Radio8 — do you remember it?

[Doreen Peri]

Yes, discussion boards can be a lot of work. We had trolls here too that took hours of my time. And we’ve been inundated with spam bots, which is why the registration is turned off …again. I can’t do it alone and I don’t have the tech skills or support to fix these issues. So I get it. If that’s what was happening to his site, I get it. I didn’t see any spam bots there but maybe there were. We inherited his trolls, and that was a pain in the ass. But he thought people were trolls who I didn’t consider trolls. Stilltrucking was a “troll” to him. Not to me. He’s a person with a lot to say.

It’s funny revisiting all the drama 24 years later. It’s exhausting, actually. I never thought I’d have to think about those times again. And all of this is searchable. Many years from now, someone could search for my name and find this post and write, “Doreen Peri was apparently a bitch.” Haha

At any rate, my goal has always been community. Building a community where people inspire each other creatively. So, despite the bots and bullies and the trolls, I kept the site open because people were investing their time and energy into the community.

We’ve had dozens of 24-hour poems. We call them Word Jams. Sometimes they lasted a week or two. Sometimes a month. And then there’s the “perpetual jam” that’s been going on for 24 years. It’s a community.

Anyway, such is the nature of the beast. I can understand a time when some online project becomes too much to deal with. But I wouldn’t close a place down without warning unless I died and that’s why the hosting wasn’t paid for.

OR… let’s say we have no activity here anymore. That time IS coming soon. We have no new members. No registration. Fewer and fewer posts happen every day.

If it happened that it’s been a month with no new posts, I’d definitely close this site. But I’d post an information post about the date it would close in advance.

Just got back from a Christmas lunch with my family. That was my only plan for Christmas. What are you doing for Christmas?

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, and thank you for your creative energy. You’re a terrific writer!

Moving forward. What’s happening in 2026? Do you think we’ll finally get a break from the authoritarian regime?