🙏 Thank you guys! 💖

[Corin]

I had planned to write a message to tell everyone how much of a loss it is that Nu is going to leave us. I knew he was planning to leave the admin team for quite a while because the fantastic work he did for the site was taking a massive toll on him and starting to burn him out. It’s not like I cannot relate to that.

But now I have to swallow that Soren is leaving us, too. And in contrast to Nu’s departure, I have to admit that this is mostly my own fault.

Soren is the best person you could imagine to lead and manage a community. We’ve been online friends for many years. When he joined the admin team, first as an approver, then later taking on more and more responsibilities, his talent for communicating with people became unmistakable. No matter how ridiculous some situation or message he had to react to had been, his answer was always perfect and flawless.

His engagement and the energy he put into the site have been nothing short of amazing. I was absolutely sure that the site would continue without any issues, even with Nu’s departure, because I knew I had Soren by my side. And - I have to explicitly mention that as well - Nu has done an incredible job in preparing and organizing everything, to make it as easy for his successors as possible.

Unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks, it turned out that Soren has serious issues with my way of dealing with people, especially when I’m emotionally engaged. Soren is the perfect professional community manager, while I’m way more blunt and direct. He has already explained his issues with me in his posting, and the only thing I can add to that is that I was simply oblivious to his suffering.

I accept his decision in shame, because I feel responsible for his inability to work with me. Sometimes you have to admit that people are not compatible in a working relationship, even when they’re fond of each other in a private, relaxed environment.

Nu, and later Soren, were there for the community and stepped in to manage the site when I was having serious issues myself. Their engagement allowed the site to continue and to thrive in the past 1 1/2 years. I cannot be more grateful to both of them. If you love and enjoy our sites, never simply take them all for granted. Without people like Nu, Soren, and all the other great guys working in the background as approvers or in other roles, the sites wouldn’t exist or be what they are.

Both of them have announced that they will stay around and possibly write more stories again, now that they no longer have duties taking up so much of their free time. So this is not a goodbye! I’m looking forward to seeing you around and enjoying some relaxed, possibly exciting conversations with you both…

So - thank you, Nu, thank you, Soren!

[Mafisto]

Thank you, Nu and Soren! Looking forward to your stories!

[TandySensation]

1. As a longtime lurker, I never have any idea what y’all are talking about with these management announcements. Burnout here, personality clash there… but always just vague enough to leave me curious about the juicy gossip.

2. As a longtime lurker on GSS & NCMC, I must applaud the site management and anyone who has volunteered over the years. Throughout the changes, I’ve never felt any disruption or degradation in the… “services” provided here.

3. As a pathetic YouTube addict, it’s a relief to type an aggressive sentence on a platform which doesn’t rely on AI-powered comment moderation.

[Corin]

@TandySensation

1. As a longtime lurker, I never have any idea what y’all are talking about with these management announcements. Burnout here, personality clash there… but always just vague enough to leave me curious about the juicy gossip.

I can imagine. I would be very curious, too.

It’s less dramatic than it sounds, though. In the end, we’re still all friends, even if there are some disagreements here and there.

What most people probably can’t see from the outside is how much it takes to manage such a site. By itself, it doesn’t look like much. Still, the constant attention it demands, the fact that there’s always something new to take care of, the discussions, differing opinions, and arguments on top of the regular chores that just come with doing a decent job, are taking a bigger toll on your private life than you’d believe.

At some point, you just feel like it becomes too much. Then all it takes is a comparatively minor issue that can tip you over, and you just need to let go for a while.

So I’m happy that this is a great community with people who all want to see these sites continue and step in.

@TandySensation

2. As a longtime lurker on GSS & NCMC, I must applaud the site management and anyone who has volunteered over the years. Throughout the changes, I’ve never felt any disruption or degradation in the… “services” provided here.

Thanks, that’s what we all aim for!

@TandySensation

3. As a pathetic YouTube addict, it’s a relief to type an aggressive sentence on a platform which doesn’t rely on AI-powered comment moderation.

I hope I’ll never see the day that an AI takes over this site. Not even on my deathbed. AIs managing communities is the death of the free internet.

[Mafisto]

[Soren_Fitz]

Yeah, that’s the thing, ‘site management’ work is very invisible! So we don’t really expect anyone to care too much about these messages, but they’re important for transparency, especially to those who interacted with us as site stewards more often. The work I did was almost entirely behind the scenes: responding to messages, resolving conflicts, dealing with comment reports, helping the approver team with hard decisions… nothing that’ll obviously affect the everyday user’s experience. So in the end you won’t see major changes. Our team knows what they’re doing, with or without me!

You can look forward to a working, vibrant site for a long time to come!