What has happened to CEMB ?
Reply #29 - March 31, 2015, 08:20 PM
Yep. Over time, everything changes, evolves. This forum has hosted thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of conversations, on just about every topic any Ex-Muslim or ally could ever think of. Most people don't want to sit there repeating themselves ad nauseum, so of course, most people will move on at some point. And that's okay, because new people are always joining and re-starting conversations or starting new ones.
This place is not a business, we are not here to compete with other Ex-Muslim sites or groups. Each type of medium/format/site has its own advantages and disadvantages. This forum has categories (unlike other social media sites that house content with no organizational structure), polls, and an immense archive of discussions spanning back 8 years, and ongoing conversations between active members.
Many people have gotten to know each other in real life through this forum, and continue to make connections. As Peru said, Maryam Namazie's orgs CEMB, OLFA are affiliated with this forum, but there's no one 'spokesperson' for this forum. It's an amalgamation of all the voices that have spoken up here and that will continue to speak up here. It's an online message board run by volunteers. We (mods, admins, volunteers) pay for server & security costs, and we donate our time to doing what we can. If anyone wants more to be done, it would be better to present solutions, work on practical ways to implement ideas, and collaborate with others who are also able to create new content.
We are happy to host not just text discussions but also high quality audio-visual content, which is what our YouTube channel is known for, thanks to all the work put in over the years by Hassan and other people. Our Twitter is active & constantly growing. These things, the forum, Maryam's activities, our Twitter & YouTube accounts, more or less, are independently operated: the same person or few people can not be expected to create constant content for the consumption of an ever-growing audience over years and years as volunteers. People do have lives outside of the Ex-Muslim movement and most of them do move on from wanting to constantly discuss Islam after the initial burst of activity.
The admins of Ex-Muslim groups, sites, projects, are all in general friends and acquaintances with each other and support each other's work in various ways. Some members overlap with various groups, others stick to one or another format or group. It's fine with us - we are happy to be part of the movement. The archives available to anyone in the world on this forum and its related Twitter & YouTube sites are immensely popular, getting millions of views per month individually.
If you have suggestions for doing more, by all means, bring them to the table, and tell us how you can contribute. We're all in this together. Nobody is just a consumer or just a content-producer. If you don't have the time or inclination to contribute, that's fine too. But if you're going to go around making claims that you know how to do this better, better to go and do it. We can help collaborate, help you develop your ideas, host and promote your ideas. Get in the field and start creating solutions and making content if you think there are things that still need to be done.
"Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused."
Topic: What has happened to CEMB ?