VV, I respect your ideological standpoint vs SportNetwork but as a mod, do you see any compromise that would help keep the site going? Would the above work? DW has long since lost its charity-driven charter and is now just a simple message board.
Hi Gaz,
I am a professional digital marketer by trade so spend a lot of time considering things like Search Engine Optimisation, and how to use content to improve a site. The issue with simply reposting an article from the offy, and indeed the reason I won't do that, is that duplicate content hurts both sites in the eyes of search engines. I don't really care about the ranking of DW, most people that visit use a bookmarked link anyway. But I don't want to be party to an action I know damages the online reputation of the site that belongs to the club I love.
That being said, I am very happy to post articles written by other people on their behalf. I am happy to edit if needs be and make it work that way. I'm just not willing to do all the work to keep a site going that offers me no reward either fiscally, or emotionally.
This place doesn't reward me financially - it might one day, but I doubt that very much. But I have a fairly good idea how much money the owners of Sports Network make from the place, and it staggers me. I also don't really like the atmosphere there right now. It used to be a nice place with balanced, if sometimes heated discussion. Now it is extreme views shouted at people, and personal insults when other's disagree.
I'm actually proud of this place. The people who have moved across seem to grasp the idea that we can disagree on our opinions without actually fighting. That's what a discussion forum is for.