Yes, it IS quiet around here!

Bette B.
on 2/12/12 11:05 pm, edited 2/12/12 11:07 pm

Those of you who just came back after some time away from OH have noticed that things are really, really quiet - eerily quiet on the boards.

For a number of reasons, most brought about by changes to the Terms of Service (TOS) quite a few people left OH altogether. Several people have pulled far, far back from posting (Kate from Britain being one of them) but are still PART of OH and can be messaged if need be.

Most of the rest of us are reluctant to post because it seems like the TOS change daily, and what is allowable as a post one day will not be the next. Seemingly innocuous (even positive and supportive) posts have been taken down completely or moved over to another OH Board. (I can't even NAME that board, because it would be a reason to have this post moderated and moved there.)

Sometimes, posters have received messages from OH moderators saying that their post is unacceptable, yet the TOS show to reason why it would be.

[As an example, I had a post moderated last week, because I had posted TWO things about poetry, and I was asked to move the second one into the first post. The second was summarily deleted by OH. This was a post about POETRY, and it was found unacceptable. I re-read the TOS and couldn't find any reason why it was offensive to OH.]

Many people have been put on moderation, meaning that every post will be reviewed by the mods prior to it appearing on the board(s). Sometimes, the moderation is justified, but a lot of times it seems like it isn't.

I think there are many more people still on OH than it appears, but they are reluctant to post for fear of saying whatever today's "wrong thing " might be. A lot of us - especially us old-timers - are still optimistic that OH can bounce back to the supportive place it was meant to be, but also a place where people can hang out, chat with friends, and just have FUN. The FUN part has been lost in the past few weeks.

So, if you were wondering where everyone went, and why OH seems like a ghost town - that's the story. Now, let's see if THIS post stays or goes . . .