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end of an era

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Kalev Hunt

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Nov 3, 2006, 3:01:16 PM11/3/06
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Hello everyone,

I am writing to let you know that the moderators and other people behind ssyglb
feel the time has come to end the group. In the past 3 or 4 years, the number
of postings to the group has really dropped off. We don't think that has
anything to do with the quality of the group but that it is more a reflection of
the rise in people's usage of web forums, blogs, and other community-type of
software and their abandoning of USENET (the worldwide newsgroup system). At
the current rate of posting, it really isn't worth it for us to maintain ssyglb
as an active space because there's simply not the possibility for the kind of
exchanges that made ssyglb what it used to be. The target audience for ssyglb
has stopped making any substantial use of USENET... currently the group is very
much like an extremely empty room.

Google's statistics back this up:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/soc.support.youth.gay-lesbian-bi/about

Just because ssyglb will be gone doesn't mean there aren't plenty of places on
the web for young people dealing with or questioning their sexuality to seek out
friendly, helpful people and resources. Below is a list of some of the sites
which provide resources and support for queer youth:

http://www.oasismag.com/
http://www.mogenic.com/
http://www.emptyclosets.com/
http://www.outproud.org/
http://www.youthresource.com/
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
http://www.youth-guard.org/
http://www.pflag.com/
http://www.pflagcanada.ca/
http://www.fflag.org.uk/

The schedule for the wind down is as follows:

--starting very shortly, all people submitting posts to ssyglb will receive an
automated message informing them that the group will be shutting down in 3
months' time (Feb 3, 2007)

--after Feb 3, 2007, no further posts will be accepted to the group and the
automated message will be changed to inform people that the group is shut down

--on Jul 7, 2007, the domains for the website and the moderation system will
expire and the automated messages will cease

Before we go, there are a lot of people to thank.

Chief among those would be Mary Gray, our most long-term moderator who I think
missed out on being a founding mod by just a few months. Mary kept the group
alive through some tough times and set a stellar example for all the moderators
who worked with her and came after her. ssyglb would not be the success it has
been without her tireless devotion of over 9 years.

Coming a close second would be Dave Stringer-Calvert, who since his recruitment
by Mary has served as the group's techie extraordinaire, chasing down bugs and
technical problems so the group would keep functioning smoothly. Dave's
diligence and commitment have been spectacular.

Susannah Whitney has been a moderator now for over 5 years and has stuck with us
through thick and thin. Despite a little thing called a thesis, she has been a
huge contributor to the group and has certainly made my job a lot easier--and
pleasant.

Special thanks go out to all the other former moderators who have devoted their
time and energy to ssyglb, who include but are not necessarily limited to:

Hector Bellmann
alan sherwood wiley
Joseph M. Reilly
Michael Handler
Jane Patterson
Rod Swift
Nick Fitch

ssyglb would not have been what it has been without the contributions of some
very generous people, and with that in mind, we would like to thank the
long-time posters, some of whom have been reading and responding to posts since
ssyglb's inception in 1994. I think we can safely say you made a huge
difference in a lot of people's lives, probably far more than you or we will
ever know.

And finally, a final thank you to everyone who has read and/or posted to ssyglb
over the more than 10 years it has been around--we hope it's been as fun and
rewarding for you as it has been for us.

Yours sincerely,

Kalev

--
******************************************************************
Kalev Hunt
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Co-Moderator
soc.support.youth.gay-lesbian-bi
To contact the moderators, ssygl...@ssyglb.net
To get the FAQ, surf http://www.ssyglb.org/
******************************************************************

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