The activity on poetry forums has decreased considerably over the last decade. The Sphere was once much more active and I understand it was even more active in the years before I joined in 2007. The early part of the century seems to be considered its golden years. The Gazebo ran out of gas. Participation dropped when Facebook and Twitter and other time consuming black holes of creativity became more popular. It is easier to start a FB group than it is to build and maintain a website. The moderator at Gazebo, who most of us know, moved on to other things. It was never the same after that.

I wonder about poetry boards. When you read a work and think about it and take it seriously and offer your best efforts and then someone swoops in and says you've "workchopped" it and the poem is wonderful and don't change a thing and then everyone loves each other, except the jerk who can't see the poem was perfect from the get-go and made the mistake of offering a critque. When that becomes prevalent a poetry board is useless.

Best

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Hello Jayne,
But what if I love more than one?

Hello John,
Yes, that seems to be a concise summing up of my replies. I agree with your final paragraph. I've definitely been that "jerk".

Hello Jack,
Thanks for more links. Always very helpful! Alsop left Gazebo but Gazebo went on, even had some good poets. But now it's obviously extinct.

I came back to poetry at the turn of the century. It was a thrilling time for internet poets. My main boards were Sonnet Central, Erato, the Gazebo and PFFA.
I eventually concluded that critique was a zero-sum game, and more or less gave up. But I still read poems posted.
The world has changed now.

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Hello David Anthony,
Interesting points. A mod on the Sonnet Board too if I'm not mistaken? Though when I looked at it it seemed a little inactive. I read a poem of yours on pffa that seemed to positively praise workshopping.

Hello Jack,
Another interesting link/article, thank you! When Alsop died did the Alsop Review die too?

I know of some attempts to create poetry workshops at facebook, but don't know of any that have managed to establish and maintain constructive participation, and not end up turning into showcases of poetry and clicking "like" instead. It seems almost impossible to create a workshop-enviroment there.

As long as fora like this are still better at creating such an enviroment, for focusing on specific things and giving constructive feedback, I think they will definitely continue to have some relevancy. There will always be people who want meaningful, constructive feedback on their work.

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The internet is a bar, a pub, a watering hole. The Eratosphere is not the internet. You get there through the internet. It's a web of staying. Ha!
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Actually, John, I think at least partly what happened to the Gaz might have to do with how the site was designed. If a poem gets commented on, it should be bumped up. Even the most stubborn of us might be more inclined to read a poem that appears over and over again at the head of the thread. For better or worse, maybe the poem should get some attention.

I really don't see the sphere in dire straits. If anything I've seen a lot of good new blood in the past handful of years. The most important thing I think is to honestly and fairly critique.

Christine Klocek-Lim has just launched a critique forum on her Autumn Sky Poetry DAILY site.

Announcement: https://autumnskypoetrydaily.com/202...ons-new-forum/

Forum: https://autumnskypoetrydaily.com/community/