Dear Books & Authors, I'll miss you?

I was fairly active in Books and Authors around 2007-2009, and when I heard Y!A was closing down the nostalgia hit me hard. If anyone I talked to frequently back then sees this, thank you for the good times and for putting up with my thirteen-year-old self.

Yeah, there are definitely people I'll miss as well, MsBittner, Andrew, Bluebellbkk, Marli, and others.

But as you say, we know why Yahoo Answers has become a lost cause. It's been like flogging a dead horse for years due to the updates, which have lessened the quality of the site instead of improving it, and the almost non-existing moderation, allowing spammers, trolls, extremists, and what I suspect are people with mental issues who ask the same questions over and over again to flood the forums.

Happy writing to you too. And who knows, maybe we'll still see each other around as names on book covers, even though we might not be aware of doing so. :)

Hi,I cant quite remember when I discovered Yahoo Answers.

I stopped when there were changes to the site and some of the amusing characters left. I only returned recently due in part to lockdown boredom! My feeling about are mixed it can be a lot of fun but sometimes despair!

It's a shame its going,overall I think its a good way to express one self and learn new things.

Farewell

While I've certainly enjoyed spending time here over the years, it would be silly to deny that this site has completely gone to pot. It's completely overrun by incessant repeater troll spammers and malicious reporters and the number of decent questions being posted is only a small fraction of what we would get in the past. 

I can't imagine that I was anybody's favourite user here, but I did what I could to wave the flag for books and writing. I may not be the most personable fellow and often came off as a bit of a prat, but I really did always try to be constructive and informative and people could tell that I knew what I was on about as you can't just pull that type of knowledge out of your árse. Only a lifetime of books and writing can produce that kind of knowledge and I was glad to share it with all of you. 

I plan to concentrate on other things now - namely spending a lot more time with my family. I'll likely hover about here for the next few weeks now and again until the end comes, so it's not a proper farewell. Those of us left ought to see each other off when the time comes. To those of you who made this a great place to be, I thank ye. 

Cheers. 

It is interesting when we put things into perspective, isn't it?

I joked around in other sections to pass the time, but this is one of the sections that kept me coming back daily.  In giving serious answers to serious questions, it really made me appreciate how much I learned along the way and how much I still had to learn.

I sensed the end was near over a year ago as the posturing and posing that defines other sections began to spread here.  I had thought the vast number of folks made housebound by the pandemic might improve things...or at least balance out the trolls and posers...  but it only seemed to speed the decline.  

I'm more sad at how that all reflects the state of society than I am the end of this site. The value of meaningful discourse and interaction seems so diluted in the "broadcast yourself" world.

That said, I hope you never lose that passion.  In my experience the passionate will always find a story worth telling.

LeighB, whoever you are, that was a nice tribute. Thank you for taking the time.

I've been here about the same length of time, under multiple accounts. Banned three times, and once my 17-year-old email wiped out of existence. (I still resent that. No idea what I'm supposed to have done.)

Anyway, it's always a pleaure to see a teenager who shares your interest mature until they're an adult who shares your interest. I hope you'll keep writing.

I'm of the opinion that it didn't have to end like this. Proper moderation, including volunteers supervised by paid staff, might have saved the site, but instead, here we are.

Nobody's surprised, I imagine. For some time now I've reported more questions per day than I answer, and I limit myself to the really awful ones--and even those are often left posted, with their links to hardcore porn, Nazi worship, racism or antisemitism, and more fun stuff. Yahoo just gave up.