Once I realize that I am repeating myself, usually after having done so multiple times, I get frustrated – with myself. This is one of the reasons I’ve had to step back from certain friendships. It’s why I used the staff log when managing employees. It’s why I don’t try to “train the algorithms” to get my apps to adjust my feeds to my preferences (the algorithms follow the apps preferences, which is to keep people engaged – that’s why they keeping feeding me shit sandwiches).
Eventually though, I realize I’m repeating myself and I stop. This usually requires reducing the frequency of my activity or quitting it entirely.
I belong to an online forum for the Solo community that uses Slack. I’ve never been a big fan of Slack, but I’m adept enough with technology to work my way around it efficiently.
When I first joined the forum more than a year ago, I lurked and read a lot before posting anything.
I became more active once I got a feel for the online community. But, as in all things, I only post when I have something to say and have relevant experience.
Here’s the downside to this forum using Slack. After 90 days, all of the postings “age out” and disappear. That’s the hook Slack is using to try to get people to pay $5-$10/month for their “upgraded” version that keeps posts indefinitely.
So all the thoughtful, carefully worded posts I have made are gone. There is no archive. There is no way to make them visible for other people.
As soon as I realized this, I cut back on my postings. I’ll still occasionally reply when someone is seeking advice and I have relevant experience. But, when a new member asks the same question a few months later request, I don’t bother to respond. After all, I’ve already said my piece.
It’s not my job to keep the forum active. It’s not my podcast nor my project.
Since there are new people joining every week, there are plenty of opportunities to answer the same questions over and over.
I don’t mind helping out. But there’s not a chance I’ll be repeating myself due to the limitations of Slack.
* I did offer to help the owner evaluate an alternative user-forum solution that is free and would likely work. He chose not to take me up on it because he has other priorities, which I completely respect. In fact, perhaps it is better to have a disappearing forum –kind of like Snapchat’s disappearing messages. For me, I prefer being able to search for answers in forum archives, but the forum wasn’t built for me. I know one thing – I won’t try to talk the owner into getting rid of Slack . After all, I already said it.