When I told my brother Mark, who I happened to be visiting on the 30th, that it was the anniversary of thephorum.net, he was surprised that it was still around. Some people want the largest community, or the most active, or the one that is the definitive place to discuss whatever, but all I really want is for the Phorum to be interesting and safe. Interesting in the sense that the signal-to-noise ratio is high, and safe meaning that it's a place where people feel comfortable expressing their own opinion. While we have developed a culture--and for the most part I approve of this culture--where we expect the opinion to be reasonably defensible, in the end I do want it to be a place where differing opinions can be respected even if not agreed with.
I'm not claiming full success at these measures and I'm also certainly not claiming credit for all the success the site has achieved, but I personally still enjoy coming 'round and participating in the occasional discussion. I hope the rest of you pholks do too. I plan to keep the lights on here for as long as there are people willing to pop in occasionally, so since it's not going away, you might as well enjoy it
