What Makes Online Communities So Special

My fingers are actually sore from doing site updates for several online communities over the last week. There are many downsides to running online communities. It’s a financial black hole, it always needs attention, there are always security updates to do and I get my share of stalkers who a lot of time on their hands and not a lot of direction for more worthwhile pursuits.

But, there are moments that make it all worthwhile. I have a small number of strong friendships that have developed from these communities; and no matter the state of my personal life I make sure the best I can that the communities trudge on.

Today someone posted this note from one of my communities that provides free supp0rt for a serious illness. We’ve been running this for about 7 years now and it’s blossomed into a very special place. These members are somedays just fine, and other days can barely sit up to get to their computer. I was very touched by her comments, here it is:

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Forum Opening

I have opened a forum for my website at http://forum.conradaskland.com

It’s against my better judgement to open a forum on a personal website, but I can’t keep up with the number of email questions I’m getting now. Hopefully the forum will allow people to exchange resources. I receive many of the same questions via email – so this is also a way to answer people in detail and en masse.

I run many other online forum communities but have never had one on my own site before. This will also be a test area for me to try new forum functionality before bringing live to other communities.