Fly4Fun wrote:
FFT, the most respected Huddler of all time... possibly the GOAT, BANNED? Seriously? Wow JJHuddle has lost their way.
Yeah, the statement that got me banned was in the thread talking about whether people read the content, or whether they just show up to read the forums. QCB had stated that the content wasn't very good. I echoed his statement and said,
"My thoughts as well. I've tried to read the content a few times, but from what I've seen, it's garbage. It generally reads like a washed-up high school jock attempting to stay relevant by throwing in ESPN-ish catch phrases and worn out cliches. Not only is the writing itself bad (and, from what I recall, could use some serious proofreading), the in-depth analysis is almost entirely lacking."
Apparently, that was enough for a banning. I was on JJHuddle for more than 10 years (FFT was my second username). ~15,000 posts, moderator, never banned or anything. But noting that there were typos in the content I read and worn-out cliches was enough to put me over the edge.
Good riddance.
I remember back in the days of the free Huddle with the flaming posts. Things were good then, even if the rules were a bit tight. Then they switched over to the pay Huddle . . . things were still good, because people didn't want to have to re-register. Then came all the ads and the flood of members . . . then the Huddle dropped all the rules and opened up a new politics forum. At this point, things really went downhill. People would show up, make one or two stupid posts, get banned, and disappear. The Huddle went from being relatively civilized and having good discussion to being YAF (yet another forum). There are only about a million forums on the 'net, and what the Huddle had going for it was mature, meaningful sports discussion without all the namecalling and accusations.
The problem, as I see it, is that JJs/BuckNuts believes the content is what drives people to the Huddle and differentiates them from every other forum out there. That isn't the case--it's the posters who give up their own time to contribute. And those good posters have posted less and less as (1) rules are arbitrarily enforced, and (2) lots of new people show up to post crap (especially on the college football and politics forums).
Now the Huddle is wanting to charge people to post. We have already created their value for them by donating our time to engage in meaningful conversation there. It's not like they are providing a service to us; we were providing a service to them by allowing them to generate ad revenue. I'm not going to pay someone for the right to post on an ad-riddled, newbie-filled site overrun with nonsensical and inflammatory posts, owned and moderated by jerks . . . when I can 'walk down the virtual street' to a site that offers the same capabilities, minus the trash.
The trick will be seeing if freehuddle.com can generate the critical mass of posters it needs to take off. I think this can happen (and its well on its way), but it may be a challenge to sustain the momentum of the post-JJ fallout.
Best of luck, all.
