the board as well as from members. We spent three years running the place, from doing promotional work to get the word out, brainstorming fun events for members to participate in and occasionally keeping members in line whenever e-drama was about to break out. But once I started college and Alice began to work full-time and Sophie stepped down from being an admin altogether due to real life commitments, VegOpt started to feel like something we were all starting to grow out of.
I don’t regret devoting three years to the place. However, I personally felt I always had to be active or few others would be. And in the later months, that was certainly true. I had absolutely no time to do more than check the place periodically and the only threads that were posted in were the “Last Movie You Watched?” or “Last Thing You Ate?” and other similar threads, which weren’t exactly the most captivating to read. Inactivity was inevitable as the members got older and started college/work full-time, but a balanced forum shouldn’t have the weight of all of its activity fall solely on its admins if it has been around for several years and has a supposedly active community.
Alice and I also spent so much time putting together board activities that members suggested, such as Every Hour on the Hour, Interpret This, Book Club, Graphics Challenge, Chrismas Card Exchange and Secret Santa. We brainstormed ways to make events fun and creative and worked at incorporating all input we received from members during the planning stage. Yet none of these events took off, despite some of them being suggestions from members themselves. We understood that everyone was busy, as we were, too. But it was disheartening to see members say they would participate and then to hear nothing from them once the event began time and time again.
It does mean a lot to Alice and I that so many of the members of VegOpt said they would miss the place when Alice and I announced its closure. I think that speaks a lot to the type of community it was, which Alice and I had always envisioned as a friendly, welcoming one. But among all of the posts and tweets about its closing and the premature talk of creating a replacement board by people who weren’t even part of the community, Alice and I felt we needed to clarify the full reasons why we decided to close VegOpt and set the record straight. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that we loved the community for what it was and all the things members said they would miss about it – the friendliness, the open-mindedness, and how welcoming it was – would not have existed without the members that were part of of the community.
Jem
It’s funny you should post this.. we get a fair amount of “Snark isn’t very active today!” over at Snark. Yet the people complaining are rarely ever seen making threads. I think if every time someone felt like complaining that X project is dead/inactive, they actually contributed instead, then places like VegOpt would remain open.
And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I stopped posting there. I took a hiatus while I prepped for the arrival of Isabel, and when she was born and I was ready to start posting again it closed. Poor timing on my part :(
Manda
EXACTLY. This is basically what I was trying to get at in this post, because then even if I alone was busy, VegOpt would have still be active enough to warrant for it to stay open rather than for it to close. Obviously some members were active till the very end and Alice and I are very appreciative of that, but it wasn’t enough.
And I completely understand why you took a hiatus and stopped posting there, so no worries. Isabel comes first, of course!
Alice
Well said! Once it got the end, it was obvious it was dying. There is only so much you can do to keep a place active if people loose interest. VegOpt was a great experience and I made some wonderful friends through it, but I don’t regret it’s end and I don’t think it would work the same again.
Krissy
A lot of forums, I find, are experiencing a huge decline in activity. TFL used to be so action, and I remember coming home at the end of the day to pages and pages of new posts. Now it’s lucky if there’s even a full page. I like to blame Twitter for this. :P While I love it to death – I love being able to instantly be in contact with the people I care about – I find most people have migrated over there, and conversations that would once have taken place on the boards (both TFL and VegOpt alike) appear there instead.
VegOpt was a great place for it’s run though. I met and became closer to a lot of great people there. We’ll always have the fond memories and the friendships. :)
Sophie
People never realise what’s there, until it’s no longer there. It’s unfortunate VegOpt had to prove that point too :(
When it was around, VegOpt was amazing. And I will miss it. But everything in your post = agreed.
Aisling
It sucks when good communities close. I think one of the problems is that with really old established boards, it’s harder for new members to mesh. This is happened in two of my favourite boards, the now dead Toxic Passion Message Boards, and the now nearly-dying Snark Forums. In the first case, the board was founded based off a group of bloggers which I was a part of and I was there from day 1. We were so cliquey that new members didn’t stick around for long, and when the “TPMB Originals,” such as myself, became busy, there was nobody left. :( Snark is sort of becoming the same way. We’ve lost a lot of really great active members since I joined about 5 months after it opened, and sometimes the reputation of the board, or the cliqueness, prevents new members from sticking around and adding something to it.
3 years was a pretty good run for VegOpt, I’d say. In terms of attention span on the Internet, it doesn’t beat much else of it’s kind! :D
Manda
I think the “clique factor” was a deterrent to some people for VegOpt, as most of us were from TFL and knew each other from there (at least in the beginning) and those that weren’t familiar or part of TFL may have been wary of this fact. But I think that eventually faded away. However, as that faded, inactivity grew because everyone became so busy with real life. *shrugs*
I was hesitant of joining Snark at first for the reasons you mentioned – its “reputation” and the fact that everyone there seemed to know each other so well that I wasn’t quite sure if I’d even be noticed there. I was proven wrong, though :D I know I haven’t been active in the last half of 2009 or so, but I’m trying to change that this year.
Ashley
It’s too bad that so many forums have to go lately :( I had joined at VegOpt a couple months before you guys closed, but there you go, real life gets you in the face and I couldn’t keep up with anything.
I hope the same doesn’t happen to Snark, although I must say, I have seen a decided upswing in activity lately. I’ve been there a year and I hope it sticks around at least a little longer. I was part of Neonglow beforehand, and that community was really wonderful as well but fell to the same problem.
Maybe people will eventually get over there fear of trying to break into a “clique.” I was a little intimidated by Snark at first, but I kept at it, and it was so worth it. If more people were willing to do that, I think we’d have much less of a problem.
Clem
Like Ashley, I’ve noticed recently that Snark has become more active. But there have been discussions about how it’s dying for ages now, and that’s always a worry in the back of my mind.
As for VegOpt, even when I joined a lot of the active topics were the less substantial ones. Browsing through the archives, I noticed that there used to be more in the way of discussion. I really liked the people in the communinty, and it was a fun board, so I stuck around. But, yes – I can understand why closing it was the best option. Luckily we still have Twitter/LJ. :)
Manda
VegOpt hit its peak around December 2007/January 2008. So, halfway through its “life” so to speak. I think by the time more non-TFL members joined, like you, it had already started declining in activity slowly but surely. Which is a shame, as you and other newer members brought a lot to the community but others had already bowed out by then. But as you said, there are other ways to keep in touch with everyone that was part of the community :)
Haley
The thing I noticed the most about VegOpt toward the end was that all the newly registered members would post introduction threads, but then would never post again after that. :( I don’t really understand all that because if I was going to register for a message board and then actually introduce myself formally, I intend on posting again! :P
I understand why some people would be turned off by the fact that the majority of the members found out about VegOpt from TFL. It’s like we were a community within another community. However, I think the greater majority of the VegOpt members were always very welcoming to completely new people regardless of how they discovered the site.
I do feel bad for kind of “bowing out” early. I was always way more interested in making ginormous new posts or replies that were 2 pages long; when people started only putting effort into the “What was the last thing you ate?” and such threads, I was disappointed because it seemed that no one else was interested in reading the longer posts. I loved that we had a debate subforum, but people didn’t seem to get into the concept of debating versus just telling their own opinion. I didn’t want to post what the last song I listened to was over and over, but at the same time I didn’t think anyone would even read or reply to an entry that I put a lot of effort into. :(
I think we all really had issues with lack of time. Most of the semi-regular members were around the same age, which means most of us were/are in high school or college. That really killed my free time, at least.
I admire the fact that both you and Alice kept trying to spark interest in various things on the board. Modding a forum is a tedious job, especially when it comes to keeping it active. I definitely agree with Aisling on the fact that 3 years is a pretty darn good run for that kind of forum. You guys should be really proud of the dedication you put into it! :)
Manda
The bit about the introduction thread is because in the later months, we instigated a policy where new members had to post an intro thread before they could see the rest of the boards after they registered. After much discussion, this policy was put in place for privacy reasons and to let the rest of the community know the new members better.
Kaylee
I hung out there for a while and didn’t go back because there weren’t any threads there that I couldn’t find on Snark, and although everyone at VegOpt was super nice and welcoming, it was just easier to stick with Snark where I was already “established”… Well, as they say, all good things come to an end :( I admire you and Alice for being so dedicated and putting so much work into VegOpt; I could see that even in the short time I was there.