TWOP Going Offline on 4/4 - Merge

[artdecades]

what in god's name is the point of banning people on a site that is going to be around for only a week more

[lilwriter85]

When I read the news, I immediately thought, "What Will Howard Do?"

[Lucygoosey]

Some TWOPers are already talking about going over to Previously.tv, which was started by some former TWOP administrators. The site looks interesting, but some forums are pretty bare. That may change if more people decide to go there once TWOP goes offline for good.

[16strong]

When I read the news, I immediately thought, "What Will Howard Do?"

Cry herself to sleep and binge purge on Ben and Jerry's?

[Lillybee]

Some TWOPers are already talking about going over to Previously.tv, which was started by some former TWOP administrators. The site looks interesting, but some forums are pretty bare. That may change if more people decide to go there once TWOP goes offline for good.

Most of the forums were created today as the TWOPers came over and requested threads on their programs. The admin. there seem to be on their toes, too and seem to be a lot easier that those on TWOP.

[Curious]

Interesting.

I find this quote to be most interesting and I would say *if* that is the case it's not a problem with either their traffic or their monetization, but the fact that they allow their mods to run roughshod over the forums, which drives AWAY traffic and gives the forum a bad name making people not want to even try it out in the first place.

It would be my guess that they are starting to suffer not from a lack of traffic so much as a lack of new blood, which is deadly to any forum after a few years. I've never been there, but from what I have heard, while they have made changes, which are painful but necessary for forum survival, they have not made changes that are good for community growth, but rather ones that are designed to keep their mods happy and in charge.

That's just my outsiders view, knowing what I know from personal experience both as a forum participant and what I have learned since taking over FJ.

[YPestis]

From the articles I've read on TWoP's closing, it's due to a lack of money. It just wasn't generating enough funds. I don't know how much of that is the moderators fault. I think most people go to the site to read the recaps. The moderation probably scares some of the newbies which probably stunted the growth of the website.

I agree that new members are the lifeblood of any forum. TWoP forums have been accused of being too cliquish and too heavy handed with their moderation. There's been times on the forum that I think the mods/recappers forget they get paid / have their position because of the posters, presiding over their fiefdom as the tyrants they are. Such mod misbehavior is particularly bad for newcomers as some will fumble and make rookie mistakes and flee or get banned. Old members may stay, but people tend to drift away from sites, (not to mention that even old timers can get banned for innocuous things). People don't stick around if they are treated poorly.

There's also the changing nature of fandom. I think podcasts have gotten popular, and they share the same TV fans as TWoP. There's also other forums and other forums of social media sites like twitter where fans can interact with other fans. There's just so many ways that fans can express love for a show, we don't all need to go to a forum or read a recap.

Still, it's kind of sad that TWoP is closing, kind of the end of an era. I remember how popular it was back in the late 90's and early 2000's. Didn't West Wing's Aaron Sorkin venture onto it (only to end up fighting with some of the fans)? I think the main writer for the later Buffy series also showed up but eventually left because the fans were quite mean with their criticism of her. I think the site had potential to be truly influential in the television world. Sadly, it was never able to make money for it's owners or keep it's audience.

[OddlyAmused]

Still, it's kind of sad that TWoP is closing, kind of the end of an era. I remember how popular it was back in the late 90's and early 2000's. Didn't West Wing's Aaron Sorkin venture onto it (only to end up fighting with some of the fans)? I think the main writer for the later Buffy series also showed up but eventually left because the fans were quite mean with their criticism of her. I think the site had potential to be truly influential in the television world. Sadly, it was never able to make money for it's owners or keep it's audience.

He did. There's even part of an episode dedicated to one of the characters visiting a website and getting into arguments with the posters.

I'm more disappointed than I probably should be about a website closing, but I really will miss starting a show that's already over and then going to see what people have said. That's the most disappointing part to me-that the archives will be taken down. I have yet to see another site with the sheer volume of recaps that TWoP has. I believe some posters are attempting to use the Wayback Machine to see if they can capture it. I hope they're successful.

[BravaAmica]

TWOP Howard, to the bitter end:

Aaaaaand I'll bet Howard wonders why TWOP is going dark. Gee, I wonder.

[Palimpsest]

Aaaaaand I'll bet Howard wonders why TWOP is going dark. Gee, I wonder.

For current TWOP posters -- please keep Howard really busy banning you all in the next couple of weeks. We have to frazzle her last nerve while we still can!

I saw somewhere that all the DailyCandy staff are being laid off, but only 3 at TWOP. The others are going to be redeployed.

Is anyone else really hoping that Howard is one of the 3 layoffs? :twisted:

[Jilli]

Is anyone else really hoping that Howard is one of the 3 layoffs? :twisted:

I do! I love reading and partcipating in forums and listening to all sorts of opinions. I made maybe 3 posts over there and got an infraction for formatting. I still don't even understand why :lol:

[Bajovane]

Oh how I won't miss TWoP Howard. Not one little bit. I've been "warned" twice for minor little things, and man, they did not give you a chance to respond to the 'charges' - you had no recourse whatsoever.

First posting here - I've had trouble getting in, but now I find I am active (thank you Happy Atheist!). Hope to have a long and happy association with y'all! I've lurked here for the longest time and have enjoyed every bit of it. The old Peanut Butter wars was a very, very entertaining (and educational) thread and of course snarking on the Duggars is an all time favorite activity of mine. Never knew there was a whole world of crazy fundamentalism out there - and learning about the Maxwells was an eye opener.

Anyhoo - hello everyone here at Free Jinger! :D Goodbye TWop! :nenner:

[littlehouse]

I am sad. As much as mods sucked, there was a wealth of knowledge in the candid reality forum. I loved getting the back info on the shows I was watching, the stuff that came through that is.

Bah.

[littlemommy]

I'm going to dig up my TWoP password just to log in and post "POOP on you, Howard!"

[BravaAmica]

Oh how I won't miss TWoP Howard. Not one little bit. I've been "warned" twice for minor little things, and man, they did not give you a chance to respond to the 'charges' - you had no recourse whatsoever.

First posting here - I've had trouble getting in, but now I find I am active (thank you Happy Atheist!). Hope to have a long and happy association with y'all! I've lurked here for the longest time and have enjoyed every bit of it. The old Peanut Butter wars was a very, very entertaining (and educational) thread and of course snarking on the Duggars is an all time favorite activity of mine. Never knew there was a whole world of crazy fundamentalism out there - and learning about the Maxwells was an eye opener.

Anyhoo - hello everyone here at Free Jinger! :D Goodbye TWop! :nenner:

Welcome to FJ! So, what did Howard do when she found out? Anyone know?

[happy atheist]

First posting here - I've had trouble getting in, but now I find I am active (thank you Happy Atheist!).

You're welcome. 8-)

[ADoyle90815]

Their insane rules are why I never created an account. I think it's because their message board rules and mods were so fucking anal that no one wanted to buy the property.

I also found this site through TWoP, and I had an account briefly but quit after the insane rules.

[Jana814]

I also found this site from TWoP. I haven't been on the site for almost 2 years. It is actually where I first heard about the Maxwell's.

[lilwriter85]

I remember the Maxwells being on twop, but I also kind of remember posts mentioning the Maxwells and other fundie blogger families were snipped from the thread over there. There was even a link Lazy Lyndsie's old blog that had pictures of her and the Duggars.

[thekate]

Are there copies elsewhere of the epic thread that was FJ's genesis?

[lilwriter85]

Are there copies elsewhere of the epic thread that was FJ's genesis?

I think there were copies of it somewhere. I vaguely remembered it being mentioned during the FJ yuku days.

[ExLuther]

I only recently found twop because of 90 day fiance (guilty pleasure). Howard was the mod and I did not post there but thought she(?) was a control freak. Did a google search about her(?) and it led me...back here.

[16strong]

I only recently found twop because of 90 day fiance (guilty pleasure). Howard was the mod and I did not post there but thought she(?) was a control freak. Did a google search about her(?) and it led me...back here.

Well then praise Google! :lol: And welcome!

[ExLuther]

I have been here lurking for years. :) Thanks for the welcome!

[YPestis]

Welcome, TWoP refugees! I hope people find FJ to be a good replacement for the Duggar show forum. We are mostly friendly here, and make just as many quality posts as on TWoP, but minus the draconian rules. Poor TWoP mods, where will they go now that will allow them to continue to wield their powers over helpless posters? :lol: I remember years back, right before I left TWoP, when I saw so much abusive mod behavior how one could operate a site by treating their posters like that? I mean, posters were essentially the clients of the site. The mods/recappers owed their position and job to the people that venture onto TWoP. Yet those mods acted like the posters were the ones who should be grateful for being allowed to post. Yikes. How could a site be sustainable on that business model? I guess it....isn't.