As you can tell from my username, I support Monica's fight against what SE did to her. The actions taken by those in charge at SE have left a very bitter taste in my mouth, and while I have not left Writing, my visits have all but evaporated. I used to have Writing open in a tab on my browser all day, every day. Now I only visit once a week or less, and then only for a few minutes. The attacks against Monica, the resulting accusations and general negativity, and the subsequent leaving by many moderators and downturn in site quality have all contributed to this lack of activity.
It has now become increasingly clear to me that:
- There is nothing we can do to rectify the situation, because we have too little power to do anything, and SE does not care.
- Because SE does not care (and in fact probably thinks there is no problem, or that things will blow over), they will not do anything to fix the issue.
This means that any action taken on our part is purely for our benefit, or the benefit of the community.
I have no desire to hurt the community by leaving, but the fact is that I have (unofficially) already left. As I said, my activity has taken a serious downturn, and I feel no inclination to ask or answer any questions. That is why it is my belief that I should find a new group of writers, where I can help the community with a good conscience, and not one constantly reminding me that I am helping (in however small a way) SE to stay alive.
This doesn't mean I want SE to die. The platform is excellent, and the community is (from what I've seen) comprised of some of the most open-minded and helpful people on the internet. Those in charge at SE, and those who back what they did to Monica, need to be gracious enough to own up to what they did, apologize, and then step down if Monica and the community request it.
That will never happen (both because they are too far down the rabbit hole now, and also because it is their company, and they can technically do whatever they want with it).
Those in charge have opted to blind themselves with current political issues, and now are incapable of realizing (or refuse to do so, which is even worse if true) that they are using that blindness to champion the very cause they preach against: defaming and harming a person who does not agree with them.
To sum up:
- My activity has plummeted due to a general feeling of negativity towards SE as a whole.
- While I have no wish to harm the community by leaving, I feel I could be of more use elsewhere, where I will feel inclined to contribute.
- I cannot feel comfortable contributing to a site owned and run by people who practice mental and emotional harm against those who disagree with them, and then offer no attempt to mitigate that harm.
Due to these reasons, I am now looking for an alternative to Writing SE, a place where general questions about Writing can be penned and answered, and opinions discussed freely.
I have not yet been able to find such a place, but will continue searching. If anyone else is of the same mind and has already found such an alternative, I would appreciate a pointer in the right direction.
EDIT: While not a permanent solution, I have decided to create a Discord server for those of us who have left Writers. It will allow us to ask and answer questions, while keeping everyone in the loop as we look for a more permanent solution. If you are interested in joining, the link is in my profile.
FURTHER EDIT: ArtofCode has been gracious enough to allow us access to what I feel could be a permanent solution. The website will obviously need to be moved off of his private server at some point if we go with it, but I encourage everyone to go there, make an account, claim your content, and start testing it out.
