Ultimately, I’m here for the articles; even if I’m disappointed in this change, there’s nothing else like bb.
And at least for now, the ad-based feed is still mostly full-text.
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We will do all we can to make sure the subscriber feed is as useful as possible, independentl of the ad-free posts (and ad free emails of the articles themselves and the daily rollup)
There are a lot of things missing as Substack begins this push into community hosting, but also simple things like there not being an API so we can link comments on Substack from the BB blog pages. They’re listening to us, and they’re taking these suggestions for their development roadmap. Mich as we did with Discourse over the last decade(!), we’re committed to helping Substack build out these community and blog integration features as well.
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… And the resulting form of Discourse is par excellence. Which makes me wonder, is there anything here that is not a downgrade strictly in terms of forum functionality with this move? Are there any aspects of the Substack system that are attractive for community interactions? Unsavory adjacency’s notwithsatanding (which of course they definitely are) - I’m having a hard time seeing how this works out forum-wise on a functionality/UI basis.
Am on (and off) probably about a half dozen different Discourse instances, spread across different fields/interst-sets/companies - it just works amazingly for so many organizations - the feature set for categorization, tagging, reacting etc doesn’t seem replicable in any near-term eventuality.
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As someone who mostly just uses the BBS these days and hardly ever visits the main page (and then only with ad blockers on), I realize I’m part of the problem that this change is designed to solve. Though like a number of people already suggested, I’d be willing to pay to keep this BBS alive - this is a very nice community, and Discourse is very good forum software. I highly doubt the community could survive in the Substack comment section just because of the much more limited functionality, and that’s even if everyone was willing and able to move there, which is obviously not the case.
So this is probably a farewell. I may use the free trial someday, but I doubt that I’ll find something worth paying for any more.
Thanks to everyone who’s been posting here, to the mods and admins who have kept the place nice and tidy, and to the founders of Boing Boing who attracted all these wonderful people to the same place. Safe travels.
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Damn, it took me a while to find this after being confronted with the “Comment on Substack” button, but this has really bummed me out.
While I myself have gone on about sites needing to find alternate sources of revenue other than ads, I honestly can’t see myself subscribing. I already have too many subscriptions!
I’m a long-time member of some other classic forums, such as Jeff Minter’s YakYak and ttlg.com. My internet home is probably the forum over on Quake3World.com.
But this place offered something different to those sites, with comments from people I found fascinating and inspiring. Genuinely smart people willing to let me in and occasionally write something from the heart without being jumped on.
I’ve always felt like the least smart person in the room here, because there are intellects here that fizz!
Brains and personalities to admire and aspire to.
So it is with no small amount of sadness I say “Buh-bye B B.”
I’ve enjoyed my time here and read some incredible things from equally incredible people.
But all things must end.
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Authors can place a link to a chat about their article, it’s not a perfect solution because the chat function is limited.
Chat is a little better for the types of discussions found here because it’s linear and you don’t have to wade through threaded replies under articles.
It’s still only slightly better but it’s an option.
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I think you may just be projecting, while others are letting their true colors show.
Just my opinion, though.
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If you search for “enshittification” in this thread, there are dozens of us. DOZENS!
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well everyone, it’s been nice knowing you. like many of you i won’t be joining substack or subscribing to BB. i’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s comments and opinions over the years. so long, and thanks for all the fish.
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Nope; the burden of proof is on the person making the claim, always.
I am not a fan of change, but it is inevitable.
I knew when I joined this site that it could not last forever.
Dozens… out of 3000+ members.
Yeah, I’m still gonna go with psychological projection.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
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Since we’re going into read-only soon, and this has seemingly become the collection of farewell missives, I felt the need to add my own selfish thanks and thoughts to the pile.
This community and website have been an incredibly important influence on my brain and spirit, and a huge part of who “I am” today. In my 20 years of following along I’ve had my submitted links published and commented on by some of my favorite creators, had pages-long arguments with some of the coolest and weirdest mutants I could hope for, and found some of the most joyous (and occasionally infuriating) content the world has to offer. But by far the most important part has been this community. Every time I see something that interests me in the RSS, I immediately head to the BBS to see what my people are feeling and thinking (sometime needing to search for the thread title when the link has been updated and doesn’t work right 
). Whenever I’ve struggled with the chaos and uncontrollable events of the macrocosm, this is where I’ve gained clarity and camaraderie.
The internet, and world in general, have felt like an increasingly adversarial place for my favorite flavor of weirdo in recent years. But this BBS was always a place that felt relatively safe, even at its most challenging. Lurking has become my norm due to the fear, but reading through everyone’s joys and anxieties, righteous anger and exultation, gives me a good centering. Pre-lurk, I know that the pushback and debate that I encountered with some of my comments has helped steer me towards a more healthy, accepting mindset - or at least tempered me with a wider view of the world. I know for a fact that some of the callouts I’ve had on here helped me to avoid all too common pipelines of throught, and shaped me into someone I’m proud to be, and so this community will always be with me in that way.
Knowing that many of these joyful mutants will not be making the leap to Substack feels like the heart going away - which is crushing. I’ll likely still be reading BoingBoing in the future, but this is surely my end of community involvement as well. With that, I wanted to shout out some of my internet Aunties, Uncles, and genderqueer Entles - some of whom aren’t here any longer to hear my thanks - who have irreversibly made my world the beautiful shape and shade that it is: @gracchus, @anon61221983, @Grey_Devil, @LDoBe, @Papasan, @Brainspore, and so many more that my brain is failing to provide immediately (and also I’m limited to 10 people lol). And also never-ending thanks for the mods and volunteers who give their time and energy - and risk safety and sanity - to keep this garden beautiful: @Mjolnir, @Sekhmet, and @Community_Mod_1, and of course @orenwolf. (and again, many more people over the years that I can’t “at” since I have a limit both technically and with my memory)
Love you all, you have my eternal thanks, and I’ll miss the heck out of you (even the tr0lls). Stay weird. 
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I don’t plan to post again here since things are wrapping up, but as far as Substack i will keep an occasional eye on it but i don’t think i will engage with it. It’s just not the kind of experience that’s for me, but if you (whomever i’ve befriended here) needs to reach me say hi over there.
Would’ve liked for things to have gone differently but thank you everyone. I’ve truly become a better person and thinker, and its allowed me to really be myself. Really, thanks. Sorry to see this end, for those i won’t be able to talk to again i hope you’ll find yourself in a good place. Love you and i’ll miss you.
To BB ownership and contributors. Thanks for bringing whimsy, wonder, and weirdness into the world. Wish things didn’t have to be this way, but still… thanks.
To Orenwolf, you’re doing good work despite how hard this is. I want you to know you are seen and appreciated.
Bye Boing Boing.
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Since this is all going away in a day, I’ll just post my farewell in this final week before the storm. I want to thank all the wonderful Boing Boingers I’ve interacted with over the decades here. Many of you helped keep my perspectives in check, and I really appreciated all of you (@Melizmatic comes to mind there).
I’ve had to abandon many platforms over my 36 years on the internet, but this one really hurts. I get the realities they face in running a place like this, and honestly, the entire net has become so hostile that weird queer furries like me need to migrate to smaller spaces and just settle in more welcoming gardens.
I’ve glanced at the Substack comments, and they don’t look too encouraging, and hitting the paywall just feels wierd. We’ll see if I have the enthusiasm to actually subscribe, but I’m hesitant about putting my billing information into Substack.
Let’s hope next week turns out to be less of a dumpster fire than we all expect it might be. Good luck to you all, wherever you land.
Oh well, goodbye, Boing Boing; it’s been wonderful.
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Seems I just joined as things start coming to a close. I’ll definitely miss the discussions here.
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I was going to try substack - the offered free access seemes mostly like a chance to see the current headlines and not much else.
For a brief period I was a paid subscriber, and it looked like the only way to turn off email digests is to completely remove your boingboing subscription. I don’t think it’s going to work out for me.
edit: the only way I could find to remove my cc info from my substack acct was to completely delete my acct. So be it.
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A last hurrah. Here’s to all of us!
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Thanks to all who made the BBS a safe space for happy mutants to frolic! I’ll miss this place.
Gotta go…sniff…somebody’s getting tears on my handbook.
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Aw man, I will have to read up thread all of the other people posting. It really sucks that this seems to be a bridge too far for a lot of people. I honestly don’t fault you. I am not 100% sure I will stick with the transition… but I am going to make an effort.
I am not faulting BB either. It has to be tough to run a site like this on more or less a skeleton crew and maintain the costs associated with it.
While there have been tiffs and disagreements, I would say overall the BBS was populated by much smarter, funnier, and interesting than average people. I do value a lot of the interactions I have had over the years. I can say with certainty that being called to task, or seeing others, has made me reevaluate positions. and start to looking at the world less tribally per se. Instead I decided what core principles I find important and support those - vs cheer leading a certain “team”. It is harder now to have an opinion on something, when the result of that opinion would be counter to a general principle. I may not fully understand something or even like/agree with the people surrounding a subject, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t support it if it is “right”. I can point to my shift from “giving cops the benefit of the doubt” to “you can’t trust a damn one of them” as an example.
Also I have learned a lot - not just from various BB posts, but by people inserting more information, correcting misinformation, or sharing a fun fact.
So where ever you all end up, good luck to you. I wish everyone the best. If for some reason you want to squirrel away my email or something, feel free to DM me. You never know when you might need an expert on The Shadow or Boba Fett action figures.
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Is that a Bibo doll? Possibly from Archie McPhee?
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Yup. A favorite god for old mutants like me. But he can get emotional sometimes.
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