Why Do The Q/A Websites Close Down?

Aha, Bozette, so perhaps the Q/A sites may be closing down because of a natural attrition...and not so much of a concern after all? 
So true, when I now Google something in seconds that in my youth would have required a trip to the library and possibly weeks of researching...and the self-publishing, plus other connectivity never before accessible like this...YES, that is what I mean, and such upside potential...

Moreso than just the instant availabiity of information, entertainment, etc., the net allows us to freely brainstorm and collaborate on anything from a household fix to a computer program.  

It also facilitates and fosters people reaching out to help each other in a mutitude of other ways.  Whether it is simply talking through a problem people may not feel comfortable discussing with people they know and must face daily, people offering usable items on Craig's List or Freecycle, helping out in dire situations on Go Fund Me or making a vision tangible on Kickstarter...the web has the potential to create a new type of society.  

As with everything, there is aways a flip side.  The net also has the potential to draw us away from family, friends, coworkers and community.  It is up to us to meld the good I speak of seeing online into our 3D worlds, to bring this outreach back into our face-to-face encounters.  To create a balance.   

Certainly, there is potential for abuse and scamming online, as well.  That is no different than in the "real world", though.  I have noticed some people become much more agressive online than they are in person, while others are nicer than they are when dealing with people in"real life".  While we are often anonymous avatars here and elsewhere on the web, we are all somebody's family, friend, coworker, neighbor.  I know some people who have a great fear of strangers online, but the people we meet online are no different than those we might meet anywhere.  I have spoken to and met several friends I first encountered online, and have friendships going back years.

The machinations you spoke of also have a vested interest in how we interact online...and their interests generally run counter to what we are speaking of here.  

Bozette, you are the one who is really picking up on my idea, so far anyway...but yes the friendships, as well as the broadening of experience/knowledge/outlook as we interact with others...
You would agree I think, that special kind of connectivity can be (and has been) even life-saving.

And those machinations with the vested interest in our interactions...maybe the Internet has the potential for just slipping under the radar there?

And especially the Q/A sites, when moderation problems are resolved...I hope we are not losing them.
Anyway, I find it very interesting, also hopeful, enough so to be a big part of the reason I spend spare time online...to be part of it all!

I have made some amazing friends online.  Ones who have touched me deeply, and profoundly affected me.  This was brought home to me in a couple of different ways recently.  

I suppose, as with anything, you start out with a multitude and end up with relatively few.  The Q & A sites that endure seem to either find a niche, or they feel like...family.  Some families get along better than others, but you know what to expect.  Even though we came from multiple sites, the people here have blended.  I've been on sites, still am, where there is more friction, but it is a known.  If that makes any sense to you.  

No, we won't exactly fly under the radar.  We are actually being studied, used as guinea pigs, and having massive amounts of information collected on us.  There are also many in government and special interest and political groups whose job is to come on sites like this and foment discord and division, as well as to sway minds with misdirection and mis/disinformation and propaganda.  

I suppose the mission, should we choose to accept it, is to say screw 'em...and show them that humanity can rise above.

Hmmm...I am guessing that you do indeed know whereof you speak, Bozette, with the information-gathering and the fomenting...for some reason, that had not occurred to me...

But clearly then, the potential of Internet humanity connection has been noticed with disfavour. That does somewhat compromise the beautiful 'mission,' the potential I love so much...well, we will see...I truly hope humankind can accomplish that rising above.

* * *
Okay; if someone forms an organization as such, then there is a target. But...with Internet and maybe especially the Q/A sites, maybe there is the possibility of doing the transcending just heart-to-human-heart, no organization to target...!?

Here are just a couple of examples of what I was talking about.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/30/technology/facebook-tinkers-with-users-emotions-in-news-feed-experiment-stirring-outcry.html?_r=0

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2470594/endpoint-security/army-of-fake-social-media-friends-to-promote-propaganda.html

The main thing is to keep the net as free as possible, but to recognize manipulation.  Just think of how Google and advertisers try to, and do, manipulate people.  The example above of FB manipulating people did not go over well.  

We have to keep the net as free as possible.That means taking responsibility for ourselves, parents monitoring when and where their kids go online or have access to the net, etc.  

We can do it...the question really is, will we?

Interesting link, Bozette. Thanks for sharing it.

Welcome.

Well those are truly fascinating articles...it seems to me the entities will maneuver themselves into a place that people consider them indispensable, and then make immensely immoral intrusions...seems clear FB is now doing that.

And..."the President wanted an Internet kill switch"...?

Anyway, seems obvious I will need to re-think my optimism for the Internet...when I post a question it seems I always learn more than I ever thought possible!

Our human record for your question will we? is not very good. We tend to endure until our very existence is threatened and then break through into a more or less ineffective revolution...as, arguably, Russia might have been better off with more centuries of Romanov rule rather than what did happen after 1917...

Do not give up your optimism.  I share such information not to dampen enthusiasm, but so that obstacles are recognizable...not to be accepted, but overcome.

The UK and the US are the absolute worst, among Western societies, when it comes to such things.  The last really good privacy comparison I have found was in 2007, and it ranks these two as "endemic surveillance societies".  Just barely above Russia and China.  Former Eastern Bloc nations rank higher than we do.  And things have only worsened in the ensuing years.  

The good thing is that people are finally becoming more aware of it.  Love them or hate them, Assange and Snowdon have brought about more awareness of this.  This is vitally important to the potential you see in the internet.  We cannot stop bad things happening if we are blind to their existence.  The internet can be used for bad, such as reported in the articles above...but it can also be used for immense good, and I gave multiple examples of that, as well.

Dozy, I am glad for the update on Blurt...I hope it pulls itself back into shape. 
The people there were generally very fine, and perhaps they can make the site work even without good moderation...especially if the owners get in control of the spam.
Incidentally, for some reason, this site (aMug) seems to have no spam whatsoever!

In that case of Blurt, even without good mods it might be that a site can survive/thrive even with a troll on board...which seemed to "come after" only a few people anyway, and serially, selecting new targets as the old were driven off...

Yes I too am fascinated with the world communication...just person to person.

I thought of this question after Glis posted a Q on Stefan Molyneux; Canadian who is apparently something of a phenomenon, reminded me of Rush Limbaugh rabble-rousing when I went to YouTube, Glis is asking if we would call his movement a cult.

And I was thinking, maybe with Internet, people can just talk directly to each other now, don't have to blindly follow someone like that any more.

Oh gosh, I remember Ask Jeeves!! Wow- I didn't know all that - cool 

Thank you MorningStar...perhaps it is not a good thing if phones one-on-one replace the community aspect of the Q/A websites!

DDB, is there less of that here, do you think, is it why you stay with this site?
It was Bozette above who also mentioned that for some, the Internet is a place where they are more rude in virtual life than face-to-face...
The ability to discuss does seem to be an important life skill, significant to our humanity connections.

Bez glad we found this one, maybe it will not close for a long time now I hope!

Who knows? Lol:)

Hi Element 99,
Yes, and do be sure you see Just Asking post on the second page, if you have not already...