SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
I can no longer sustain the level of activity needed to run SoylentNews, and so I have resigned as leader.
In the end, I was literally begging people to step back and let the site "just run" for a few days while I caught up... alas, to no effect. Issues must be resolved "right here and right now" continuously throughout my day with no end in sight.
NCommander has taken over as project lead - he has access to everything from the registrar down. I understand he has a different vision for the project, which will soon be revealed.
I'm sorry to leave like this, but there's really nothing for it. I'm going back to my AI studies, which happen at a more leisurely pace.
John Barrabas
(And yes, this was an amicable transfer of power. There's no hard feelings on my side.)
[Ed. Note: this is a word for word article based on Barrabas's journal entry.]
(Score: 5, Informative) by NCommander on Thursday March 06 2014, @03:41AM
The situation was somewhat more complicated, and I had hoped to have a post already up about the change before Jon's resignation went up. Unfortunately, due to the fact that I'm current in China for work for the next week, timezones are working against me. I'm planning on using my lunch break to get something drafted, and posted by my end of day today (which will be close to morning for the states, and afternoon for Europe).
The community needs to be able to clearly see what's going on behind the scenes, and up until now, various issues have prevented that from happening. While I won't go into detail here, please note that the hand over was indeed amicable, and I hope to have a full post with a proposed mission statement, future steps, and our future coming by this weekend. While Jon and I have differing ideas on how specific aspects were handled, the underlying goal remains the same: to be the best news site for technical news on the internet, who's run by the community and not simply another site with an "audience".
I had hoped Jon had remained with the project, and I wish him the best.
Still always moving
(Score: 3, Insightful) by dyingtolive on Thursday March 06 2014, @05:19AM
It's a very worrying thing to read, but (I hope) we all still hope the best for you and the site. I know I'll still be logging in a week from now.
Don't cock it up then. :P
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by omoc on Thursday March 06 2014, @08:16AM
Please dial down on the community fragmentation that was discussed elsewhere (youtube, forums and so on). In order to get the /. feeling right we need a more consistent interaction.
Let me know when you're in Shenzhen or Hong Kong, I'll invite you for a beer ;)
(Score: 2) by Open4D on Thursday March 06 2014, @07:00PM
My take [soylentnews.org] on the fragmentation claims is that we have to bear in mind the difference between this and the old site. Both have a main community of readers & commenters. The difference comes in the people who are giving up their time to take care of the running of the site.
On Slashdot there were just a handful of people (Taco, CowboyNeal, Timmy, Samzenpus, etc.) doing that job, and the main community had little visibility of what was going on between them. Private IRC? Maybe even telephone calls!
Here there are far more people involved behind the scenes. I like the fact that I could get involved if I had time. But I don't. It doesn't bother me that they organize themselves using phpBB forums, IRC, etc.. Because I know that the stories and the comments will always be here on the main site.
(And the You Tube thing was just a marketing/feedback exercise. I have no interest in it, but there's no reason it should detract from the stories and comments on the main site.)
(Score: 1) by CoolHand on Thursday March 06 2014, @12:48PM
Thanks for the info NCommander! It sounds like we are still in good hands.
Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job-Douglas Adams