Posted 8/21/2023 3:17 PM (GMT 0)
Recently Todd1963 inquired about the status of long-time forum poster Logoslidat, who used to post here regularly, but who has not done so for some time now.
He was curious as to Logoslidat's current status, whether he still has interest in the forum here, even if only as lurker now, or whether he has chosen, or is no longer able, for various possible reasons, to continue posting here.
I imagine those of you who have followed the posts made here on the forum over the past few years are familiar with the person in question, Logoslidat.
He was, shall we say, unique in his writing style, and some would say both colorful and enigmatic at the same time. But always, whether you liked him or not, he was entertaining.
Perhaps we'll find out whether Logoslidat is still paying attention to the forum or not, and what his health situation is, if someone finds out and can tell us.
Or if he is reading this and can post and tell us himself.
We'll see.
But I did a little websearching on the general topic of making forum farewell posts, whether to do them or not, and after reading a bit, I got the impression that the general web feeling was maybe 80-20 % NOT to do them.
Here are some thoughts I found on it:
"I’ve had many members leave without a word. It can hurt to some degree especially when they were active posters & for one reason or another just upped & left. Maybe I offended them. Maybe another member did. If it’s not talked about, the problem cannot be fixed."
"I rarely announce my departure when I leave a forum. In terms of friends, most of them I would have other ways of contacting them. I've been known to quit a specific message board for a period of time and come back later, so it's not always goodbye for me."
"If members didn't want to announce their departure on my forum, I think I would understand. There are various reasons why someone may leave a forum and a lot of times its just life getting in the way."
"If it's because I've fallen out with people there, then I might - but, that's rare. Usually, when I 'leave' a forum, it's because I gradually drift away and eventually, without making a conscious decision to stop visiting, just forget about it altogether."
"The only time I have made anything close to a goodbye thread is when I had to leave forums for a while due to personal issues but my intention was to come back when things got better."
A controversial view:
"Announcing departure is usually a sign of ego and seeking attention and leaving generally means they're not going to be getting attention at all, so inevitably they'll be back sooner or later."
And from a forum moderator:
"When people left my forum without a word I always worried what did we do wrong, what could we have done to keep them around more. I would love actual feedback being given to know what could be improved upon."
There can be variations on this. Occasionally we will see a post from a loved one of the poster, often his wife, who is posting now to say that her husband is unable to continue posting, or has unfortunately passed, and she is posting to inform us of this, and to thank us for having helped him in some way, and she is now saying goodbye for him.
I think most of us would agree that there is no right or wrong answer here, just what works for the individual and how he has related to the forum.
Perhaps the best thing to do when a long time poster leaves without saying goodbye to just to assume that the person got what he came for from the forum and felt it was time to move on. And that, while not directly saying so, left with positive feelings about the forum and us.
How do we feel about this question? Feel free to choose one of the survey options above, or post below your own thoughts on this matter.