Can't say I'm surprised. Ziggy had about 25 % of the volume. He was side swiping most of the threads and many topics were back and forths between Ziggy, others and perhaps his alternate ID's. A look at SOWNY before Ziggy's spree of multiple and mostly denigrating posts started back in early 2014 on the way back machine reveals a lively board with many many broadcasters and fans. Sad to see this outcome as a result of one person.. The evedence is there and no it's not b/c there's no interest or people did not migrate to the new format.

Beat Box wrote:

Can't say I'm surprised. Ziggy had about 25 % of the volume. He was side swiping most of the threads and many topics were back and forths between Ziggy, others and perhaps his alternate ID's. A look at SOWNY before Ziggy's spree of multiple and mostly denigrating posts started back in early 2014 on the way back machine reveals a lively board with many many broadcasters and fans. Sad to see this outcome as a result of one person.. The evedence is there and no it's not b/c there's no interest or people did not migrate to the new format.

I agree Ziggy was an irritant, which is why I came over to this board. But if he's the apparent problem, why not simply treat the disease (i.e. ban the troublemaker) instead of killing the patient?

Last edited by aflem (May 27, 2015 9:45 AM)

aflem wrote:

Beat Box wrote:

Can't say I'm surprised. Ziggy had about 25 % of the volume. He was side swiping most of the threads and many topics were back and forths between Ziggy, others and perhaps his alternate ID's. A look at SOWNY before Ziggy's spree of multiple and mostly denigrating posts started back in early 2014 on the way back machine reveals a lively board with many many broadcasters and fans. Sad to see this outcome as a result of one person.. The evedence is there and no it's not b/c there's no interest or people did not migrate to the new format.

I agree Ziggy was an irritant, which is why I came over to this board. But if he's the apparent problem, why not simply treat the disease (i.e. ban the troublemaker) instead of killing the patient?

Good question. With no board I guess we will not get an answer but apparently the Mod was against censoring anyone although from time to time he would delete entire anti Ziggy threads.
 

Last edited by Beat Box (May 27, 2015 9:53 AM)

Irvine wrote:

Domain for sale for $1000.00.  Start your bidding now.  

*rubs hands together gleefully*  

Irvine wrote:

I really doubt it was Ziggy who was the cause of SOWNY closing.  The moderator in question strikes me as an "internet guy".  He repeatedly said if you don't like something, don't read it.  Further, he created the option to block the comments of other people so you wouldn't see them.  But, that only worked if the user logged in, not if he just browsed it.  

It was more likely a case of him receiving never ending whining about Ziggy & threats of lawsuits (of which nothing Ziggy said was lawsuit worthy).  He just got tired of it.  Craig Smith got tired of it.  And so did every other moderator of that forum.  Yet, it was always blamed on 1 or 2 "trolls".  

The real truth is with SOWNY there is nothing left to talk about.  Most of the content was about a few subjects on endless repeat.  That isn't a magnet for discussion.  Forums come and go on the internet. It was time to put SOWNY down years ago.  I'm surprised it took this long.  

 

Again I say go and look at pages from Sowny on the way back machine. One could do a graph which would show  participation and probably menmbership decline after Ziggy started his spree. A number of people said they were out after bickering with him but many must have left without saying anything. Moreover just look at the recent threads where any topic ( a new station in Milton or a question about Shortwave)  would turn into a discussion about and by Ziggy.
 

Last edited by Beat Box (May 27, 2015 10:14 AM)

Irvine wrote:

Beat Box wrote:

 
Again I say go and look at pages from Sowny on the way back machine. One could do a graph which would show  participation and probably menmbership decline after Ziggy started his spree. A number of peoiple said they were out after bickering with him but many must have left without saying anything. Moreover just look at the recent threads where any topic ( a new station in Milton or a question about Shortwave)  would turn into a discussion about and by Ziggy.
 

So you're saying that when I was the resident troll (and activity was high) all was good.  Because that's not what most people said.  People blamed ME for the downfall of SOWNY, remember?  

Truth is, it's very likely the frequent change of the format/look probably played a big part.  People had to repeatedly register & that typically causes people to not bother to re-register. 

to the Mod here.  Why in god's name would you spend $1000.00 on a domain for a site like that?  You can't sell it.  It's throwing good money after bad.  Just follow @airchecker for the news.  
 

The SOWNY mod actually said a few months back that the site click rate was very healthy. May have been the rubbernecker effect and I just think many people stopped posting b/c of possible negative blowback. My prediction is that membership to this forum will grow as this is now the SOMF and not Quad Cities. People still want to discuss radio and TV and this will be the oultet where readers of SOWNY may gravitate to. We'll wait and see.
 

i'm just your regular "joe public" radio listener .. my only time on the other side was a weekly show i did on university radio decades ago.

that said, i've always loved talk radio.  i was pleasantly surprised a few months ago when i stumbled on the SOWNY forum.  i looked forward to the discussions\opinions on those inside the business.  frankly, i was shocked & very disappointed witnessing the boorish Ziggy vitrol that dominated the board.  i quickly muted Ziggy but his bile still permeated & hijacked most threads.   i fully support free speech & different opinions.  but when a poster resorts to posting about tampons, pricks & piano playing gimps, he's simply trolling & destroying adult discussion.  IMO, the SOWNY mod's worship of "free speech at any cost" was a key factor in SOWNY's demise.  

it's so unfortunate when folks can't\won't simply treat others with respect.

i do hope this "blue board" can now increase it's membership & foster adult, respectful discussion.

cheers from Toronto .. 

Sick-of-Ziggy wrote:

I have a sick feeling that the boorish troublemaker will wander over here.
He will be very easy to spot.

 

thus he will be easy to shut down unless the mod here wishes to suffer the same fate as SOWNY .. 

*chuckles* i do embrace free speech .. Ziggy is most welcome to create his own forum with his rules where he can feed his own ego til his heart's content .. 

cheers from Toronto .. 

Truth is it should have been me that was the moderator of SOWNY.  The reason is simple.  I have thick enough skin to do it. 

 ndividual posts may require approval before posting. Anonymous users will be allowed, but as administrator I will know who everyone is. If you don't like that, you don't have to sign up..

Two things

1.  Exactly what will constitute an acceptable post?  Will it be about the content or will the filters be based on who is your friend? 

2.  You will know who everyone is?  I'm willing to wager $25,000 dollars on this.  Care to engage me...

I wrote the now former moderator of SOWNY to ask him about his decision to shut the board down. He's agreed to let me post his reply here, for those who were wondering what the real reason might be. And yes, it's exactly what a lot of those gathered here thought it was. Here's his final response:

--------

In a nutshell, I grew tired of dealing with 2 distinct groups of people: Group A spent a great deal of time baiting people, and Group B sent me endless e-mails and messages complaining about Group A. These two groups did not represent the majority of the board's users, but there were enough of them to make the job of moderating tiring. However, when I was deleting entire threads that had nothing to do with the topic of said thread, I decided enough was enough.  I know I could've deleted the users who were causing the problems, I even banned a few of them for a short period of time. However, as I suspected, and as I told everyone who e-mailed me complaining about Group A, these users just registered using different e-mail addresses and started causing trouble again. That was the last straw, and I decided to pull the plug. I have no interest in giving the domain away after all the time I put into rebuilding the board, but I will entertain reasonable offers.  It needs to be said that I did received a large number of e-mails from people over the period that I managed the board offering kinds words of support and thanks, and I want to tell those people that I'm sorry I couldn't continue on with the project.

And just as a matter of clarification, I have received no legal threats, no lawyers have called me.

va3qr

----- 

So there you have it straight from the horse's mouth so to speak. In a separate part of his email, our ex-mod indicates between his family, his business and his other interests, "it just didn't seem worth it anymore."

Sad day, but he's hoping that satisfies the curiosity here, and brings some posters a sense of closure. Love or hate the way he ran the board, I think we can all appreciate the effort he devoted to it. And I'm grateful for both his time and trouble. 

Last edited by aflem (May 27, 2015 10:43 PM)

bucky wrote:

new message as of 8:59pm

With the demise of sowny.ca I've been asked if I would consider restarting this forum ... 

hi bucky .. 

just curious .. is there really a need for two seperate forums? 

what do you see differentiating your new SOWNY board & this quadcities blue board? 

cheers from Toronto .. 

I have always wondered when it came to John Kato: to what end?  What would motivate him to be so vicious?  To such an extent he was showing signs of being unhinged.  So is he in his mommy's basement now, all smiles repeating over and over  and over again  (because he does that every well), "Mission Accomplished"!? 

I was kinda hoping this forum would continue (but go back to being "blue".  Forget the yeloow, and don't try to be "SOWNY".)  But I like this format the best (fonts and all)
 

Let's put the "Big Z board" behind us and move forward.  With a "don't be a dick" policy here, this could be the start of something big.

Last edited by Leslieville Bill (May 28, 2015 6:32 AM)