Author Topic: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye  (Read 3898 times)

Offline toddg

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PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« on: November 09, 2021, 07:30:03 PM »
Greetings JH Lifers,

We're writing to announce that this website will be closing down on December 31st.

This forum has just passed its 14th birthday.  Our tongue-in-cheek explanation for why the site was founded has always been that the community needed more space to debate the imminent arrival of its first Starbucks.  The first real post on the site was about an upcoming meeting of the Western Jackson Heights Alliance.  Since then, we've traveled together through a lot of civic activism, political flame wars, complaints about everything, excitement about new restaurants, endless announcements about flea markets.  We've also seen some of our active members pass away, including community leaders Betsy Guthrie (ECG), Tom Lowenhaupt (Tom Lowenhaupt), and Jose Peralta (joseperalta).  It has also been a great place for people to reconnect: our longest active thread has been "Any long time Jackson Heights residents out there?"  and we ended up creating an entire sub-board for people who wanted to share memories of days past in the neighborhood.

At this point in time, it feels that there are more options than ever for discussing community issues online, and that the time for a site like this has largely faded.  The activity level on the site is much smaller than it was at its peak, and it's a constant struggle to squash bot accounts and delete spam before it can take over the site.  So rather than abandon it to the weeds for a declining active readership, we've decided it is time to close up shop.

Please use this thread to share your thoughts on JH Life, recommendations for other places for the community to congregate online, or (dare we suggest?) make arrangements to meet up in person!  If there are threads that people found helpful for information gathering, such as contractors, plumbers, we recommend finding those now before the site shuts down.

In celebration of our upcoming retirement, "The Last Word" thread  has been unlocked and awoken from its slumber.

Many thanks to all who have made this site possible.  This has been a labor of love for our administrator merm, and our moderators Shelby2. toddg, Chuckster, and JHMNY.  We are especially grateful to all of you, the participants in this experimental community, for contributing to its success and vitality over the years.  Thank you.

Warm regards,
The Jackson Heights Life Team
merm, Shelby2, toddg, JHMNY

Offline lalochezia

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #1 on: November 09, 2021, 09:28:52 PM »
Firstly I'd like to thank everyone who ran this site. It was a real service and much appreciated.

That being said, I'm really sad about this and wish you would reconsider - or see if other people would be willing to run the site.

 Oldschool message boards are one of the few relics of the open, non-monetized, non-advertising-soaked,  non-infowar, non-algorithm fueled,  quirky user-generated internet. And they are to be lauded.

Today's social media options DO NOT replace them; I know of no equivalents that aren't on Facebook (spits!), reddit, insta, twitter etc.


Offline abcdefghijk

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #2 on: November 09, 2021, 09:57:17 PM »
Thanks JHL.

It's been an immense learning curve on this forum. Much appreciated.

Yes, I can see that it's probably time for far more voices to be heard...and I am aware of Facebook sites with a plethora of opinions...

So, your hard work is much recognized with gratitude.

Only the best to you.

Offline Bel84

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #3 on: November 09, 2021, 11:04:52 PM »
Really sorry to see this site closing down. I relied on it often for restaurant recommendations and news about the nabe.

I agree with lalochezia that it would be great if you would reconsider or if there are others out there willing to take the

helm. I don't know how I originally found you guys and I wonder if the reason visits are down is because people new to

JH don't even know it exists. Anyway, thanks for all the work you put into it over the years.

Offline hum@njukebox1

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2021, 09:04:49 AM »
This is sad.   :(

Offline JHResident

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2021, 10:10:25 AM »
At this point in time, it feels that there are more options than ever for discussing community issues online, and that the time for a site like this has largely faded.
This site will be sorely missed.  If anyone could post these other options, I'm sure many would appreciate it.  I tend to avoid most social media outlets because of their toxicity, and appreciated the mostly civil discourse the moderators encouraged.

Good luck in your future endeavors.

Offline JHALUM

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2021, 12:39:06 PM »
I loved this site and found many useful suggestions over the years. Many similar sites have  already shut down because the volume on these type of sites has significantly declined.  Although I would open the web page often I found less and less good reads.  Also when the amount of posters dwindled the same posters would dominate the discussions and post multiple similar opinions on the same threads to get in their last word making some threads unreadable.


I  want to express my gratitude to all those that made it happen.  It was fun while it lasted.

Offline ljr

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2021, 01:35:15 PM »
I guess people are using Next Door? This was a very useful site, but I did notice that there were very few active posters on it. There is also the JHFamilies listserv, which is quite active and useful for selling, donating, buying stuff, asking questions about vendors, or general neighborhood discussion. Thanks to the folks who created this site and ran it!

Offline lalochezia

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2021, 01:55:47 PM »

Offline lalochezia

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2021, 01:58:03 PM »
Can this site be archived anywhere? You're not on https://web.archive.org/

Offline abcdefghijk

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2021, 02:20:19 PM »
Jackson Heights Group on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/35851988964

It can get wild but at least there are a multitude of many voices on it...including Spanish speaking...so reading it has improved my Spanish. (Including Spanish curse words.)


Offline abcdefghijk

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #11 on: November 10, 2021, 02:39:41 PM »
Plus...I think the fact the Facebook Group isn't anonymous is a positive.

It makes folks with impulse control or anger control challenges...perhaps think twice...(tho sometimes not!)

Offline itsit

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #12 on: November 10, 2021, 04:34:12 PM »
 To the Moderators,
    Thanks for all of your work on the site over the years! It truly has been a neighborhood service. Yes, there are other algorithmic places to post locally but the uniqueness of this site has been appreciated. Sorry to hear of this closing and as some others have suggested, maybe someone/some few will come forward to keep it going. We hope so.
    With appreciation,
       Itsit

Offline JH.77

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Re: PLEASE READ: JHL to say goodbye
« Reply #13 on: November 10, 2021, 07:56:01 PM »
Such sad news. This has been my source of news about JH for years as the amount of news from "local" news sources gets less and less.
I never ever use Facebook and now more than ever I have no reason to go there.
Thanks for your creation, your work and dedication.  You will be missed.

Offline Suzaan

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so sorry to hear this
« Reply #14 on: November 11, 2021, 05:02:28 PM »
I understand being tired of doing this, but I hope you have tried to pass it to others.  This is a marvelous neighborhood resource.

Has someone identified what these other substitute sites are for discussing JH news?