Hey, guys. I'm finished, I think.
I've invested seven years in this site, five as an administrator, and I feel that I've pretty much done all that I can do — or, at least, all that I still have the will to do. It was a good experience, though I've lost passion for things as my writing was trampled under the stampede of administrator responsibilities that have born down on me. I'm going to consider this a retirement post, and I will no longer be taking part in the day-to-day running of the site. All the new kids we just promoted can take away my administrator status at their leisure, and my works on the site with be considered staff controlled at a time of one year from my last post on the site, though I may occasionally pop back in to make sure you've not ruined something. Hell. I may even write again.
I wish I could say all of this has been fun, but it hasn't. Too much drama, too much self-interest, and too much infighting amongst people with barely differing points of view turned this from a great little side project that I wrote actual scholarship on into something that I often had to force myself to take part in. But I had a concept for what this place could be, and an ideal that I wanted to reach, and I feel that I've brought us as close to that ideal as I could make us come. Now, it's your turn.
All you new administrators we've just promoted, all you moderators we're about to, all you operational staff who bear the weight of the site's actual function, all you ambitious junior staff, all you random site members who read O5: do your best to make this site into the place that you want it to be. But don't do so at the expense of everyone else's vision. There is no canon, after all. Share. Be decent to each other. Make new innovations and crank out all the homages you want. Also, don't waste all your talent here. There's a big world out there, and this is a small place to spin your wheels, vying for imaginary points. And when the time is right, go be great at something other than this. There are so many fantastic things out there you can be great at. This doesn't need to be the final hill you plant your flag on. After all, there are mountains.
In spite of any negativity you're reading in this post, I do genuinely wish you all the best. I hope this site lasts a long, long time, and that I'm eventually little more than a footnote in the great book of all of your accomplishments. The proudest moment I could ever have is come back a few years from now and see how much you've all exceeded me by—in writing, in policy making, in leadership. I hope you'll let me have that pleasure.
Regards,
TroyL
"WELL FOUNDATION. YOU MADE IT SO EASY. SO VERY VERY EASY." - dimensionpotato
(account deleted)