[John Riley]

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