No. of Recommendations: 13
The TMF version is trafficked just enough to to function. You don't want to be splitting threads off or it will die. Plus we've discussed EVs on METAR for ages. That's one of the core topics. Definitely an economic trend, so not off topic. I have a different, and as usual more pessimistic take.
The free boards at the Fool are a drain. They exist by legacy, not because the contribute anything to the product. They are now off happily selling subscriptions and whatnot, and apparently doing pretty well at it, well enough to employ around 600 people, or so Google thinks.
By history they began as “free” boards on AOL, compensated by AOL for the user time spent (way back when AOL was a pay-by-the-minute service). [The Fool was one of the first AOL products in their experiment lab, and one of the few to actually turn into something.]
When AOL went free and started charging media to have a presence, the Fool tried to make it on banner advertising, which may or may not have been successful at first but eventually all of that cratered and banner ads are small potatoes anymore. Note the Fool 2.0 (it’s actually 3.0 by my count) has no advertising at all, nor does Shrewdm.com.
<—-And this is where I put in a plug for public support, as Manlobbi has costs involved in running this thing. I am on a small monthly payment plan, same as I give Wikipedia and a few others. Allow me to make it easy: https://www.shrewdm.com/MB?support So I throw a less-than-Starbucks in once a month. Heck, I probably put more in the tip jar at Subway, and that’s also unnecessary, except I am a good person. {Goofy Beams Brightly}
Anyway, my theory is that the new-ish overlords at the Fool simply don’t care abut the free boards. If they live, fine. If they die, fine. It would be nicer if they died a natural death rather than were murdered, which might cause a minor backlash, but otherwise, who gives a shit? (Whoops, I said a bad word. No censorship! Hooray!)
They have someone in charge who doesn’t get how boards work, or perhaps does but makes poor decisions, or perhaps is enamored with her power, or perhaps none of the above, but who is
not helping . I was told by a Fool employee long ago that the free boards were a marketing tool, helpful in introducing new people to the organization - but based on the repetitiveness of the names and the lack of new ones, I’d guess that time has passed as well. Thus my pessimistic view that they just don’t care very much. I suspect only a few brain cells are spent even thinking about it.
Saul’s board brought in hundreds, maybe thousands of newbies to the Fool, but that’s gone - and what’s left? The cost of renting the hosting platform and 1/3 of an employee. (Hard to believe it’s more than that.) So it’s not terribly expensive, but also no longer terribly important.
I have gotten used to the new Fool format; I like the ability to correct posts after-the-fact and the ability to put up graphics (but that’s more storage and electron intensive) so I’m glad to have both. But given the randomness of the decision making there I suspect it’s only a matter of time before I, too, am given the dreaded email and lockout. Ah well, 30 years of my life. Not relevant, apparently.
